When New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen acquired J.D. Davis from the Houston Astros for a trio of mid-level prospects in Ross Adolph, Scott Manea, and Luis Santana this past winter, many scoffed at the idea of mortgaging away even more of this organization’s future, no less for an unproven, presumable role player.
After a slow start, Davis, 26, kicked into gear after his two-homer game versus left-hander Patrick Corbin and the Washington Nationals on April 6. Since then, all Davis has done is hit .320/.385/.547 with a .388 wOBA, 146 wRC+, 14 homers, 14 doubles, and 36 RBIs over 286 plate appearances.
Facing one of the National League’s best in Corbin again on Saturday night in Flushing, Davis delivered again, this time in a substantially higher-leverage situation.
With the Mets, at the time, a game-and-a-half behind the Nats for the top wild-card spot in the NL and two runs down in the bottom of the fourth, Davis hit a 102.8 MPH exit velocity, 410-foot home run to center field to put New York on the board.
Wilson Ramos tied it up in the next at-bat with his timely birthday dinger and the Mets worked more magic in the eighth on Luis Guillorme‘s game-tying, first major-league home run, later going ahead on Davis’ one-out sacrifice fly later in the frame, but J.D. Davis, seemingly once again, got things started with his ridiculously hot bat.
After starting the walk-off rally on Friday night at a rocking Citi Field with his leadoff double in the ninth and shaking the Mets and their fans to life in Saturday’s win, Davis’ second-half 194 wRC+ is best among qualified NL hitters, and his .461 wOBA ranks second to only Milwaukee’s Keston Hiura (.466) over that span.
Since Dominic Smith went down in late July (stress reaction in left foot), Davis hasn’t just seamlessly transitioned into an everyday role; he’s making every effort possible to keep himself in a similar position for the foreseeable future.
Since July 25, Davis’ first start in left field after Smith’s injury surfaced, the 26-year-old is slashing .404/.474/.851 with a 12.3% walk rate, .517 wOBA, and 231 wRC+. This young man is simply mashing, and it couldn’t have come at a more advantageous time for the New York Mets.
After Saturday’s win over the Nats, Washington and Milwaukee are tied for both NL wild-card spots, with New York and St. Louis trailing them by a half-game each. In mid-August, things don’t get more high-pressure than this.
“It’s unbelievable,” Davis told the media corps (quote via Justin Toscano, The Record). “We have all the confidence in the world right now, but some things we do, we’re surprising ourselves.”
With Mr. Sunshine, Jacob deGrom on the hill for a series-closing Sunday matinee, the Mets could very well head into this week — a big one in its own right, with three at Atlanta beginning on Tuesday — with an outright hold on a playoff spot. Simply amazin’.
