Mets' 1B Ike Davis has even lower OPS than Pujols but stays confident

NEW YORK -- Albert Pujols will be heartened to know his .505 OPS isn't last in major league baseball, and that there were in fact six players beneath him on the OPS list of 181 qualifiers heading into today's play. Pujols might also be heartened to know he has some comfort on the cold corner, across the country in Queens. One of those half-dozen players below Pujols is Mets slugging first baseman Ike Davis, whose OPS was .502 going into today's game.

"Obviously, it's not good. (But) I'm not crazy over it,'' Davis declared before the game today with the Diamondbacks.

Assuming that's true, he may be the only one in New York.

"It's early,'' he said. "If it's the All-Star break, then yeah, I'm concerned ... I'm going to get better.''

Davis, considered one of the Mets' best young players on a team of young players, can't get much worse. That's certainly true at Citi Field, where he was three for 47 entering Sunday's game. "I'm not getting pitches to hit, and the ones I did get to hit I missed,'' Davis said. "I haven't driven balls here ... It'll change.

It has to. Davis' averages are so much lower than what was expected -- .222 on-base percentage, .280 slugging percentage -- folks have to be wondering what's up. Unlike Pujols, he has hit a few home runs (three to be exact). but with only six walks and 27 strikeouts entering today's game,folks have to wonder what's up. He was preliminarily diagnosed with Valley Fever this spring after a spot was seen on a lung X-ray, though he said felt no symptoms in spring. And he said he's fine now.

Regardless, he knows he can't stick at .172 indefinitely, though he also knows that a respectable average isn't built overnight.

"I'm going to get better. But I'm not going to turn a .100 average (.172 actually) into .300 in a day,'' Davis said. "It's going to take time.''

Mets  manager Terry Collins tried giving Davis a day off Saturday, same as Angels manager Mike Scioscia did Sunday with Pujols (though unlike Pujols, Davis didn't advise, "Go ask the manager,'' in response to a question about the day off). Collins said this might be the first honest-to-goodness slump in Davis' career, though Davis said he's been through slumps every year, with this possibly being distinguished because it's lingered a bit longer.

"Let's be honest, it's a tough game,'' Davis said. "I'm working my butt off every day. Everyone wants a quick fix, but let's be honest, I'm not going to go from .170 to .300 in a day.''