Davis in search of swing with 51s
“Shalom. Welcome to Vegas.”
That’s how Mets first baseman Ike Davis greeted a group of New York reporters outside of the 51s’ clubhouse Tuesday afternoon before making his first start for Las Vegas.
Davis was in good spirits two days after getting demoted by the Mets, but he certainly would prefer to use the Hebrew expression for hello and goodbye to bid adieu to the minor leagues as soon as possible.
“You don’t ever want to come back to the minor leagues after playing in the big leagues for three straight years,” the 26-year-old Davis said. “But sometimes there are blips in the road, and you’ve just got to go through it and come out stronger and be a better baseball player.”
Davis, who is batting .161 (30-for-186) with five homers, 16 RBIs and 66 strikeouts in 55 games for the Mets this season, said he was depressed when he learned of his demotion following New York’s loss Sunday to the Miami Marlins.
“It’s not a good feeling. I was a little down, for sure,” he said. “You’re getting fired or demoted. In a normal job, that’s what happens, but you’ve got to brush yourself off and go back to where you should be.
“Hopefully I can get my rhythm back and start driving the ball and then we won’t have to talk like this anymore.”
While Davis would’ve preferred to resolve his problems at the plate in the majors, he conceded it will be easier to tinker with his batting stance and swing in the minors.
“If I try a new stance (here) and go 0-for-4 with three popups to the infield, it’s not like all of New York’s going to kill you,” he said. “It’s definitely easier to try to work on stuff here versus in the big leagues. Working on stuff in the big leagues is tough.”
Davis went 0-for-3 with two walks in the 51s’ 8-6 victory over Tacoma at Cashman Field. Davis drew a two-out walk in the ninth inning and scored on Zach Lutz’s three-run, walk-off homer.
Las Vegas manager Wally Backman said hitting coach George Greer — in conjunction with Mets hitting coach Dave Hudgens and minor league hitting coordinator Lamar Johnson — will work with Davis on removing the hitch from his swing but said his main problem is mental.
“We’ve all talked about some things we’ll probably try to do, but I think really it’s to clear his mind right now. He can relax a little more here,” Backman said. “I’ve played in New York, and it’s not fun to get booed. They’ve been on him pretty hard in New York.”
Davis also got off to a slow start last season before excelling down the stretch, hitting 20 of his career-high 32 home runs after the All-Star break. He also had a career-high 90 RBIs and batted .227 in a career-high 156 games.
“I’ve proven I can get hot in a couple of months and totally turn things around. That’s hopefully what I do here,” Davis said. “That kind of happened to me last year, where I was kind of lost, then one day it just clicked and I had a good second half.”
Davis, who grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., and was an All-American at Arizona State, has been reunited in Las Vegas with Greer, his former Class-A hitting instructor.
“It’s good to see him, but I wish it was in different circumstances,” he said. “My job right now is to go try to work on things and help the 51s win some games and maybe show some of the younger guys in here that stuff like this does happen and you can bounce back from it.”
Davis played only 10 games for Triple-A Buffalo in 2010 before getting called up by the Mets, compiling 19 homers and 71 RBIs in 147 games.
He batted .302 with seven homers and 25 RBIs in 36 games in an injury-shortened 2011 season.
Davis, whose father is former big league pitcher Ron Davis, said his swing has been off since spring training.
“There was something just a little wrong with my swing this whole year,” he said. “I wasn’t getting to the zone as smoothly as I normally do. Even in the spring, I wasn’t driving the ball like I normally did.”
Davis said there’s no timetable for his return. “Hopefully, if I rake, I’ll be up there soon,” he said.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.
