THE CRANE POOL FORUM cranepoolforum.net (.com)

[MFS62]

The lefty hitting first baseman was drafted last year by the Mets. He was slow to adapt to wood bats, and didn't show the power last yearthat the Mets had expected. This year, he hit seven homers at A ball and was promoted to Binghamton, where he has hit three more.

I saw Davis play yesterday in the Binghamton, New Britain game.
He got three hits, put the ball in play to get a runner home from third (Which puts him ahead of anyone now on the Mets roster), and made some really nice plays at first.

Welcome to the family, kid.

Later
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"You spend a good part of your life gripping the baseball, and in the end it turns out it was the other way around all the time." Jim Bouton

[Frayed Knot]

Baseball America tells us why they like Ike


Because they liked his above-average power and pitch recognition skills, the Mets selected Arizona State first baseman Ike Davis with the 18th overall selection in the 2008 draft and bestowed him with a $1.575 million bonus. But Davis sure had a strange way of repaying New York’s faith.

Davis, a 6-foot-5 lefthanded batter who was leading ASU batters in all triple crown categories before missing time with a ribcage injury as a junior, didn’t homer in his first 75 pro games. In fact, he didn’t do much of anything with his first 312 plate appearances, batting a composite .260/.330/.338 in his first three months of pro ball. To make matters worse, he spent that time with short-season Brooklyn (’08) and high Class A St. Lucie (’09)—two age- and experience-appropriate levels.

Things have been different, though, since the 22-year-old Davis connected for his first pro home run on April 28. In nearly the same number of plate appearances (296) since, he’s batted .291/.389/.520 with 12 home runs and 18 doubles in 70 games, all while turning in a fine 40-to-62 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Davis earned a promotion on June 23 to Double-A Binghamton, where he’s kept up the pace.

"He’ll have power. I like him quite a bit," a pro scout for an AL club said back in May, when Davis appeared more bust than boom. "He’s the type of player who will hit a ton of doubles and play good defense. He’s just a really good player who understands the game and does everything correctly."

Mets vice president of player development Tony Bernazard can’t hide his enthusiasm for Davis’ development, saying, "He’s coming along well for a player in his first full year. He’s a great defender and we believe he’ll hit for power. You can see it in how he’s hit a lot of doubles. And the best part is, he’s kept up while playing in every game."
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No rain, no rainbow

[metirish]

Saw this today

First baseman Ike Davis is hitting .326 with 10 homers and 29 RBI in his last 37 games

[Frayed Knot]

Not bad for a guy who hit ZERO HRs over like 200 ABs last year in Brooklyn.

Lots of folks busting on this pick over the off-season.
Patience people.
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No rain, no rainbow

[John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I've had a boner over this guy for a couple months now. He is absolutely destroying right handed pitching -- 339/429/636//1.056 -- and is relatively harmless vs lefties 236/333/291//624.

I don't know how much a player's splits tend to improve over time, but geez. Give this kid a RH-hitting platoonmate (Sheffield?) and let him go to work!
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We got struggle time, we got outstanding time

[Nymr83]

thats a pretty good job of crushing the righties!
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"I can say 'fanny', right?" -Keith Hernandez, on air

[Edgy DC]

BINGHAMTON -- Ike Davis made his return to the Binghamton Mets lineup one day earlier than planned.



And what a return it was.

Davis, who hadn't played in a week due to sore ribs, hit a two-run, go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Binghamton Mets to a 3-2 victory Wednesday night over the Portland Sea Dogs in the second of a three-game Eastern League series at NYSEG Stadium.

"It's always great to hit a ball hard, and it's always great to get a 'W,' " said Davis, who entered the game in the fourth inning as a replacement for the injured D.J. Wabick. "We all know we're not going to make the playoffs. But at least we can finish up here and maybe break some hearts, beat some teams and get some confidence. You always want to have confidence going into the off-season."

Mike Antonini (7-3) pitched seven solid innings to get the win as the B-Mets (49-79) snapped a four-game losing streak. Portland (61-67) loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. But Jose De La Torre struck out Iggy Suarez then got Daniel Nava to ground out to second to end the game.

Davis, one of the top power-hitting prospects in the Mets' organization, hadn't played since Aug. 18, when he went 0-for-1 in a game that was suspended due to rain. In that game, Davis re-aggravated an pre-existing rib injury. He started feeling better during the team's road trip to Connecticut this past weekend.

Davis, who will be playing in the Arizona Fall League this year, took live batting practice the past two days. The original plan, B-Mets manager Mako Oliveras said, was to have Davis return to the lineup tonight.

But midway through Wednesday's game, Wabick left the game due to dizziness, and Davis came in. He flied out to center field in his first at bat, swinging at the first pitch he saw from Portland starter Ryne Miller.

"The first time you're up after being out for a while, I think you're always a little anxious to prove you're back," Davis said. "The second time up, I really wanted to have a good at-bat and see a lot of pitches."
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<font size="1"><i>Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.</i></font>

[Edgy DC]

Ike joins the US team next week at that International Baseball Federation's Baseball World Cub in Europe starting next week.

Eddie Rodriguez is manager and looks to defend Davey Johnson's championship.

http://web.usabaseball.com/teams/index.jsp?team=940&content=roster
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<font size="1"><i>Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.</i></font>

[Benjamin Grimm]