A buddy of mine asked me recently, when was I going to put out an article on how Ike Davis is killing the Mets with his at-bats and his inability to hit left handed pitchers and I kind of thought about it at first, because I didn’t feel that Ike warranted an article solely blaming him for the Mets inconsistencies.
I feel that there are other guys that just haven’t gotten it going yet and maybe they should share the blame. But at 5-4, are the Mets in dire straits, I don’t think so. It is too early in the season, but Mets fans can be a bit impatient and wanting everyone in the lineup to be on fire at the same time is kind of asking for too much. Some players are slow starters while others are just mired in a slump, but it still may be too early to call.
The Mets as a whole are somewhat young, and aside from a few veterans, they only have a few years of MLB experience, but I don’t feel the pressures of winning is mounting a burden on them. As fans we want the players to at least show some effort and you can’t deny that Ike isn’t showing effort, he just isn’t locked in right now, but when he does get locked, the cries for his benching may stop for a while.
Ike Davis came into the season on a high note with a solid finish to 2012, in which he finished with 32 home runs (20 in the second half) and 90 RBIs. He batted overall only .227, but it could have been worse if not for his strong second half. A decent 2013 spring training has opened the season to a slow start for Davis. He is currently batting just .129 through 8 games with 1 home run and 2 RBIs. Not sure what is keeping him from regaining the same form that helped his second half surge of 2012, but with only 8 games in and 154 to go, Ike does have time to turn his slow start around.
Other notable guys that are struggling in the early part of the 2013 season are David Wright and Marlon Byrd who both have similar stats batting just .250, with 0 home runs, and just 4 RBIs.
Aside from the guys that are struggling there have been a few guys that have come out the gate running like John Buck (batting .375, 5 Home runs, second in the Major Leagues with 15 RBIs), Daniel Murphy (batting .303, 2 home runs) and Lucas Duda (batting .308, 3 home runs) who just recently started to look like he is comfortable at the plate which would be a boost for his confidence. Duda’s two home runs in Philadelphia on Wednesday night were tape measure shots.
The Mets are coming off the last four seasons of sub .500 baseball, so a bit of pressure to come out the gates strong may be in the back of the minds of a few players. But the struggles can’t be put on the shoulders of the hitters alone, aside from Matt Harvey (2-0, 0.63 ERA, 19 K’s) and Jon Niese (1-0, 2.13 ERA) the other starters have been horrible. Dillon Gee (0-2, 7.71 ERA) has had success in the big leagues so you feel he will turn it around. Jeremy Hefner (0-2, 6.00 ERA) could have built on something off his first start where he only allowed a run and five hits in six innings to the Marlins, but he gave up a 5 spot to the Phillies in the first inning on Wednesday night.
We are powerless to do anything aside from watching and hoping it all comes together for them.
