Hot Seat Ike

[batmagadanleadoff]

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

That is just a terrible similarity score, Edward.

[Zvon]

batmagadanleadoff wrote:

Ike will be back someday.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Big Pelf has a 6.40 era and is 3-6. Did they make the right call on that one?

[Edgy MD]

Hard to argue otherwise.

Here's Fangraphs trying to corral the problem.

[Edgy MD]

Ike in Vegas: .174 / .296 / .217 // .514 in six games and 27 plate appearances. That's at least an improvement on the .500 OPS he was putting up in the bigs, but nobody's idea of a turnaround. He has no homers and one RBI. He's walked four times and whiffed seven.

I suppose making more contact is as good a place to start as any. But crikey, that guy's a Nobel-level project to take on.

[batmagadanleadoff]

DIoKr9VDg3A

Ike Davis belts two HRs at Triple-A Vegas

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, he's suddenly up to .306/.457/.583 // 1040 over 36 ABs/46 PAs, which looks even better after that slow start
6 of his 11 hits are for XBs and walks are outpacing Ks 10 to 9

Nice going dude. Now keep it up for another few weeks and then we'll talk.

And did you hear Gary talking last night about the checklist of things they wanted Ike to work on?: Well (relayed via Terry) ... we want to cut down on his swing hitch ... and we're working on him keeping his weight back ... and we'd like to see him cut back on his head movement ... and we're trying to get him closer to the plate ... and then there's the pitch recognition thing ...

And I'm thinking, 'Shit, if it were easy to teach guys all that stuff I just might jump a plane to Vegas and see if they could fix me'!

[Edgy MD]

I'm guessing they hope he returns first game after the All-Star break --- that is, if he's not voted onto the team.

[Ceetar]

honestly I wouldn't be surprised tosee him back if he continue to hit at this rate the next time the Mets are home.

[Guest vtmet]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm guessing they hope he returns first game after the All-Star break --- that is, if he's not voted onto the team.

agreed...if a lot of his problems are timing, overthinking, routine; then bringing him back before the A/S Game doesn't make sense to me when he'd be "benched" for 4 consecutive days due to the A/S break...

but at the same time...Mets fans should focus their attention on getting Ike elected to the A/S game...when was the last time that a player that was demoted to AAA been elected to the A/S game? I know DL'd guys get in semi-often, but AAAA players?

[Guest vtmet]

Ceetar wrote: honestly I wouldn't be surprised tosee him back if he continue to hit at this rate the next time the Mets are home.

it took a few times of reading the sentence trying to figure out what the hell does "tosee" mean before my brain finally caught on that you meant "to see"...lol

[Guest vtmet]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Big Pelf has a 6.40 era and is 3-6. Did they make the right call on that one?

Citi Field is about the only thing that made Pelfrey appear to be a semi-decent pitcher...he obviously isn't as fortunate to be calling Minnesota home...he probably should have chosen a place like San Diego, Seattle or Miami to continue his mirage of being a MLB caliber pitcher...

[Ceetar]

vtmet wrote: metsguyinmichigan wrote: Big Pelf has a 6.40 era and is 3-6. Did they make the right call on that one? Citi Field is about the only thing that made Pelfrey appear to be a semi-decent pitcher...he obviously isn't as fortunate to be calling Minnesota home...he probably should have chosen a place like San Diego, Seattle or Miami to continue his mirage of being a MLB caliber pitcher...

I disagree on the park factor thing, and I think he'll settle in, I think he's suffering from the missing a year thing.

But they made the right call because at the time they made the decision it was unlikely he was going to pitch to start the season, and if you needed a fallback plan you might as well just pick a main plan and move on for the arb money.

But i'm starting to think it's worth it to keep guys like Pelfrey and Byrdak around who seem to heal from injuries remarkably fast and at least trend towards overall health. Mets are hoping to have five starters better than Pelfrey, but for many teams an average ish pitcher like Pelfrey who you don't have to worry (well, only barely have to worry, he's still a pitcher) much about not being there is a nice thing to have.

[Guest vtmet]

Ceetar wrote: Big Pelf has a 6.40 era and is 3-6. Did they make the right call on that one? Citi Field is about the only thing that made Pelfrey appear to be a semi-decent pitcher...he obviously isn't as fortunate to be calling Minnesota home...he probably should have chosen a place like San Diego, Seattle or Miami to continue his mirage of being a MLB caliber pitcher... I disagree on the park factor thing, and I think he'll settle in, I think he's suffering from the missing a year thing. ...

like a lot of Mets pitchers, he had huge home/road splits...

2010-2012 (Espn does a last 3 seasons split option):
home: 3.27 ERA; 13-8 record; .257 batting average against; 11 Homeruns; 231 innings;
road: 5.13 ERA; 9-14 record; .310 BAA; 22 HRs; 186 innings;

2009:
home: 3.72 ERA; 6-5 record; .271 BAA; 6 HRs; 104 innings;
road: 6.72 ERA; 4-7 record; .310 BAA; 12 HRs; 80 innings;

2008:
home (Shea): 3.02 ERA; 8-7 record; .248 BAA; 6 HRs; 119 innings;
road: 4.76 ERA; .314 BAA; 6 HRs; 81 innings;

this season, he's once again putting up a road BAA of .310+ (.315 to be exact)...but he's also putting up a crappy Home BAA of .326...a pitcher can't expect to survive putting up a .300+ BAA...that is well above league average...

[Frayed Knot]

Like I said, let's see Ike keep this up for a few weeks at least before we think about bringing him back up. Post-ASB should be the earliest IMO.
Plus it gives the OF roster a few spins around to see how things shape up and shake out. Somebody's got to go when Davis gets back (cuz Duda headed back to LF) and you'd like to see someone or several someones step up and earn the right to stay in CF & RF.

[Zvon]

I figure Ike has learned at least one thing. How fast he can be swept under the rug and become a thing of the past. That's baseball Ike. So get your shit together and be part of the future.

[ashie62]

Duda looks good at 1B

[smg58]

The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing?

[Guest Swan Swan H]

smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing?

I think it means that it took a shock to his system before he started to listen to anyone.

[Ceetar]

Swan Swan H wrote: smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing? I think it means that it took a shock to his system before he started to listen to anyone.

well, there were like 45 billion people suggesting things, plus the level of competition, and park factors (Remember he was flying out to deep center quite a lot the last month or so)

[Guest vtmet]

smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing?

IMO, it says that they are either confusing the shit out of him; or shooting him in the foot with the "work the count" approach...some guys are great at hitting behind in the count, and some guys (for example, guys with long swings) are not...Ike is not a guy that should be trying to hit 0-2, 1-2, 2-2...

I would imagine that other teams do scouting reports that show that the Mets like to take a lot of pitches; and the same scouting reports probably also tell them that the guy with monster power was batting .143 with a .357 OPS on an 0-1 count & .138 with a .395 OPS after a 0-1 count...

by the way...Ike is a career .300 hitter with a .700 Slugging Percentage on the first pitch of the at bat (19 Homeruns, 17 doubles and 1 triple)...

[Zvon]

smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing?

Rightly I don't think they should be working out his hitch on the MLB level. I think every coach who ever saw him would want to eliminate, or tone down, the hitch. He came up hitting very well initially. That made it harder to address changes when he stopped hitting well.

Keith believed that a hitch is not a bad thing, and many HOF'rs had one. But the fact is Ikes hitch was way to big and loopy.

[Frayed Knot]

Swan Swan H wrote: smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing? I think it means that it took a shock to his system before he started to listen to anyone.

Also means that AAA pitching is easier to hit than ML pitching and that Vegas is a better hitting environment than the near sea-level of NYC and many of the other NL parks.
And again, let's not treat a few good games like it's a cure from Miracle Max.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Frayed Knot wrote: Swan Swan H wrote: smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing? I think it means that it took a shock to his system before he started to listen to anyone. Also means that AAA pitching is easier to hit than ML pitching and that Vegas is a better hitting environment than the near sea-level of NYC and many of the other NL parks. And again, let's not treat a few good games like it's a cure from Miracle Max.

Have fun storming the minors!

[smg58]

Two more home runs yesterday.

[Centerfield]

Frayed Knot wrote: Swan Swan H wrote: smg58 wrote: The downside to this is if the coaching staff in Vegas can straighten Ike out in a week, what does it say about the coaching staff in Flushing? I think it means that it took a shock to his system before he started to listen to anyone. Also means that AAA pitching is easier to hit than ML pitching and that Vegas is a better hitting environment than the near sea-level of NYC and many of the other NL parks. And again, let's not treat a few good games like it's a cure from Miracle Max.

All true. But still encouraging. A few weeks ago, Ike couldn't hit a HR in a stadium on the moon.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Another day. Another PCL homer for Ike.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/70652/minors-6-24-13-goeddel-tosses-7-scoreless

[batmagadanleadoff]

51?s Ike Davis Named PCL Player of the Week

[ashie62]

24 hour gambling can help a guy hit better...