New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen appears to have got one of the initial moves he made in Flushing correct with his acquisition of J.D. Davis from the Houston Astros for a trio of Mets prospects.
After a 3-for-22 start to his Queens career, Davis, 26, took Washington’s Patrick Corbin deep twice on April 6 and has been raking ever since.
From that day through his insurance-run securing two-run homer — his 10th dinger of the season — in Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh at Citi Field (237 plate appearances), Davis is slashing .310/.371/.505 with a .369 wOBA and 134 wRC+. That’ll do.
The Elk Grove, California native’s season line of .297/.359/.483, with 12 doubles, 28 RBIs, and 125 wRC+ will certainly play at this level. Hopefully, he can keep this trajectory.
If the four-year MiLB veteran brings his defense up to league-average levels, the Mets could have an All-Star caliber bench player on their roster.
Over 220 innings at third base, Davis has -8.0 defensive runs saved and a -1.7 ultimate zone rating. That’s not great.
Through 212 innings in left field, where Davis will likely be spending most of his time over the next few weeks with Dominic Smith (stress reaction, left foot), the metrics aren’t much prettier (-3 DRS, -2.0 UZR).
Hopefully, with the extended look he’s set to get out there and the experience sure to be gained, we’ll begin to see an upswing in his defensive play.
After Saturday’s win — leaving the Mets six games behind the Cubs and the Nats with four teams in between for a National League wild-card berth — Davis spoke to the Mets’ media corps (video via SNY) regarding the team’s sudden signs of life.
“From day one, we knew that we were a good team […] We’re kind of clicking right now in the second half. I think this is four-out-of-five series we’ve clinched [since the All-Star break].”
“I think that’s the big focus for us. We’re not going to win every game, especially with the situation we’re in, but we can concentrate on winning series.”
With this level of offensive production, J.D. Davis is doing all he can to keep the Mets in this thing, and that’s promising.
