JD Davis lost his job for a few days, but when he landed on his feet, he did so at the other end of the leaderboard and on a much bigger stage.
After the Yankees acquired Davis from the Athletics last Sunday to bolster the middle of their injured lineup, he arrived at Citi Field Tuesday as a member of a first-place team and started at first base during the first iteration of the Subway series. .
“It’s a little surreal because last week I didn’t really have any work and then all of a sudden I find myself here in New York playing with the Yankees (against) the Mets,” Davis said Tuesday afternoon inside the visitors’ clubhouse. from the stadium he calls home as a Met from 2019 to 2022. “It’s pretty surreal. It’s a great opportunity, it’s a blessing.
The Yankees are hoping Davis can make the most of this opportunity at a time when they are without Anthony Rizzo (broken arm) and Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring strain).
They were already expected to be in the market for a cornerback by next month’s trade deadline, but in the meantime, Davis will have an avenue to see if he can be a useful piece for them.
In the short term, that means starting against left-handed pitchers, which the right-handed hitting Davis has generally excelled against.
He batted sixth against Mets left-hander David Peterson on Tuesday night and should be back in the lineup Wednesday against left-hander Sean Manaea.
Manager Aaron Boone indicated he would bounce Davis between first base, third base and DH, although he would not be a right-handed platoon with left-handed rookie first baseman Ben Rice.
“I want him to come here and settle in, feel comfortable,” Boone said. “But I’m just hoping for a presence.” Right-handed presence, I see him in there a lot, probably against left-handed pitchers.
Davis, 31, was hitting .236 with a .670 OPS in 135 plate appearances for the A’s this season.
But he attributed that to a lot of stops and starts: He was released by the Giants in mid-March, picked up by the A’s a few days later, went on the injured list in mid-April with a strain to the adductor muscles, returned in early May, then missed a few games at the end of May after being hit in the hand by a pitch.
Davis was starting to get into a rhythm — hitting .275 with a .727 OPS in his final 24 games — before A’s general manager David Forst called him last week and told him the team was going to give more of bats to his young players. .
Davis said he understood, even if it meant he would be designated for assignment last Tuesday.
By Sunday, he had gone from last place in the AL West to first place in the AL East.
“It’s exciting to go from a team that was just under .500 and now a team that’s going for a division, going for a pennant and still looking to win a World Series,” Davis said. “Any time you’re a part of that, it just energizes you and motivates you to come in and be your best player.”
Davis also hopes he learned from all the interruptions to his daily playing routine and can take advantage of it now after being in DFA limbo for the past week.
As for his Yankees debut against his former team, Davis said he “had a great time here” hitting .278 with an .815 OPS and 37 home runs in 335 games with the Mets.
“I think my time here (with the Mets) was kind of hampered (by) the injury I suffered during surgery (to repair a torn ligament in my hand),” Davis said. “With so many moving parts, so many general managers, so many managers, so many different opinions on what core group we should stay with, I think it was just a business decision to let me go to San Francisco. “
New York Post
