Last Updated on February 25, 2011 2:14 am by admin
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) – At 6-foot-4 and with a scruffy beard fans have become familiar with, Ike Davis has trouble blending in even in a big city like New York.
The Mets’ first baseman stands out on the field, too.
Davis posted a .264 batting average with 19 home runs in his rookie season last year, while displaying Gold Glove potential on defense, and manager Terry Collins looks for more big things from him this season.
“I think he’s going to become one of the premier first basemen in all of baseball,” Collins said. “He’s already as good defensively as there is in either league. He has absolutely enormous power, and I think as he continues to play, he’s going to learn to be a better hitter, and therefore a little more selective hitter. And I think he’s going to get better pitches to hit, and he’s going to do a lot of damage. I can see Ike Davis, in the future, being that certainly legitimate (No.) 4 hitter.”
The 23-year-old entered spring training almost as much of a lock at his position as David Wright is at third base. That’s quite the turn around from a year ago when he stepped into his first big-league camp having never played a game above Double-A.
Davis was sent down to minor league camp in the last week of Grapefruit League games, despite hitting .480 with three home runs and 10 RBI. He played 10 games with Triple-A Buffalo before the Mets called him up to plug an enormous hole at first.
By the All-Star break, Davis hit 11 home runs, making him just the second rookie in Mets history to reach double-digits by the season’s unofficial midway point. But perhaps more impressive was his performance after the break when he increased his batting average 12 points (.270 to .258), including a .344 tear in September.
The experience gives the laid-back Davis a new level of confidence going into his sophomore season.
“It’s a whole different experience because this year the coaching staff actually knows who I am, and so do my teammates, the other guys on the team,” Davis said. “It’s not like I am meeting everyone for the first time and trying to show what I can do because no one has seen me play before. This time it’s come in, get my work done, process working for the season, instead of trying to impress people around me.
“When you are the new guy in big league spring training for the first time, you want to open some eyes and when September comes they might think of you. I had a good year, obviously.”
Davis admits he wasn’t quite prepared defensively for spring training last year when he posted four errors in 10 games at first base. So, this year, he took a few more groundballs during the offseason, rather than just focusing on his swing.
“I wasn’t ready defensively, but I knew spring training was going to get me ready defensively,” Davis said. “I obviously didn’t realize I would make that many mistakes on the defensive side, because I know I can play defense, and they knew, hopefully, that I could play defense, but I just wanted to show them what I could do with the bat so I came in really ready swinging-wise and not so much defensive-wise.”
When the did get the call to the majors, Davis’ defense was impressive.
Among the highlights were the several catches that ended with Davis tumbling over the dugout railing at Citi Field, something he said was “luck” just because of where the ball went.
Collins likes what Davis adds to his team defensively.
“His range to his right is incredible,” Collins said. “Those left-handed first baseman, the (Will) Clarks and some of those guys, that’s what they did, and that just changes the whole defense of the infield. A second baseman no longer has to worry about eating up plays up the middle, and it changes the whole dynamics of how you play.”