Hot Seat Ike

[Vic Sage]

Centerfield wrote: I don't know how else to put it, but Ike Davis looks like a guy who lacks the ability to hit major league pitching. As far as I can tell, he has two major problems: 1. Lack of batspeed: The fastballs are too fast for him. So he starts his swing earlier, making him susceptible to breaking pitches. This is why he ends up flailing at pitches in the dirt. 2. Lack of hand-eye coordination: On the rare occasion that he guesses correctly he lacks the hand-eye coordination to hit it square, often fouling it off or making weak contact. When other hitters slump, they get out of balance, or their swing gets long. I don't know how one corrects these two problems. All I know is that I have never seen a major league hitter look this bad.

Except the notion that he just lacks the ability to hit major league pitching is contradicted by his actual major league performance prior to this season. Unless we're saying something happened between the end of last season and the beginning of this one (injury? illness? mental breakdown? replaced by a pod person?), or that he suffers from a heretofore unknown hitter's syndrome similar to the Steve Blass syndrome suffered by pitchers (including our own CFer), then it seems too easy to say "oh, he just sucks." IF only it were that simple, it would be less frustrating.

[Edgy MD]

I certainly don't think he lacks bat speed. He's just got an approach that's all flummoxed, and has failed at the internal game of figuring out what pitch to expect, what part of the plate to expect it, how to cover that part of the plate, and how to defend against being wrong. All players fail at it --- most fail seven times out of ten or more. But when you fail enough, you adjust your approach so much that you've lost faith in it and go up there clueless, and the slump becomes self-perpetuating.

So you go back to basics. Start with one value and build off of that. Sometimes it's best to do that in the minors.

[Centerfield]

Vic Sage wrote: I don't know how else to put it, but Ike Davis looks like a guy who lacks the ability to hit major league pitching. As far as I can tell, he has two major problems: 1. Lack of batspeed: The fastballs are too fast for him. So he starts his swing earlier, making him susceptible to breaking pitches. This is why he ends up flailing at pitches in the dirt. 2. Lack of hand-eye coordination: On the rare occasion that he guesses correctly he lacks the hand-eye coordination to hit it square, often fouling it off or making weak contact. When other hitters slump, they get out of balance, or their swing gets long. I don't know how one corrects these two problems. All I know is that I have never seen a major league hitter look this bad. Except the notion that he just lacks the ability to hit major league pitching is contradicted by his actual major league performance prior to this season. Unless we're saying something happened between the end of last season and the beginning of this one (injury? illness? mental breakdown? replaced by a pod person?), or that he suffers from a heretofore unknown hitter's syndrome similar to the Steve Blass syndrome suffered by pitchers (including our own CFer), then it seems too easy to say "oh, he just sucks." IF only it were that simple, it would be less frustrating.

Of course, he absolutely has the ability to do so. Which is what is so baffling.

I'm just saying when other players slump, they tend to have problems (getting out in front, swinging for the fences) that we've seen before. And those, while hard to break, at least there is a game plan to attack them.

With Ike, right now, he appears to lack batspeed and the requisite hand-eye coordination. If I had never seen him before, I'd say he's not a major league player. I don't know how you correct that. I don't know how you get him back to a .900+ OPS guy (before his ankle injury) other than to say "Don't start your swing as early, when you start it, swing faster, and when you swing, hit the ball better."

[Edgy MD]

And apart from my daily plotzing over Allan Dykstra, it's worth noting that Wilmer Flores has had multiple hits in four straight games.

[Vic Sage]

"Don't start your swing as early, when you start it, swing faster, and when you swing, hit the ball better."

sounds like sound advice to me.

Reminds me of this time at college, when i had friend (yes I did!) named, lets call him "Fred". Fred had poor social skills and could come off nakedly manipulative and desperate. I liked him anyway, but the folks i hung with gave Fred a hard time. And so one day he comes to me for advice "how can i get them to like me?" he asks (The very question betrays why they did not). And all i could think of to say was "Fred, you know the way you are? Well, don't be that way."

Ike, you know the way you are?
Don't be that way.
Now play ball!

[Vic Sage]

Edgy MD wrote: And apart from my daily plotzing over Allan Dykstra, it's worth noting that Wilmer Flores has had multiple hits in four straight games.

and Josh Satin has a career .300+BA/.400 OB%/ .850 OPS over 2600 plate appearances. Why shouldn't he get a legit shot?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Satin & Dykstra are non-40men which complicates things a little. Just saying.

[Vic Sage]

you move Francisco to the 60-day. complication solved.

[Edgy MD]

Vic Sage wrote: Edgy MD wrote: And apart from my daily plotzing over Allan Dykstra, it's worth noting that Wilmer Flores has had multiple hits in four straight games. and Josh Satin has a career .300+BA/.400 OB%/ .850 OPS over 2600 plate appearances. Why shouldn't he get a legit shot?

Not saying he shouldn't.

Clearly the team has options but are shy about upsetting their long-term hopes for Davis.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Those long-term hopes would have to be a lot less than they had been, I would think.

I don't think the Mets should give up on him, but they might as well send him to Vegas. Tell him he'll have to earn his way back. And everyone (Ike, the Mets, the fans) should be prepared for the possibility that he'll never do so.

[batmagadanleadoff]

First baseman "Marvelous" Marv Throneberry was sent down to AAA (Buffalo) in May of '63, and never returned to the majors.

[Edgy MD]

And Kranepool 1970 did. Life is fraught with peril. He knows what will get him back and he has to figure out how to deliver it.

[Lefty Specialist]

Be sure to bring change for tolls, Ike.

1. Start out going north on Shea Rd/126th St toward 37th Ave. 0.2 mi
2. Turn left onto Shea Rd. 0.4 mi
3. Take the ramp toward I-678/Whitestone Br/NY 25A East/Northern Blvd. 0.3 mi
4. Merge onto I-678 N via the ramp on the left toward Whitestone Br (Portions toll). 5.2 mi
5. Take the I-95 S/Cross Bronx Exp/I-278 W/Bruckner Exp exit toward Geo Washington Br/Triboro Br. 0.5 mi
6. Merge onto I-95 S/Cross Bronx Expy toward I-95 S. 5.1 mi
7. Keep right to take I-95 S toward G W Bridge/Lower Level/Last NY Exit (Crossing into New Jersey). 2.6 mi
8. Keep right to take I-95 S/New Jersey Turnpike S toward I-80/Garden State Parkway/Hackensack. 2.5 mi
9. Merge onto I-80 W via EXIT 69 toward Garden State Parkway/Hackensack/Paterson.
22.3 mi
10. Take the I-80 W exit on the left toward Netcong/Del Water Gap. 0.3 mi
11. Merge onto I-80 Express Ln W. 1.7 mi
12. I-80 Express Ln W becomes I-80 W (Portions toll) (Passing through Pennsylvania and Ohio, then crossing into Indiana). 727.3 mi
13. Merge onto I-80 W/I-94 W via EXIT 21 toward IN-51 S (Crossing into Illinois). 17.1 mi
14. Keep left to take I-80 W toward Wisconsin-Iowa/IL-83/Torrence Ave (Portions toll) (Crossing into Iowa). 467.1 mi
15. Keep left to take I-80 W toward Omaha (Crossing into Nebraska). 353.0 mi
16. Keep left to take I-76 S via EXIT 102 toward Denver (Crossing into Colorado). 186.8 mi
17. I-76 S becomes I-70 W (Crossing into Utah). 501.8 mi
18. Merge onto I-15 S via the exit on the left toward Las Vegas (Passing through Arizona, then crossing into Nevada). 242.3 mi
19. Take the Washington Ave exit, EXIT 44. 0.2 mi
20. Turn sharp left onto NV-578/W Washington Ave. Continue to follow W Washington Ave.
If you reach D St you've gone a little too far. 0.8 mi
21. Turn right. 0.1 miles past N Las Vegas Blvd
22. 850 LAS VEGAS BLVD. N.

If you reach N Las Vegas Blvd you've gone about 0.4 miles too far

[Frayed Knot]

Maybe Ike ought to think about giving up the chewing tabaccy.
It would be a good idea whether it helps his hitting or not.

[Zvon]

Frayed Knot wrote: Maybe Ike ought to think about giving up the chewing tabaccy. It would be a good idea whether it helps his hitting or not.

Do players get a tobacco rush from chewin that shit? I still smoke cigs but I never understood chewing tobacco. Did try it once and it kinda stung and I did get a lil hyper rush. Never tried it again.

[Frayed Knot]

Zvon wrote: Do players get a tobacco rush from chewin that shit?

Hell yeah, it's why they chew.

[Zvon]

Frayed Knot wrote: Zvon wrote: Do players get a tobacco rush from chewin that shit? Hell yeah, it's why they chew.

Looks like Ike spit it out for this at bat. Look for his laptop on the bench cuz he's gotta be reading you.

[nymr83]

Send him down. I'd like to see what Satin can do.

[Zvon]

Nymr83 wrote: Send him down. I'd like to see what Satin can do.

And then I can take advantage of the twitter account I call "Josh Satins Eyebrows"

[Edgy MD]

Ah, yes, Kim Carnes' lesser-loved followup single.

[metirish]

Optioned to Las Vegas along with Baxter and Carson

[metirish]

per @MarcGraig

Mets won't release promotions until tomorrow....


odd wording

[G-Fafif]

Maybe Ike can convert his hot seat into a hot hand and get lucky in Vegas.

Or it was nice knowing him.

[ashie62]

Terry Collins is next to get whacked..

[metirish]

Maybe he is but it wouldn't matter a jot with this group.

[Edgy MD]

And these guys didn't get whacked.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Has Ike become non-tender candidate?
June, 10, 2013
By Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com

NEW YORK -- Will Ike Davis' performance cause him to price himself out of returning to the Mets in 2014? That was the case with Mike Pelfrey last offseason. And it's at least worth wondering about with Davis, although there is plenty of season remaining. Davis -- in the majors or minors -- is earning $3.125 million this season. He again is eligible for arbitration next winter. Arbitration-eligible players almost always get a raise, although the only rule is that the pay must be at least 80 percent of the previous season. (So $2.5 million is the absolute floor.) One rival team entered the season estimating Davis would go to $6.1 million in 2013 if he had a normal performance. Clearly, that wouldn't materialize barring an extraordinary second half. But even at $3.5 million or $4 million next year -- a modest salary -- the Mets might have to consider ending Davis' Mets tenure. The Mets cut loose Pelfrey last winter rather than face a raise after he made $5.7 million the previous year. In Davis' case, it would seem logical if they were averse to a salary increase that they would explore a trade before considering a December non-tender. Non-tendering Davis would make him a free agent and free to sign anywhere with no salary floor other than the MLB minimum. Of course, on the trade front, an NL executive who predicts Davis gets non-tendered told ESPNNewYork.com: "They have completely devalued Ike Davis."

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/69143/has-ike-become-non-tender-candidate

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah. "They" did.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, really. Promise me that executive never works for the Mets.

[Ceetar]

There was also the "I had Tommy John surgery and probably won't be available to pitch to start the season" bit with Pelfrey, but I guess we can gloss over that?