After a 2012 season in which Ike Davis risked demotion for much of the first half, 2013 was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster for the 26 year old Mets first baseman. On Sunday night, the New York Post’s Mike Puma quoted Davis as saying he’d concealed an oblique injury for much of the year, but never told the club for fear he’d be seen as making excuses.
“I thought about saying, ‘Hey, I would like to take a couple of weeks off, because I’m not feeling great,’ ” Davis said. “But then the timing was bad and it was when I was getting sent down. It would have been a great time, but it looks bad and I just can’t say that.”
Davis was reluctant in admitting to The Post his oblique was an issue for most of last season, beyond the “pop” in Washington, because he doesn’t want to be viewed as an Alibi Ike. Last year he batted only .205 with nine homers and 33 RBIs in 103 games for the Mets.
“It makes me look like a baby,” Davis said. “It looks like I’m whining about how I [stunk]. I was terrible, now it’s over.”
So just to be very clear, Ike Davis is not the sort of guy to blame zero production on an injury. Conversely, he’s also not the kind of guy who’s forthright with the team about whether or not he’s physically able to perform. On Monday, Davis called Puma’s story “pointless”, though given that a guy with his thin a resume isn’t entitled to spot on the roster let alone in the lineup everyday, Terry Collins can be excused from thinking there’s a pretty good reason to talk about this stuff (preferably at the time(.