New York Mets outfielder J.D. Davis mashed in 2019.

After a middling start to this strange 2020 season, the 27-year-old California product has begun to rake, once again.

In 453 plate appearances during his first season with the Mets (acquired from Houston for three prospects in one of general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s first moves at the helm of the club two winters ago), Davis wowed at the plate.

The former third-round draft pick (Astros, 2014) hit .307/.369/.527 with 22 home runs, 22 doubles, 136 wRC+, and a .373 wOBA — the last two metrics good for 10th and 17th among National League hitters with at least 450 plate appearances (Davis missed out on qualifying for leaderboards).

That will play.

His defense, however, left a bit to be desired.

Heading into this season, with versatility being a hallmark of this club, the team having no solid plan in left field, and the NL adopting the designated hitter, Davis was — and is — sure to get his at-bats.

Though, with the return of Yoenis Cespedes into the picture — mostly as the Mets’ DH — Davis would need to earn his keep.

Over the first two games of the season — both starts in left field — Davis went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts.

Not an ideal start.

With sub-par defensive skills in the outfield, anything other than elite offensive production from Davis would likely lead to playing-time justification issues.

Dominic Smith can hit, too, and his outfield defense probably isn’t much worse than what we’ve seen from Davis.

After a slow start at the plate this season, albeit in an incredibly small sample (and, of course, magnified by his defensive shortcomings), pockets of the fan base expressed concern regarding the validity of Davis’ production in 2019 and the sustainability of it moving forward.

He hadn’t found much success at this level before coming to New York and still needs to prove his mettle as a consistent, every day major league difference-maker.

A quick turnaround — just as the one he experienced in early-April last season following his two-homer game versus Patrick Corbin — would do everyone some good.

Ask and you shall receive.

Over Davis’ current five-game hit streak (began in New York’s 14-1 loss to Atlanta last Sunday night), he’s hitting .400/.500/.600 (6-for-15, a homer, three runs, three RBIs, two walks, and a strikeout) with a 38% hard-hit rate.

That’s more like it.

If Davis can continue hitting the cover off the ball and bring marginally average defense to the table in left field — it’s his job to lose out there, and his glove would be the only reason why — this can work.

We’ve seen below-average defenders make up for those deficiencies with strong profiles at the plate (oh, hey, Charlie Blackmon, and Nicholas Castellanos, and Nick Markakis…).

There’s no reason J.D. Davis can’t do the same.

And hey, he could always work his behind off and close the gap between the two sides of his game.

I certainly wouldn’t put it past him.