This morning on WFAN, Craig Carton was ripping Ike Davis over a report from a source who told him that Davis went ballistic in the clubhouse after the Mets opted to promote Zach Lutz instead of him.
“How can they promote him over ****ing me,” he reportedly screamed at manager Wally Backman..
He became such a distraction, that Backman called Sandy Alderson to intervene and calm the slighted and infuriated first baseman down.
Davis homered again in last night’s game to give him five homers in his last four games played.
Yesterday, Terry Collins told reporters that the Mets did not promote Davis because they were facing three left-handers.
Terry Collins said before Sunday’s game, “We don’t want to put him in a funk right away.”
Several reports are suggesting that Davis could join the team for Thursday’s makeup game in Colorado.
Entering yesterday’s game, Davis was batting .310/.463/.690 with four home runs, 15 runs scored, and 8 RBIs. In 42 at-bats he has drawn 12 walks and struck out 11 times.
Not sure how much credence to put into this Craig Carton story, but we’ll see if some corroborating reports emerge today and maybe we’ll get more clarity on this.
That said, if this is true, it’s very troubling.
Original Post 6/22
First baseman Ike Davis walloped two more home runs for the Las Vegas 51s on Friday night, despite a 5-3 loss to the Tucson Sidewinders at Kino Stadium in Arizona.
For the 26-year old Davis, it was his second straight two-homer game and with those blasts his confidence is now at an all time high as he continues his comeback to the major leagues.
While there is no timetable set for Ike’s return, manager Terry Collins told reporters last night that “when Ike starts swinging good again, he’ll be back.”
Davis was demoted to Triple-A on June 10 and since that time is now batting a robust .333/.480/.744 with four homers, four doubles, eight RBI and 14 runs scored in 50 plate appearances.
What stands out even more than the power is that he has also has drawn 11 walks while striking out nine times in his 11 games with Las Vegas.
The goal for Davis was to alter a hitch in his swing and improving his pitch recognition.
“They say he’s made real good strides,” Mets manager Terry Collins told MLB.com on Thursday. “The report was he’s listening, trying everything that they’re asking him.”
The previous night, Davis went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and three runs scored for Las Vegas. It came on the heels of a 2-for-2 performance with three walks the night before that. Davis is now batting .306/.457/.583 in 46 plate appearances since his demotion to Triple-A.
Tucson manager Pat Murphy — who was the head coach at Arizona State during Davis’ college career — spent time with Davis and described him as someone lacking confidence after talking with him before Thursday night’s game.
“I see a young man that’s lost his confidence. And I see a young man that’s kind of searching right now. I’m confident he’ll find himself. He always has.”
“This is probably his first struggle ever…So you can’t underestimate what you go through, the pain that he feels right now and the fears that he has. I’d like to do anything I could to help him find his best self — find how he can take this pain on and feel it and then move on from there. I think he will.”
Yesterday, manager Terry Collins said Davis’ focus has shifted toward removing the significant hitch in his swing.
“It’s going to be hard,” Collins said before the Mets faced the Braves at Turner Field. “That’s a major part of his swing that’s got to change.”
Las Vegas manager Wally Backman told him they were very happy with the way Davis is coming along.
“They are trying to calm the hitch down, not have it so big. They thought he’s made big strides because he’s really seeing the ball better. He’s really cut down his strike zone, he’s trying to shrink it a little bit to get better pitches to hit.”
The Mets desperately need Davis’ power back in the lineup, and continued success like this will escalate his return to the team.
