PORT ST. LUCIE — It was just an RBI double against a minor league pitcher, but Ike Davis will take what positives he can get these days.
“It was fun,” Davis said after he and Lucas Duda, both sidelined by leg injuries, served as designated hitters in a pair of minor league games Friday on the back fields, following extended absences. “It just means I’m getting closer to getting on the field, obviously.”
In the Mets’ first base competition that can’t seem to get started, both took steps forward, even if the results didn’t blow anyone away.
They each got five at-bats and neither player ran, but Davis ripped a double down the right field line to drive in a run and walked twice, while Duda went 0-for-4 with a walk and hit one ball to the warning track in right.
“It’s like we restart spring training again,” said Duda said, who, like Davis, figures to get a few more plate appearances here on Saturday.
No doubt each of them would like to do just that.
“My timing was a little off, but I felt good for the most part,” said Duda, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Davis has been slowed by calf tightness and said he planned on wearing compression socks the rest of the season.
“I’ve never had this before and I don’t want to have it again,” Davis said.
Now that Davis and Duda are both approaching game speed, the Mets can finally get to the point where they can pick a first baseman — since Josh Satin is virtually the only player in camp who has been able to play the position and escape unscathed.
Manager Terry Collins had planned on bringing one to Las Vegas and keeping one in Florida, but as he put it bluntly: “That’s not going to happen.”
Davis hopes to begin seeing Grapefruit League action by next week and Duda remains optimistic he could play an actual game any day.
Davis is still trying to prove his struggles of the past two years are behind him, and the Mets would like to see if they can still get something out of him — or for him.
“I actually had a decent day,” Davis said. “I kept the ball in the air, which is nice. I hadn’t hit a live ball in about a week or so. I didn’t break all my bats or swing and miss every time.”
The duo will now try to make up for lost time, even if it means playing in more minor league games, where they can get more at bats.
“I haven’t had many at-bats in the last seven or eight months,” said Davis, who has yet to run, but believes he only needs to do so once before he’s ready for game action. “I’d like to get 30 at-bats on the big league side. I’ll swing much as I can. … I should be fine.”
The Mets would like to think he’s right — and this actually is a sign the worst is behind them.
“Me and Duda are definitely happy doing stuff,” Davis said. “It’s not fun sitting in the training room all day, not feeling like you’re doing anything this job entitles you to do. …I t was a good day, for sure.”
And for this duo, there haven’t been too many of those.