Mets slugger J.D. Davis won a chance to show us what he can do as a starter

J.D. Davis came out of nowhere in 2019 as a part-time player for the New York Mets. In 2020, the team has to see what he can do in a full-time role.

Despite playing in 140 of the 162 games for the 2019 New York Mets, it wasn’t until midseason when we saw J.D. Davis start regularly. Dominic Smith’s injury put Davis in left field almost full time and allowed one of the biggest surprises of the 2019 season to flourish.

At season’s end, Davis owned a .307/.369/.527 batting line complete with 22 home runs and 57 RBI. All of this in 453 plate appearances translates well into a full season with plenty more trips to the plate.

In the opinion of many—including yours truly—Davis deserves an opportunity to show us all what he can do as an everyday player. There wasn’t a single major weakness in his offensive game. While we can’t ignore his defensive shortcomings, players who hit like him don’t come around often.

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With a season OPS of .895, Davis would have finished 32nd in all of baseball had he received enough at-bats. This would have placed him between Matt Olson and DJ LeMahieu. For what it’s worth, LeMahieu finished fourth in the AL in the MVP vote. Davis had a higher OPS than him and third-place finisher, Marcus Semien.

A player’s OPS hardly tells the full story. The award goes to the Most Valuable Player—not the guy who mashes baseballs and gets on base at the highest rate.

Amazingly, Davis’ future in Flushing is still in question. He’s one of the most talked-about trade candidates on the roster. Alongside fellow defensive rover Smith, it may be tough to find him at-bats in 2020.

Davis’ combination of power, average, and a knack for getting on shouldn’t automatically put him on an AL team as the DH. In left field for the Mets, he was bad, but not unimaginably atrocious. Given his ability to also play third base albeit weakly, he’s someone the team could grow with.

Something about winning the Davis trade last winter and then trading him this offseason rubs me the wrong way. I’ve suffered rope burns on my hands before and yet the thought of this is more painful than the actual sting my palms received at that YMCA birthday party I attended at age 10.

Even if the Mets do decide to do the wise thing and keep him, they will face a challenge in 2020 to get him enough at-bats. Third base will belong to either Jeff McNeil or Jed Lowrie on a regular basis. In left field, we may see Yoenis Cespedes return at some point. Something the front office needs to remember is that baseball goes on and Cespedes will not be with the team in 2021. Davis could be.

We talk often about bad trades the Mets have made. Another ongoing subject about the team is how unwilling they are to pay money for the best players.

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Davis joined the club in a trade the organization absolutely won and he’s not getting paid much. He’s a low-cost, high-talent player who did more than anyone could have projected. On Opening Day 2020, he deserves to see his name on the first lineup card written out by Carlos Beltran.