Something shocking happened. You’re not going to believe me. It’s incredible, unbelievable, and totally could not have been foreseen: the Pirates plan of platooning Gaby Sanchez and Travis Ishikawa at first base isn’t working out. Crazy, right?
As of April 19, Ishikawa is batting a paltry .206 with 1 homer and Sanchez is comparatively raking to the tune of .226 with 3 bombs. Sanchez’s .3 WAR is off setting Ishikawa’s -.1 mark so at least the pair has that going for them. However, for a team fresh off a 2013 playoff run, and aspirations for a repeat performance, Gabis Ishichez isn’t going to cut it at first base. Especially not in a division with as many as 3 other playoff caliber teams and such quality firstbasemen as Allen Craig, Anthony Rizzo, and former MVP Joey Votto.
First base is a power position. Not necessarily home run power, but some offensive force is required. Its a spot on the field where you can sacrifice defense for offense, so we often see supersluggers stationed there when their team isn’t up to bat. The Pirates, up until right now, took that potential offensive strength and turned it into a serious weakness. With their already questionable starting pitching, they could not afford to waste the offensive opportunity that is first base.
Enter Ike Davis. Davis was once the crown jewel of the Mets system and even hit 32 bombs in 2012 for the big club, but he has been lost at the plate of late. Last season, he hit only .205 and the fans turned on him. With other options at first, the Mets needed to move on from Davis as much as he needed to move on from New York.
Now that he’s in Pittsburgh, replacing a useless duo at his position, Davis can relax and focus on being a rich man’s Garrett Jones. If Ike can hit 20-25 homers this year at a .220 clip, the Pirates will have to be happy. At the very least, he gives the lineup a little bit more depth in the middle–no pitchers were losing a second of sleep over the other two guys.
I think that the new team and new coaching staff will benefit Davis. In New York, he was welcomed as the savior of the franchise and a corner stone for the organization to build around and then vilified as that prophecy turned out to be false. In Pittsburgh, he doesn’t have any of that baggage weighing him down. It’s very possible that the Pirates stumbled into a a quality big league first basemen, something they certainly didn’t have before this trade.
And I do mean stumbled. Perhaps the best part of this deal for Pittsburgh is what they gave up, or more accurately what they didn’t. Some have speculated that the second player headed to New York will be a serious talent, but ‘players to be named later’ seldom are. The named player heading to the Mets is pitcher Zach Thornton, and if you don’t know anything else about him know that he was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft and nobody picked him up. So he can’t exactly be that well regarded.
Given the potential for a lot of power and stability at a key position at very minimal cost, it’s easy to say that the Pirates made a good move in adding Ike Davis.
-Max Frankel
(Thanks to the New York Daily News for the Picture)
