Zack Scott, the New York Mets interim director, spoke with reporters a few days before the team reported on Spring Training. He gave mixed signals about the organization’s confidence in Jd Davis heading for his third season with the organization.
“We feel completely comfortable entering the season with JD Davis playing an important role,” Scott said.
Like Jack Ramsey of the MMO noted on Twitter, phrasing is everything. Scott did not say the Mets felt fully comfortable with Davis as the club’s third baseman. All he said was that they are confident he can play an important role in the team.
What role does he refer to? Maybe he’s off the bench against left-handed pitchers. The only reason it wouldn’t start on the hot corner is if a transaction takes place. The Mets have reportedly had recent trade talks with the Chicago Cubs about Kris Bryant, Cincinnati Reds about Eugenio Suarez, and Oakland Athletics about Matt Chapman.
There’s no doubt Davis can hit. In 2019, his first season with the Mets, he fell .307 / .369 / .527 with 22 home runs, which was ranked fourth in the team behind Pete Alonso (53), Michael Comfort (33) and Jeff McNeil (2. 3). This was his first significant playing time in the major leagues (140 games played and 453 appearances on the board), which led to impressive career scores in wRC + (136) and fWAR (2.3).
The problem for New York and any potential commercial contender is his defense – Davis has totaled -17 defensive runs saved at third base in the last two seasons. This will probably be a problem if there is no improvement given that Alonso, Dominic Smith (in the outer field) and Brandon Nimmo There are also no high-profile defenders.
