J.D. Davis, James McCann, Dom Smith give Mets reason to keep faith
Mets designated hitter J.D. Davis hits a grand slam against the Marlins during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
You’re Mets general manager Billy Eppler. It’s Thursday afternoon, the team is coming off a series win in Cincinnati that was harder than expected, and your waking hours are being jammed lately with trade conversations.
Looking at the list of priorities, two positions set off alarms in your head with the brain-rattling urgency of an ambulance siren.
At DH, the Mets ranked 26th in the majors with a .625 OPS. The five home runs from that spot? Only three teams had fewer. The Yankees were No. 1 with 36.
Remember what those initials stand for. That position in the lineup has one job each night: to hit.
Then there’s catcher, a spot that is performing so terribly at the plate for the Mets that its stats should be counted in the International League. The combined .498 OPS ranked 29th overall. Home runs? Two. Catcher is a glove-first position. But they do own bats as well.
No fancy algorithms are required here. These weren’t roster spots for the Mets. They were cries for help.
At least that’s what Eppler surely was thinking. Until maybe Thursday night, when the Mets’ 10-0 thumping of the Marlins at Citi Field possibly gave him something else to consider.
Such as another look at the in-house options, as J.D. Davis’ grand slam and James McCann’s three-run homer provided some big offense from those unanticipated sources.
With a little more than three weeks left before the Aug. 2 trade deadline, is that enough time for Davis — along with Dominic Smith — to fortify the DH spot?
How about McCann, who said after Thursday’s win that the broken hand that had sidelined him still is a “work in progress” in getting back to 100% and perhaps producing the way he did the past two nights (he also had a key RBI single in Wednesday’s furious 10th-inning rally).
Until Eppler completes a deal for Nelson Cruz or Josh Bell or Trey Mancini or another hitter of their caliber, the Davis-Smith combo still has an opportunity to change the GM’s mind. Driving in a career-high five runs helped Davis’ argument, as he’s struggled to get consistent chances to play.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ve been in trade talks since 2015, so I’ve been there, done that. The best thing I can do is control what I can control, keep getting barrels and try not to get as many whiffs. Go up there and put a professional at-bat every single time and just pass the baton. That’s all I can do.”
Davis has one of the top hard-hit rates in the majors, but making contact has been the issue, as he mentioned. For Smith, a late May demotion to Triple-A Syracuse definitely got his attention. He’s batted .333 (9-for-27) with six doubles and three RBIs since being recalled.
“I look at it like the answer’s always here,” Buck Showalter said. “I like our guys. I like the players we have. I won’t spend any time coveting somebody else’s.”
Away from the mic, Showalter certainly has a wish list, as every manager does with the deadline approaching. But there’s also an expectation industry-wide that with more teams vying for contention in the expanded playoff field, deals are going to develop much later this year. That means more games for the Davis-Smith DH to enhance their worth at home in Flushing and for McCann to regain his strength.
McCann missed more than six weeks with a fractured hamate bone in his left hand, and that’s a terrible injury for someone attempting to do just about anything while crouching behind the plate or standing beside it. Before Thursday, his numbers reflected that: a .182 average with one homer and eight RBIs. He came close to matching that production with one swing.
“Confidence is a big part of hitting, that’s for sure,” he said. “I feel like I’ve hit the ball better than what my numbers show, but definitely getting the results is something that makes you feel good as a hitter and you can build off stuff. It’s a process, you’ve got to trust the process and you’ve got to grind it out.”
The Mets have featured a resourceful lineup all year, with Pete Alonso handling the heavy lifting (22 homers, 69 RBIs) and the group relying on its situational-hitting prowess. That was on full display Thursday night.
They scored 10 runs for the 10th time this season, the most in the NL and second in the majors. Just think what they could do on a regular basis if the DH and catcher positions joined the party.
“Something that’s special about this team is that it’s not just one or two guys in the lineup getting the job done,” McCann said. “It’s been a different guy really every day. Seeing the lineup produce like it did tonight, that’s a lot of fun.”
Can Eppler afford to keep that faith? He’s got another three weeks to be convinced.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
