Coleman: Mets' First Baseman Ike Davis Likely Heading To 'Lost Wages'
Sooner Rather Than Later, Davis Will Be Sent Down May 24, 2013 at 2:55 pm
Filed Under:Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, David Wright., Ed Coleman, Eddie Coleman, Ike Davis, John Buck, Jordanny Valdespin, Justin Turner, Lucas Duda, Mike Baxter, MLB, New York Mets, Ruben Tejada
Ike Davis (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) Ike Davis (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
By Ed Coleman
By all means, let's continue to trash Ike Davis and blame him as the root cause of all that has gone wrong for the Mets through the first quarter of the season.
Yes, Ike is now 1 for his last 38 AB (.026) and has gone hitless in his last 25 AB with RISP. He has just one extra-base hit and one RBI for the entire month of May thus far. You can't get much more feeble than that — especially when you're supposed to be a power bat in the middle of the Mets lineup. But Davis has had plenty of company to help steer the Mets off the road and into a ditch early on in 2013.
By actually scoring 4 runs in the final loss of the Cincinnati sweep on Wednesday, the Mets snapped a streak of 9 consecutive home games in which they scored 3 runs or less. They've still scored 3 or fewer runs in 12 of their last 16 games and in 17 of their last 25. That's no way to run an offense. Since April 21 — a span of 16 games at Citi Field, the Mets are hitting just .192 with 145 strikeouts and 51 walks. They have lost 8 of 11 and are 2-11 over their last 13 home games. On Wednesday, the Mets went 2-13 with RISP, and over the team's last 6 home games, they're hitting .125 (6-48) as a club in those situations. To complicate matters, when they gave up 3 runs in the 9th inning to lose their 27th game, it was the 31st time they have allowed 3 or more runs in an inning – tops or the most in the National League.
There are plenty of culprits to share the blame. Davis' partner in power – Lucas Duda – has short-circuited in May. He does currently have a 7-game hitting streak, but overall this month is batting just .185 with 18 strikeouts and 5 walks. And Duda is hitting only .111 (3-27) with RISP.
Catcher John Buck had a brilliant April to kick off the season, but going back to May 3, Buck is hitting .145 with 20 strikeouts in his last 14 games. Shortstop Ruben Tejada is just 4 for his last 39 (.103) and is batting a paltry .167 for the month of May. It's even filtered down to the normally reliable bench players. Mike Baxter is 1 for last 18 AB (.056) – Justin Turner is 2 for his 22 AB (.090) – and Jordany Valdespin is only 2-19 (.105) with 7 strikeouts as a pinch hitter this season. And David Wright has performed admirably thus far, but you can see him start to creep outside of his hitting zone of late, wanting to make something happen for a team that is desperate for offense – Wright went 0 for the Cincinnati series and is currently 0-12 at the plate.
Look, Ike is most likely heading to Lost Wages after this weekend unless he suddenly re-finds his stroke against the Braves and can give himself and the club a jolt. But the first baseman should not shoulder all the blame on his frame – there's more than enough to go around.
C U soon
Eddie C.
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