On-Base Perception

There is a good chance that all the self-proclaimed experts out there, who wanted to send Ike Davis to the minors or move Davis’ batting stance closer to the plate or put poor Davis on a psychiatrist’s coach, never could have delivered the two-run eighth-inning single that Davis struck Sunday night to give the Mets an unlikely 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

For the pundits and geniuses,...

“Another endorsement from the manager, another disappointing day for Ike Davis. The first baseman knows the deal, and whatever management may say, Davis knows he has to hit to stay with the team.”

The above description of a struggling Davis wasn’t written yesterday, last week or last month. Newsday’s Steven Marcus wrote that lede for an article on the Mets’ first baseman June 4, 2012 – nearly...

Here’s the first thing Mets fans need to know about the job General Manager Sandy Alderson has done over the last three seasons in Flushing: he’s acquired Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud, stud prospects kept from the major league roster by service time considerations and a freak injury, respectively.

The second thing is – wait, you still need a second thing?

Alderson has taken a lot...

A few notes as the Mets prepare to take on the Pirates on Thursday night:

1. Manager Terry Collins put a priority on loading the lineup with righthanded bats against Pirates lefty Jeff Locke. So, that means Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Jordany Valdespin will watch as the Mets go with Justin Turner, Juan Lagares and Marlon Byrd.

Collins said the slumping Davis figures to be back in the lineup...

Each of the 30 teams in baseball have a 40-man roster, various injured players, top prospects, interesting minor league veterans, beat reporters, blogs and stat-minded followers.

Basically, we’re saying that’s a whole lot of people to follow on Twitter.

But we follow them so you don’t have to and every morning we’ll embed the top tweets from the previous 24 hours:

1. Matt Harvey’s...

MIAMI -- Mets manager Terry Collins said on Wednesday morning that he's been pleased with his team's approach at the plate, even though that approach hasn't led to any results.

While the Mets continue to work counts, he said the issue has stemmed from simply missing good pitches to hit, and failing to do damage against opposing bullpens. Hitting coach Dave Hudgens echoed the message, preaching...

Ike Davis and Lucas Duda have started the season on opposite ends of spectrum. While Davis has endured another slow start to the year, Duda has flourished.

But on Thursday, the two traded places in the starting lineup, with Duda moving into the cleanup spot while Davis was dropped to sixth. Manager Terry Collins said on Sunday that coaches discussed a possible swap but decided against it for...

Ike Davis was batting .136 and the Mets were facing lefthander Cliff Lee. The decision seemed easy enough for Mets manager Terry Collins: Keep the lefthanded-hitting Davis on the bench.

The decision to hold Davis out of Tuesday’s 8-3 loss to the Phillies continued a trend started last September when the Mets often benched Davis when there was a lefty on the mound.

On the surface, it...

Ike Davis entered the day hitting just .063. And while a four-game sample size is hardly worth getting worked up about, the Mets first baseman has taken some steps to be proactive about avoiding another early-season slump.

On Friday, he took early batting practice. And now on Saturday comes word that he's taken another step. According to Anthony DiComo of mlb.com, Davis is shaving his beard...

Ike Davis has just one hit in his first three games. Though it's early, the first baseman has already taken steps toward a turnaround, Mets manager Terry Collins said on Friday.

"It was addressed yesterday a little bit," Collins said of Davis, who is 1-for-12 to start the year. "We were going to take some extra BP today. We did it in the cage for quite awhile and Ike was the...