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Who the hell can tell what Collins wants people to think, including Ike and Looook?
| “Well, again, only time will tell,” Collins said of Davis’s future role. “He may be the first baseman next week. I know you guys, that’s why I don’t want to say anything because everything is etched in stone around here. Make one statement, it’s a headline. This is not a headline. It’s a move we’re going to make for a while and see what happens to try and get some consistent at-bats and see if Lucas can do what we all thought he can do. If he doesn’t, then we’ve got another option.” |
And does Ike think the game was rigged all along?
| “It was a supposed competition ...." |
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Starting Duda Pays Off as Mets Win Their First
By JORGE ARANGURE Jr.APRIL 4, 2014
In the midst of a miserable first week of the season, the Mets tried to eliminate at least one potential controversy by naming Lucas Duda as the starting first baseman on Friday. The protracted battle between Duda and Ike Davis threatened to be a distraction to a team fraught with bullpen, hitting and attendance issues.
Before the game, Duda said that the more regularly he played, the more comfortable he was likely to feel at the plate.
As if proving his point, Duda’s two home runs helped the Mets to their first win of the season, 4-3, over the Cincinnati Reds. Jenrry Mejia struck out a career-high eight batters in six innings to get the win.
“It’s just one day,” Duda said, playing down his performance. He added, “I was just glad to play.”
In his second at bat, with the Mets trailing, 1-0, in the fourth, Duda walloped a two-run shot against Reds starter Mike Leake that landed in the Mets’ bullpen. In the sixth, with the Mets holding a 2-1 lead, Duda hit a line drive two-run homer to right field against Leake to widen the margin, no small thing for a team whose bullpen had allowed 11 earned runs in nine and a third innings heading into Friday’s game. Sure enough, reliever John Lannan allowed two runs in the seventh, but Duda’s two home runs proved to be enough.
“We needed it as a team immensely,” Manager Terry Collins said of Duda’s night. “As I’ve said, sometimes it’s just about confidence. When you feel good about yourself, you can do what you’re supposed to do.”
Duda might need several more nights like Friday to secure the job permanently. Collins said before the game that the Mets could revisit the situation later in the season.
“Well, again, only time will tell,” Collins said of Davis’s future role. “He may be the first baseman next week. I know you guys, that’s why I don’t want to say anything because everything is etched in stone around here. Make one statement, it’s a headline. This is not a headline. It’s a move we’re going to make for a while and see what happens to try and get some consistent at-bats and see if Lucas can do what we all thought he can do. If he doesn’t, then we’ve got another option.”
In his four-plus-year career in New York, Duda has never played more than 43 games at first. Most often, he was asked to play the outfield, where his defensive struggles were epic.
Both Davis and Duda entered spring training with the belief that they could earn the starting job, but both ended up missing a portion of the spring with injuries, Duda with a strained left hamstring and Davis with stiffness in his right calf. In a limited sample this spring, Davis had an .830 on-base plus slugging percentage in 29 at-bats, while Duda had a .748 O.P.S. in 27 at-bats.
Despite getting limited looks at both players, Collins said he entered this season knowing that Duda was going to be his starting first baseman. But he also wanted to give Davis, who started the season opener, an opportunity to play against the Washington Nationals, against whom he has a career .827 O.P.S.
Davis said he was not surprised to find out that Duda would replace him for now.
“It was a supposed competition, so there was going to be a winner and there’s only two choices,” Davis said.
The Mets reportedly tried to trade Davis this spring, but found no takers as a result of his disappointing 2013 season, when he hit .205. A strong surge at the plate by Duda — and Friday was a great start — will help Collins resolve what could turn into tricky situation, with two players who believe they should be the starting first baseman.
“Our job is not to give players away,” Collins said of the possibility of trading Davis, adding: “This is partly a business, too. So when you say he should go someplace else, yeah, maybe he should. But there’d better be something coming back that you can use that’s of same value.”
But the Mets might take whatever they can get for Davis if Duda has more nights like Friday’s. |
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/05/sport ... .html?_r=0
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