Had to laugh over the weekend at the murmuring – even the predicting on line and on talk radio here in New York – that Ike Davis, the slugging son of the original set-up man of the Yankees, Ron Davis, would be imminently summoned to take over first base for the Mets.
Try June 7th. Or July 7th. Or September 7th.
Omar Minaya has made it very clear that with Daniel Murphy out, Mike Jacobs is getting his second chance to make a great first impression. He’ll be spelled at first against lefties by Fernando Tatis and maybe others, at least until Murphy is ready to return from injury. If Jacobs hasn’t cut it, Murphy will then get a reasonable chance to regain the job. We’re talking about, at minimum, a month of Jacobs and a month of Murphy before the Mets promote their latest phenom – and that presumes that both of them wash out, and that he doesn’t get flummoxed by his first taste of AAA.
In fact, righty-swinging Nick Evans, a potential platoon partner with Jacobs or Murphy, stands a much better chance of promotion – and sooner – than Davis.
If this weren’t transparently obvious, the debut dates of last year’s most hyped rookies is an indicator that “Super Two” status is of far more concern to most clubs than having freshmen come up early. There are always exceptions (Elvis Andrus, Jason Heyward) and surprises (nobody thought Andrew Bailey was a closer, let alone a ROTY candidate, when he opened the season with the A’s last year, and even when NL ROTY Chris Coghlan came up on May 8th he seemed an unlikely candidate for the award.
But here’s the calendar:
May 26: Fernando Martinez, Mets
June 4: Gordon Beckham, White Sox
June 4: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
June 7: Tommy Hanson, Braves
So for those of you holding your breath (or your roster spots in fantasy leagues) waiting for Davis, Pedro Alvarez, Craig Kimbrel, Drew Storen, and even Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman, hope you’re prepared for a few months of zeroes. Some teams – like the Nats last year with Jordan Zimmermann – can’t resist. And we saw how that turned out.
Baseball Nerd 
Hey Keith! Just wondering… I sent you a tweet last night, letting you know that the people who send you nasty messages retweet your replies, and consider it a reward. It was just something I thought you should know – didn’t know if you were aware of it. But now… I’m not seeing your feed on my page. I don’t know if you’ve blocked me, but I wanted to say this: My message wasn’t intended to upset you in any way, shape or form… I just sent it to let you know what the haters are like on Twitter. You can reply to them all you want, obviously (and some of your replies are really funny)… but I just thought you should know that they consider your replies a “prize”. If I upset you in any way, I’m truly sorry. (@ReasonVsFear on Twitter)
Hi Keith,
Any news on Beltran’s timetable? I have him on my reserve list and I’m itching to use the spot.
Good to have you on twitter.
Mortonie
Cant wait till the Metrodome sees a similar fate. And will have no qualms at all about watching it be detonated, despite the fact that the Twins won 2 [of the best ever] World Series there. Nostalgia is overated. Outside baseball with the M & M boys and a 7 foot closer with a tatoo on his neck is tremendous. Looks like youre going to have to eat crow re: your Twins pick in the Central. Its OK. I forgive you. But you can at least write about how awesome the Twins are! Cheers, John Myers