2012 Ike Davis Player Profile – Is He The Next Joey Votto?

When Ike Davis rolled his ankle in Colorado, nothing was made of it.

The Mets thought he was day-to-day. Davis himself thought he would not miss much time. Then a day became a week, a week became a month, and eventually, Davis was lost for the entire season.

It was a terrible injury for the franchise because in his rookie season in 2010 and the beginning of 2011, Davis had shown a lot of promise.

With 19 home runs, 73 runs batted in and an ISO of .176, his future at the plate was looking very bright. Add to that his defensive abilities, his 10.1 UZR was good for the second best rating for first basemen in all of baseball, and we can safely say the Mets were happy with their 3.5 WAR first baseman.

The best part was, Davis had shown marked improvement in the second half of 2010.

After the all-star break, Ike trimmed his strike outs while increasing his walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He even saved his best for last in September, with a slash line of .330/.427/.524, a BB:SO ratio of 19:21.

It was like a cliffhanger at the end of a great book, he left every Mets fan on the edge of their seat, wanting more.

Mets Fans, Sandy Alderson Is On Twitter, And He Has Jokes

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson joined Twitter today. Here's what he's had to say so far:



You're a brave man, Sandy. Get ready for the onslaught of messages any time you do ANYTHING. I just hope fans can be respectful and state their opinions in a civilized manner, and Alderson can ignore all of those Keyboard Warriors out there (For those wondering, a Keyboard Warrior is someone who feels they can say whatever they want from behind a computer screen).  I'm not asking too much, am I?

Play nice, Mets fans.

Mayor Bloomberg As The Next Mets Owner? Don't Count On It

In a recent article on Politicker, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg was asked whether he would consider buying the Mets. His response:

"Look the Mets are fun and I like going, I think Citi Field turned out fine. Why anybody wants to own a sports team, I can’t figure out. If you think the business press is tough, and then you get to the political press, the sports press that’s just really," Mayor Bloomberg trailed off and let the audience fill in the blanks.

The whole subject came up after Councilman Jimmy Oddo suggested the Mayor buy the cash strapped team.

Is Bloomberg even a Mets fan? I've only ever seen him around when there is an important event happening.

Can Mets Fans Go A Day Without Complaining?

Some of you probably aren't going to like this post, and frankly, I don't care.

Day in and day out, I read tweets and comments on other blogs about how the Mets will finish dead last,  how the farm system stinks, and that the Wilpons need to sell the team. Well, you know what else stinks? You.

Self-loathing Mets fans who live to complain about your favorite team.

I'm not in denial. I read all the news. I know this team is a mess, and I'm not going to go out and state that the Mets will win it all in 2012. I don't, however, feel it is necessary to count a team out before the season even begins.

Lately it seems, fans who show even the slightest amount of optimism for the Mets get bashed for doing so. We're called unrealistic.

Sorry we're not all as pessimistic and whiny as you.

I almost feel as though some Mets fans wouldn't know what to do with themselves if this team showed any signs of life this season.

Everybody always says New York fans are the greatest fans in the word. If that's the case, then prove it. Quit complaining and show some support for a change.

David Wright Talks Fantasy Baseball, Football, And Citi Field Walls

Here is a clip of David Wright chatting with RotoExperts about fantasy sports and the Citi Field walls.

Thanks to Shannon Shark over at Mets Police for sharing the link.

New York Mets 2012 Projections: Catcher Josh Thole

Photo by Flickr.com

The 2011 season represented something new for Josh Thole. For the first time in his major league career, the starting job was his to lose.

In the beginning of the season, it did not look like he could handle that responsibility.

For the first two months of the season, Thole struggled in just about every facet of the game. At the plate, Thole hit .227 with a paltry .301 on base percentage, and a SO / BB ratio of 23/15. Expectations were never that high for Thole, but coming off a second half of 2010 where he hit .254 with a .333 OBP and SO / BB ratio a lot closer to 1:1, the Mets their catcher of the future would be improving, not taking steps backwards.

However, when June rolled around, Thole found himself and became the catcher the Mets were looking for.

From June 1^st until the end of the regular season, Thole put up a .292/.372/.387 slugging to go along with a SO / BB ratio of 24:23.

Incredible numbers that would make Thole an all-star candidate every season.

Keep in mind that only one full time catcher posted a higher batting average on the season higher than Thole’s four month average of .292, and that was Yadier Molina's .305. Also consider that only one full-time catcher in all of baseball had a higher on base percentage than Thole’s four month .372, and that was Alex Avila’s .389, in the American League!


It was not like Thole was hot for a week or two then regressed. These numbers are compiled over a four month span, covering 240 plate appearances, and are supported with peripherals that are similar to his career numbers.

One potential reason for his success that may or may not lead to more down the road is his increase in performance when hitting seventh in the lineup as compared to eighth.

According to baseballreference.com, Thole started the game hitting seventh in the order 41 times and eighth 33 times. When hitting seventh, Thole put up a .331/.404/.414 slash line with 13 SO’s against 18 walks. Hitting eighth, Thole put up a .237/.323/.316 slash line with 20 SO’s against only 13 walks.

The difference is startling.

Apparently, hitting eighth and one spot in front of the pitcher either changed Thole’s approach drastically and/or negatively affected the pitches he saw. Regardless, this is something that I hope Terry Collins and his staff take into account this upcoming season, especially considering the answer as to whom would hit eighth is already on his roster.

Ruben Tejada and his .287/.379/.340 slash line as the eighth hitter has proven he is comfortable hitting in front of the pitcher. If T-T can come close to repeating their 2011 levels of production this deep into the lineup, the Mets will generate an incredible amount of value considering these are generally the “easy outs” in a National League lineup.

Besides hitting eighth, two other glaring weaknesses at this point in Josh Thole’s career are his inability to hit lefties and his lack of defensive skills.

While he improved defensively as the season progressed, his TZR was -5, which means he cost his team five runs defensively over the course of the season. There were times last season where his ability to call a game and defensive fundamentals were questioned by the Mets broadcasters and media, so looking forward toward 2012, he may be criticized early and often, with the defensively sound Mike Nickeas projected to be his backup.

What Nickeas does not bring however, is a viable platoon partner for Thole like that of former Met Ronny Paulino, who played against left-handers. In his career, albeit in only 74 plate appearances, Thole has hit .162/.253/.216 against southpaws. Considering Nickeas is a career .237 hitter overall in the minor leagues, Thole will get more changes to prove himself against lefties, which could hamper his overall batting line.

Projecting Thole for 2012, I think he will improve on his 2010 and 2012 numbers. Bill James projected a .278/.353/.369 slash line in 428 at-bats and RotoChamp, another source on Fangraphs.com that uses statistical analysis, has Josh putting up a .291/.371/.365 campaign.

Finishing the year with a WAR anywhere from 2-3 is a very reasonable goal for Thole, and something that would give the Mets a tremendous value as a catcher. With continued improvement behind the plate and calling games, he could turn himself into one of the top five catchers in the National League.



For all of your @Mets updates, follow Zach on twitter @MetsVibe!

New York Mets 2012 Projections: Catcher Josh Thole

Photo by Flickr.com

The 2011 season represented something new for Josh Thole. For the first time in his major league career, the starting job was his to lose.

In the beginning of the season, it did not look like he could handle that responsibility.

For the first two months of the season, Thole struggled in just about every facet of the game. At the plate, Thole hit .227 with a paltry .301 on base percentage, and a SO / BB ratio of 23/15. Expectations were never that high for Thole, but coming off a second half of 2010 where he hit .254 with a .333 OBP and SO / BB ratio a lot closer to 1:1, the Mets their catcher of the future would be improving, not taking steps backwards.

However, when June rolled around, Thole found himself and became the catcher the Mets were looking for.

From June 1^st until the end of the regular season, Thole put up a .292/.372/.387 slugging to go along with a SO / BB ratio of 24:23.

Incredible numbers that would make Thole an all-star candidate every season.

Keep in mind that only one full time catcher posted a higher batting average on the season higher than Thole’s four month average of .292, and that was Yadier Molina's .305. Also consider that only one full-time catcher in all of baseball had a higher on base percentage than Thole’s four month .372, and that was Alex Avila’s .389, in the American League!