Starling Marte drifted back and back, his hand edging out to find the wall before his feet gripped it and his glove rose over the top of the fence. Whatever chance he thought he had was nil.
The ball found its way over the center-field fence, 395 feet from Citi Field’s home plate, and J.D. Davis rounded the bases with a two-run blast and a statement made loud and clear to Mets manager Mickey Callaway.
Before Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Pirates, Callaway was peppered with questions regarding how to replace left fielder Dominic Smith, who the team had just put on the injured list with a stress reaction in his left foot. After the victory, the query was more direct: Should Davis just get the playing time?
“I think that he deserves it,” Callaway said. “Obviously he’ll be in there tomorrow, or people would kill me.”
Davis has mostly been used against left-handed pitchers this year, though he was scheduled to be in Saturday’s lineup against Trevor Williams, a righty, even before the news about Smith was announced.
Hours later, Davis exited following the seventh inning when Juan Lagares came in to play center field, with Michael Conforto moving to right and Jeff McNeil going to left. Davis had put together a 2-for-3 night — with a double and the seventh-inning home run — both against Williams.
In his first at-bat, Davis looked for a 1-0 slider and got caught off-guard when Williams blew a fastball by him. He took a mental note, and when Williams left fastballs in the zone in his next two at-bats, Davis was ready.
“He mixed both sides of the plate really well, two seams down and in and four seams away and up in the zone to righties,” Davis said. “But knowing that, just try to look for a pitch out over the plate in those last two at bats. I got a pitch and I didn’t miss.”
So long as Smith is out of the lineup, the door is open for Davis. That’s not a particularly comfortable framing for Davis — he described it as “bittersweet,” saying Smith is one of his good friends on the team — but it is a chance to establish himself further.
“When I don’t play, I get two or three days off, then I come back in, the first two at-bats it’s more about getting my timing down and really not being aggressive in those situations, to see pitches,” Davis said. “When you’re playing every day, it’s a little bit easier.”
His time in New York thus far has been an understated success as one of general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s few offseason moves to work out. Davis has a slash line of .297/.359/.483, all for a $561,420 salary, per Spotrac.
He added value to that contract Saturday. And in the coming weeks, he should have every chance to do it again.
