Ike Davis (Paul J. Bereswill)
The Mets are hoping Ike Davis’ demotion solves his hitting woes. But, in the short term, there are many questions to answer.
Here are four regarding his demotion:
What’s the Mets’ immediate plan for Davis at Triple-A?
Davis’ plan is pretty simple.
“I’m going to go down and work hard and figure out my swing,” Davis told The Post yesterday. He is expected to make his Las Vegas debut tonight.
The organization has to be happy to hear Davis’ attitude. But how will Davis and the Triple-A staff rediscover his swing?
Alderson, in a phone interview yesterday, said he is mainly leaving the hitting mechanics to the minor league staff, because Vegas hitting coach George Greer and roving hitting instructor Lamar Johnson have a relationship with Davis from when the first baseman played in the minors. Alderson also said Mets hitting coach Dave Hudgens will likely give Greer his input.
“In some ways, it’s not about new ideas,” Alderson said. “It’s about the application of existing ideas, and in that environment it may be easier to apply those ideas than it had been here where the pressure on outcome and results is so much greater.”
Vegas manager Wally Backman said he wants to get Davis back to the form he had when he first joined the Mets.
“We’ve watched hours and hours of tape on him, back when he first went to the big leagues from the minor leagues,” said Backman, who added Davis needs to improve his pitch selection.
“He’s made so many changes. I think personally, it’s been too many changes. We’ll try to get him back to what he did to get to the big leagues.”
He wasn’t ready to put a timetable on Davis’ stay.
“It’s not going to be, ‘Hey, if you get 15 hits this week, you’re gone,’ ” Backman said. “We’ve got to see you do this consistently. … It may be two weeks. It could be a month. I don’t know.”
And he said he’ll be hands-on.
“He’s coming here for us to fix him and we’re gonna try to fix him, Backman said. “I think there’s a lot more mental than there is physical. … We’ll try to clear his head from everything. He was getting, from what I heard, lots of different people giving him a lot of different information. So basically, mentally, he’s totally [messed] up.”
In the meantime, who will play first base?
Alderson said the most likely candidates are Daniel Murphy and Josh Satin, who was recalled from Vegas on Sunday. Alderson said it’s ultimately Terry Collins’ call, and the manager said yesterday he’ll pick one or both.
Alderson said using Lucas Duda was also a possibility, but Collins said he wants to keep him in left. If Collins puts Murphy at first, Jordany Valdespin would slide into the lineup at second.
“I think Ike is going to be back and Lucas has done a nice job in the outfield, so I don’t want to mess with that,” Collins said. “[But] moving Murphy wouldn’t bother me.”
Could Valdespin become the everyday second baseman if Murphy plays first?
Possibly. Alderson said the team is interested in auditioning Valdespin there, but he’s not committing to it.
“I think we’re inclined to give him an audition at second base. I’m not sure how long that audition will last,” Alderson said. “We’re pretty familiar with him as a player.”
It’s also possible the Mets could play Murphy every day at either first or second base and employ a Valdespin/Satin platoon at the other position. Valdespin bats lefty, Satin righty.
Was there anyone the Mets considered promoting over Satin?
Yes. Wilmer Flores.
The 21-year-old Flores, the Mets’ 2012 organizational player of the year, is playing second at Triple-A. He entered last night hitting .303 with five homers and 45 RBIs. If the Mets had recalled Flores, they could have moved Murphy to first.
“There was that consideration and actually that might have been an easier change to make because Flores is on the [40-man] roster. And certainly not ruling out the possibility that Flores will be here in the near future,” Alderson said.
—Additional reporting by Mike Puma
mark.hale@nypost.com