I Like Ike…Well Kind Of

Throughout this past Spring Training, I often questioned the Mets on their decision to keep highly-touted prospect, Ike Davis, in the minor leagues rather than promote him to the Opening Day lineup.

Photo Credit: NY Daily News

However, after thinking long and hard about it; I resided to the fact that the Mets had made the right decision. After all, Davis is still very young (23 years old) and has a little more than a year and a half professional baseball experience under his belt.

Spending the better part of the season in Buffalo would be beneficial for Ike, as he would not have to deal with the media frenzy that is New York and he could work on fine tuning his defense. However, after two weeks into the season and a red hot start in Buffalo, Ike Davis finds himself batting sixth in the Mets lineup.

As excited as I am to have Ike’s power bat in the lineup, I ask myself why now? Had the Mets waited until tomorrow to call up Davis, they would have been able to push off his free agency by a full year. Then again, the Mets are a New York team so I’m sure they would deepen their pockets a bit if they wanted Davis to stick around after his contract is up.

Another concern I have with Ike is the expectations. Fans have set the bar high, extremely high for that matter. It is important to remember that Ike Davis will not single-handedly turn this team around. Remember the crazy media hype that surrounded Josh Thole when he was called up last September? Sure Thole preformed well and hit .321, but he wasn’t a game changer.

That being said, I think Davis is a better player than Thole, but this team has numerous voids. You’re not going to go very far when you’re pitchers are unreliable and in some cases (John Maine) are getting knocked out of the game early in the fifth inning.

The Davis call up screams like a desperation move by Mets management to try to get this team on the right track after starting off with a 4-8 record. Davis’s bat will definitely be an upgrade over the Mike Jacobs/Alex Cora/Fernando Tatis tandem, who has been manning the position.

Was Davis rushed too soon or should he have been on the Opening Day roster? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

Just remember Mets fans there may be an ‘I’ in Ike but there is no ‘I’ in team; Ike Davis is only part of the solution to the problem that is the New York Mets.