The New York Mets are currently loaded with injuries but they still sit atop the NL East. When the entire team is healthy they are definitely a World series Contender, but with the “bench mob” stepping up will the initial starters even get their places back? Will the back ups get the starting jobs? These are all valid questions, and some still remain regarding if JD Davis or Jonathan Villar will get the starting third base spot.
This is now Davis’ second injury of the season and although third base was his when he came back from his first injury, this new longer term injury it could be different. The Mets are taking a different route this time with Davis, as he is now in a rehab assignment, but he’ll likely to be ready to return to the majors sometime within the next week.
When he was healthy, Davis did make some errors in the field, but it’s understandable since he was coming off of a hand injury just prior. His bat was on fire before he went down, hitting .390 including 16 hits, 2 home runs and 7 RBI’s in only 41 at bats. For a couple of games he single handedly kept the lineup afloat and had some really clutch hits.
After he went down, the Mets have been using Jonathan Villar as the team’s starting third baseman and he has done a mediocre job. He has also not been the best fielder however, but as of late he has been getting hot at the plate. He currently has a batting average of .226 (which is a huge improvement from his early season numbers), which includes 21 hits, 4 homers and 12 RBI’s in 93 at bats. Looking at the hits alone, Davis is the better hitter and it’s probably fair to say that if he had 93 at bats he would have at least four home runs too. Since neither of them are star defenders, the offensive production should be the deciding factor for who the full time starter should be. The answer to that question is JD Davis.
The Mets had Davis as the starting third baseman at the beggining of the season and he hasn’t done anything to lose that spot (not counting injuries). Villar hasn’t done anything spectacular to show he’s superior than Davis, so when healthy JD Davis should be the starting third baseman for the New York Mets.
Photo credit: Julio Cortez / AP
