The New York Yankees are currently weathering the storm that
we will call the “First Base Curse” after losing Mark Teixeira, Chris Parmelee,
Greg Bird and Dustin Ackley to injuries already this season. New York has
flushed Robert Refsnyder into the position and while his bat has been
surprisingly quiet his defense has been more than adequate for a man just
learning the position in my opinion. Despite this and despite naming Refsnyder
as the everyday first baseman the Yankees couldn’t help themselves when they
saw an outcast veteran on the free agent market and they signed Ike Davis to a
deal over the weekend. Let’s meet him.
This is Meet a Prospect: The Ike Davis Edition. Isaac
Benjamin “Ike” Davis was born on March 22, 1987 and has spent time on the major
league roster with the New York Mets, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland
Athletics before being signed by the New York Yankees. Davis was born in Edina,
Minnesota to Millie and Ron Davis and was born with baseball in his blood.
Ike’s father, Ron, pitched 481 games in his 11-year Major Leaguer career as a
power relief pitcher and even had a 1981 All-Star Game appearance under his
belt with the New York Yankees. Davis, senior and junior, have the fighters
instincts in their blood as one of Ike’s great aunts on his mother’s side was a
Holocaust survivor while Davis’ grandfather on his father’s side was a
paratrooper for the United States army and was one of the brave souls who
stormed the beach in Normandy on D-Day in 1944.
Davis spent his high school years at Chaparral High School
in Scottsdale, Arizona where he won three state titles from 2003-2005. While
there Davis set the school record for batting average in a single season
hitting .559 as a sophomore beating out Paul Konerko by the slimmest of margins
who hit .558 in 1994. Davis also broke Konerko’s single season doubles record
with 23 in a season all while doubling as a pitcher as well. In 2003 while
still in High School David pitched for the USA Youth National Team who won a
gold medal in the International Baseball Federation World Youth Championships
in Taiwan. Winning was in Davis’ blood and he took that winning mentality and
spirit to Arizona State University where he continued his amateur career.
While with Arizona State Davis played DH, first base and
corner outfield while pitching on Friday nights (traditionally the ace of the
staff pitches on Friday night) as a freshman and continued that throughout his
Junior year. Davis finished his collegiate career with a .353 batting average,
244 hits, 33 home runs, 69 doubles and 202 RBI as a hitter. As a pitcher and
the Sun Devils closer Davis totaled a 7-5 record with 4 saves and 78 strikeouts
while winning two Pac-10 Championships with a trip to the 2007 College World Series
thrown into the mix as well. In the 2008 MLB First Year Players Draft the New
York Mets selected Davis with the 18th pick overall and Davis
decided to sign rather than return to ASU for his senior season thus beginning
his professional career.
Davis was not long for the minor leagues as he spent half a
season in 2008 with the club before being invited to spring training before the
2010 season by the Mets. Despite leading the team in hitting with a .480
average and three home runs Davis was optioned back to the minor leagues at the
end of spring but by April 19th Davis was back in the Mets set to
make his MLB debut despite only 65 games above A-Ball in his career. Davis
debuted against the Chicago Cubs and wasted no time hitting a single in his
first MLB bat before finishing with a 2-4 night in a Mets victory. Davis had a
pair of multi-hit games in his first four games and showcased an underrated and
strong glove at first base for New York.
Davis was back for his sophomore season in the majors in
2011 and he picked up right where he left off in 2010 with at least one RBI in
nine of his first 10 games of the season. An ankle injury was the only thing
that could slow Davis down and one did just that on May 10, 2011 limiting him
to just 36 games. Injury and disease was holding Davis back again in 2012 as
well as Davis was diagnosed with valley fever, a rare dust-borne fungal
infection endemic that was seen mainly in the American southwest. Davis started
slow after the diagnosis before waking up in July just in time to become only
the 9th Met in their history to his three home runs in a game
against a former Yankee and current Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy.
Davis eclipsed the 30 home run plateau in 2012 but one again started slow in
2013 prompting him to be demoted to Triple-A in June of that year.
Davis would come back in July of 2013 but he never again
reached the marks he did previous in his career which was highlighted by his
benching in 2014. Davis found himself playing in the backup role to Lucas Duda
in New York until the Mets traded Davis to the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 18th
in exchange for Zack Thornton and a player to be named later. Davis enjoyed a
good season in Pittsburgh but he was ultimately designated for assignment by
the club in 2014 and traded to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for bonus
slots for use in signing international free agents. How far the mighty have
fallen.
Davis had a lackluster 2015 campaign with the A’s that ended
with a torn hip labrum and another season ending surgery for the former ASU
star and another offseason where Davis found himself on the free agent market.
This time the Texas Rangers came calling signing him to a minor league deal
with an invitation to spring training before releasing him once again on Jun
12, 2015. Now Davis is looking to latch on with the Yankees after signing a
Major League deal and looking to harness some of the potential that made him so
special for so long. Welcome to the organization Ike and most importantly
welcome to the family.
