6/4/13

Two Cents Tuesdays - Getting back on the B-Ike

  39 days.

It took 39 days for Ike Davis to hit a home run. It took much less time for Mets fans to call for his head and it is hard to argue with the anger. As it stands today, Ike is hitting .168. He has just 16 RBI and now 5 home runs to his name, to which we can collectively say; Yeesh.

Despite the horrendous numbers, Ike seems to have more lives than Jason Voorhees. He registered a clutch hit against Atlanta amid growing rumors of a demotion and since being essentially called out by Terry Collins, along with players like Ruben Tejada and Dillon Gee, Ike has finally put together a decent stretch of baseball.

5-15 at the dish to go along with the home run and 5 RBI in four games isn't setting the world on fire, but it is a welcome sign of some semblance of improvement from someone we were hoping to take a big leap this year. The .227 average from last year was supposed to be an aberration. 35+ home runs were thought to be a given. Unfortunately, we have seen an almost devolution of our “franchise” first basemen. The different stances, the frequent strikeouts and his defensive slips have all added up to a baffling year for Ike. Could this small stretch be a sign of things to come?

Lets take a look at last year. Heading into June, his stat line looked like this: .154 BA 5 HR 21 RBI. Pretty similar to this year, no? And oddly enough, he started a 9 game hitting streak beginning that began against the Yankees that jumped his average up to .196. He went on to have a good power year with 32 home runs and 90 RBI. Ike has started to look a tad better since facing the Bombers. Coincidence? Probably, but it is proof that Ike got it together last year in June.

The fact that I'm reaching for silver linings is pretty indicative of how bad things have become for Ike, but I am a realist. He couldn't be any worse before the Subway Series. I think he is going to pick up his play starting today. I'm hoping on the fact that history repeats itself. Normally, Met fans would cringe at the saying. But for Ike Davis, it might be his only hope.


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