About two weeks ago, I questioned if hype got the best of us with regards to Ike Davis.
Today, I was hoping I’d write about how he has snapped out of it. The truth is, it’s time to go Ike.
This is not about last night. I don’t think last night was a pack it in night as some seem to feel. It was a bad loss, we move on. This is about April-June 5.
I understand the reason Terry Collins told him “you’re not going to Buffalo.” It was meant to make him comfortable, and maybe stop playing with fear. However, I think it has backfired.
I think what it did was make him comfortable in mediocrity. Now, there’s no threat of losing his job. It’s just “wait and see,” and frankly, he doesn’t deserve that much leeway. There is no sense of urgency anymore.
You know, with Jason Bay coming back, I find myself hoping he turns it around. Hoping that he proves all the naysayers wrong.
How many of us want Jason Bay to be cut? I’m sure plenty of you reading this today have had that thought at least once.
Take a look at this.
Ike Davis has played in 236 games, and had 940 plate appearances. He is a career .248 hitter, with a .331 OBP and a .421 SLG. He’s hit 31 HR and driven in 117 runs, with 46 doubles and 2 triples.
Since Jason Bay joined the Mets, he has played in 233 games, and had 967 plate appearances. He has a .251 average, a .335 On Base, and a .391 Slugging. He’s hit 21 HR, driven in 109 runs, and hit 41 doubles with 7 triples.
Now, to me, those numbers look eerily similar. Yet, Jason Bay gets more harsh treatment from Mets fans than Davis does. I get that Bay isn’t “earning his paycheck,” but there is at least a history behind him.
We’ve seen with our own two eyes what Jason Bay is capable of. We’re waiting for it, and it may never happen in a Mets uniform, but we know it exists. With regards to Ike Davis, what we’ve seen in his career is “Jason Bay as a Met.”
Ike Davis means more to the Mets long term than Jason Bay does. That is undeniable.
Davis going down to Buffalo is for his own good. This game is about production, not about feelings. Will it hurt Davis’ feelings if he is sent down? I’m sure it will.
Will it make him a better player? At this point, it certainly can’t make him a worse player.
He’s not an experience enough hitter to simply “snap out of it.” He hasn’t been in enough tough situations, and he isn’t learning how to adjust right now.
I understand the value he has at 1B. He has made some plays that an average 1B cannot or will not make. However those plays do not cancel out the AB’s he has continued to fail with.
Last year, Marlins 1B Gaby Sanchez was a part of the All-Star team. This year, in 36 games, he’s hitting .197 with a .539 OPS. Do you know where 28 year old All-Star Sanchez is today?
AAA New Orleans hitting .275 with a .876 OPS in 17 games.
Why is he there? Because it means more to the Marlins to have him figure things out now in AAA, than to have to send him down in July or August because he still hasn’t figured things out.
The longer the Mets wait, the more Davis will struggle and hurt the Mets. Every day he is on the Mets roster, is another day he hurts the Mets down the stretch.
When the next roster move takes place, it’s time to send Davis to AAA. Enough is enough, this is about the team now and long term. Having Ike Davis lost against big league pitching doesn’t do the Mets or Ike Davis any good.
Oddly enough, Jason Bay may be the guy taking his place on the roster.
