If the Mets are to beat Cliff Lee tonight – the second Phillies’ ace in as many nights – they’ll have to do it without Ike Davis.
Davis is struggling out of the gate, hitting .148 with one homer and showing no signs of breaking out. He’s on the way of repeating last spring, which morphed into a miserable first half.
“I don’t know if I can say I am better for going through that,’’ Davis said during spring training. “But, you do learn that eventually you’ll come out of it. That’s what happened to me.’’Davis had a strong second half to finish with 32 homers; that’s what gives him confidence now.
Tonight is as good a night as any to give Davis a break as he is 1-for-11 with four strikeouts in his career against Lee.
It was suggested in my post earlier today that if Terry Collins needed to adjust his lineup he might consider dropping Daniel Murphy to third and David Wright to fourth.
Instead, Collins chose to keep Murphy and Wright in their respective, two-three slots and play Justin Turner at first base and insert hot-hitting catcher John Buck in the cleanup spot.
It is premature to say Davis is evolving into a left-handed hitting Dave Kingman, but there are signs he is not far off, such as 10 strikeouts to only four hits this year in only 27 at-bats this year. For his career, Davis has 320 strikeouts to 154 walks and 299 hits.
“I like to him home runs,’’ Davis said when asked if he considered changing his approach. “I’m going to strike out.’’
Thoughts from Joe D.
I still don’t know what to make of Ike Davis, but his inconsistency is becoming a growing concern. Should we just accept the fact that he’s just a streaky, free-swinging hacker? Or do we keep hoping there’s more to him than that because he’s flashed some glimpses of being a lot more than what we’re seeing now?
I’m wondering what the Mets do at the end of the season when he will command an even bigger payday in arbitration especially if he finishes with 30+ home runs and the same sub-.250 batting average.
After last season ended, I wrote a few times that I don’t think the front office views Ike Davis the way the fans do, and I could see them trading him long before he gets that $7-8 million arbitration award next season.
I like Ike (who doesn’t?), but as I’ve said before, he just doesn’t strike me as a Sandy Alderson cleanup hitter. And for a GM who is always so conscious about money and value, you gotta believe Davis has little to no job security in Flushing.
It’s just a hunch and that’s all it is at this point, but so many of my hunches do come through more often than not.
Ike Davis being a Met in 2014? I say the odds are 50/50 and dropping fast…
We’ll see….
