NY Mets starting lineup is desperately seeking J.D. Davis

The next position player expected to return to the New York Mets starting lineup is J.D. Davis. We may not see Davis at his familiar spot over at third base. Instead, because of who is injured and what the Mets have available, Davis could slot in at first base for often than anywhere else. Dominic Smith hasn’t been so bad in left field and to put the best starting nine on the field that they can, having Davis start at first base sounds like the plan.

Prior to landing on the IL, Davis was the hottest hitter on the Mets. His .390 batting average was among the league leaders. Limited to just 14 games and 41 at-bats so far this year, it’s too hard to tell whether or not he has dusted off his awesome abilities we saw on full display back in 2019.

Whatever version of J.D. Davis emerges this year, the Mets starting lineup really needs him

The last few days of Mets baseball have featured some interesting lineups. Tomas Nido has entrenched himself in the middle of the order. Newcomer Cameron Maybin has been the ineffective number three guy with Jonathan Villar getting first hacks at the top of the order.

The bottom half, made up of rookies and guys we expected to spend a lot more time at Triple-A before getting any sips of coffee, have had their moments but how confident can we be in them to continue to come up with those clutch hits? It’s astonishing that they remain in first place despite the shortcomings in the starting lineup and from the end result of most games.

In many Mets games, we’re getting exactly what we might expect: a low-run scoring performance. Thanks to the timeliness of these hits and the epidemic of poor offense throughout the league this year, the team has managed to not let it bury them.

Won’t J.D. Davis returning just be like it was before the team lost Pete Alonso?

Yes and no. Alonso was struggling a lot before his IL stint. With just six home runs in his 36 games, I almost want to question how long the Polar Bear was dealing with his wrist issue.

Davis is a different kind of hitter from Alonso—at least from what we saw back in 2019. Davis proved he can hit over .300, something Alonso has yet to do. The increased contact Davis can give the Mets may prove more valuable in this team’s time of need.

When Davis went down with his current injury, it looked like the Mets could get by without him. They did fine when he missed time earlier this year. The same way we might see “at least I have my health” when everything else in our lives is falling apart, at least the Mets had a clear injured list.

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Unfortunately, this has changed. Since his placement on the IL retroactive to May 2, Davis has been joined by many of his best friends. When he gets back into the lineup, fans will be happier than ever to see him.