Davis came up April of last year, and unless you're a person scouring the Mets minor league reports, he's a guy you hadn't heard much about. He hit pretty well in the minors working his way from Brooklyn, to St. Lucie, to Binghamton. While he had a pretty good spring in 2010, the Mets believed he'd be better suited with another season in the minors and chose a platoon approach of some veterans to start at first last season. There was no scouts saying, "Wait until this guy gets to the show," and no one was even thinking of calling this guy the next Keith Hernandez. It was more, well, he can hit good hard line drives and play a pretty good first base. We're not sure on the power and this guy has the potential to be good. As I said earlier, this doesn't invoke too much confidence on the fan who is reading this limited scouting report seeing as we have a great past of seeing our top prospects, who have been highly touted, not amount to much - at least for the Mets. Here is a quote from Scout.com from February of last year:
Davis would benefit from another full year in the minors. However, a promotion before or after September 1 cannot be ruled out if a roster spot opens up or he simply hits the cover off the ball in Triple-A. By late summer, a strong season from Davis should entice the Mets to get a peek at Davis’ ability in the big league setting.
Ike hit pretty well in the minors and extended spring training and by the end of April, he had secured a spot as the starting first basemen for the major club. Since then, you could argue that Ike Davis has been the Mets' most consistent player - and this is a 24 year old on a team with veteran superstars like Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran and superstars in their prime like David Wright and Jose Reyes.
It's pretty easy to talk up a young guy who's on a 10-game hit streak (and 5-game multi-hit streak) and is leading the team in RBIs, but I think that Ike Davis is going to be one of the most important players on the Mets for many years to come. In a 2011 season that looks like it could be up and down again riding the wave of streaks, it's Davis's consistency and attitude that I believe will be the most important to this team.
We want Jose Reyes to be the spark plug to start our rallies, and he can be, when healthy and with his head in the game. David Wright is supposed to be the team leader and superstar, and he has been, but he's also struck out a lot and been a part of teams that have had late season collapses at a time when the best player on the team should be able to put the team on his shoulders. Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran are superstars in their own right, but we've seen instances from both that playing in New York makes them a little uneasy compared to past homes where they've seen greater successes. Johan Santana is our crown jewel, but he's getting older and is on the shelf right now. Mike Pelfrey can be a head case. Jon Niese is not there yet and doesn't have the raw skill to be a superstar.
Then you have Ike Davis. When questions were asked when he first came up if he was being rushed, he responded by hitting 19 homers and 71 RBIs in his first season (which wasn't even a full season). He filled in as the cleanup hitter in a New York lineup for much of the season. He played a stellar first base getting great consideration for the NL Gold Glove. He came in 7th in the Rookie of the Year voting for the NL. And in such a great class of rookies last year with the likes of Buster Posey and Jason Heyward and in a league that's constantly adjusting to promising rookies resulting in sophomore slumps, look who seems to be the best 2nd year player in the league right now.
At the end of such a great string of wins that coincidentally came right in the middle of Ike's hitting streak, I think it's time we all tipped our cap to Ike Davis. Call it Kool-Aid, call it a man-crush, call it what you will - I'm excited to watch Ike Davis crush balls onto the Pepsi Porch in 2011 and for many years to come. Drink it up.
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