Ike Davis has been a completely different player since the unofficial halfway point of the baseball season. So has the Mets season. The Mets have come crashing back to reality in the second half, while their young first baseman has finally broken out of his first slump. Davis was always among talks of being demoted to the minor league. However, watching the 25-year-old recently makes those words seem ridiculous. Davis has not improved his offensive numbers to 25 homers with 74 RBIs, which is only four behind David Wright who has been having an MVP-worthy year. Ike was always kept in the line up for his outstanding defense, but the power that everyone knew was there seemed to take some time to develop. Mets’ fans watched the first baseman struggle and visibly show his frustration by slamming the bat or walking away and swearing up and down. It seems as though that has all passed. Davis is the first first baseman the Mets have had hit 20+ home runs in a season since Carlos Delgado. Davis is a cheap well-rounded first baseman. He has already shown that he can prevail under the harshest media scrutiny by playing for a New York team. He is someone the Mets will need to keep in order to be able to compete in the future in a game with names like Pujols, Fielder, Teixeira, and Howard all occupying the same position.
