Getting on Base a Lot Helps a Team Only So Much Since his promotion, Ike Davis's batting average has climbed 44 points (to .205 from .161) and his on-base percentage has gone up 83 points (to .325 from .242). Every batter approaches the game differently, but in the end, a solid goal for every at-bat is not to make an out. In August, no one in baseball has been better at not making outs than Mets first baseman Ike Davis. He reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances over the course of his last two games before striking out in the ninth inning Sunday, and entered Monday leading the major leagues for the month with an unimaginable .706 on-base percentage. To say that this turn of events is unexpected would be an understatement. In the first half of this season, Davis had gone from being one of the team's building blocks - a young, homegrown power hitter who had rebounded from some tough times in 2012 - to a punch line who was sent down to the minor leagues to find his swing, if that was even possible. The prodigal son has returned, and although there are signs that his hot streak might be a mirage, the Mets must be happy to have anything positive to say about him. When Davis returned from his 25-day stint with Class AAA Las Vegas on July 5, he predicted that a change in his approach would shake up his season, and he was right. "It'll be noticed," Davis told reporters. Obviously, it's not like I'm standing on my head. It's going to look remotely close, but there are just little things that we changed. Since his promotion, Davis's batting average had climbed 44 points (to .205 from .161) through Sunday, and his on-base percentage had increased 83 points (to .325 from .242). He had reached base safely in each of his previous 12 starts. His ability to draw walks, once a strength of his game, one that disappeared last season, has returned: through Sunday, his 14 walks since Aug. 1 were second in the majors to Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout. He has even turned on a little speed, stealing three bases in 31 games, tying his career high. But two things the Mets should be concerned about are his lack of home runs - he has one in 110 plate appearances since returning from Las Vegas after averaging one in every 23 plate appearances in his first three seasons - and his batting average on balls in play, which has been an unsustainable .414. Through Sunday, his B.A.B.I.P. in August was a ridiculous .667. When luck starts to even out on the balls he puts into play, Davis's batting average is very likely to take a hit. For now, Davis can hardly be blamed for a cautious approach that is getting him on base. At some point, however, the Mets will need him to trade in some of that patience and placement for good, old-fashioned home runs. When he does, if he does, they will have a player who would again seem to be a part of their future, a status he does not quite have at the moment.