J.D. Davis: Former Mets Third Baseman (2019 - 2022)

Jonathan Gregory Davis was born April 27th, 1993, in Elk Grove, California. The six-foot, three right-handed hitter is primarily a third baseman. But he can play at first base as well as the outfield & DH.

He was drafted by the Houston Astros as a fifth round pick in 2011 out of Cal Fullerton State University. There he played from 2012 - 2014 & was also used as a pitcher.

Davis was an impressive hitter in his minor league career, after blowing through the low levels of the minors he hit 26 HRs with 101 RBIs & batted .289 in 2015 at A ball Lancaster in the Advanced California League. 

The next year he hit 23 HRs with 81 RBIs at AA Corpus Christi. After a great start in 2017 he was pushed up to AAA Fresno, where he hit 5 HRs with 18 RBIs in just 16 games.

MLB Career: He was called up by the Astros on August 5th, 2017, making his debut in a 4-3 loss to Toronto. On August 24th, he hit his first career HR & hit another the next day, helping the Astros to a 2-1 win over the L.A. Angels. 

On September 2nd, he had two hits against the New York Mets, including another HR. He drove in runs in both ends of that days double header sweep for Houston. 

In 25 games he hit 4 HRs with 7 RBIs but batted just .226. He made the post season roster but did not play as the Astros went on to win their first championship.

He started out 2018 with the Astros but after a poor April was sent back to AAA Fresno. Davis would be up & down all season, never making a big impact the big league level. On May 25th, he hit a three run HR, helping Houston beat the AL New York team 5-1. In 42 games he hit just the one HR & drove in just 5 runs while batting a weak .175.

Meanwhile in AAA Fresno he hit .342 with 17 HRs & 81 RBIs in 85 games. There wasn't much room for Davis on a talented & deep Astros club. In the 2018-2019 off season he caught the attention of new Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen. He got Davis in a trade for three quality minor leaguers.

Quotes- GM Brodie Van Wagenen: " JD is aa versatile offensive talent. He's young, had success vs lefties & he'll provide depth at the corner positions.

In Spring Training 2019 with New York, he batted .309 with 2 HRs & 9 RBIs.

Mets Career- 2019: With injuries to the Mets Todd Frazier & Jed Lowrie, Davis got to see some good playing time early. He would make the best of his chances & become a vital part of the 2019 Mets.

In the second game of the season, he drove in two runs in the Mets 11-8 win over the Nationals,
plating what was the game winning run.

On April 6th he had a great day, hitting two HRs for the first time in his career, while having his first career three hit game as well.

Davis drove in a pair of runs, helping the Mets in a 6-5 win, again over the Nats but this one at home.

On April 14th, he hit  his third Mets HR and began a personal five game hit streak, with two multi hit games. By the end of April he was batting .321 with 3 HRs & 8 RBIs.

On May 10th he had a three hit day in an 11-2 Mets win over the Marlins. On May 21st, he hit a 7th inning three run HR off the Nats, Wander Suero to put the Mets ahead. They would give up the lead but win it on Amed Rosario's walk off single. 

In June 15th, he had a big four hit day in an 8-7 Mets win over the Cards in St. Louis. In the game he hit his 8th HR & scored three runs. 

In July during the subway series, Davis' hit an 8th inning two run HR, off Adam Ottavino. The HR put the Mets ahead in a game they'd win 4-2. 

At the All Star break, he was batting .279 & the Mets were ten games under .500. It was the break that the team started winning & Davis was a big contributor. 

In the second half he would hit 13 HRs with 64 RBIs & bat .331. He would finish with 22 HRs, half of them either tied or gave the Mets a lead in games. He reached base in 15 straight games from July 26th -August 11th.

On July 27th, he homered & drove in two of the Mets three runs in Steven Matz's complete game shut out win over the Pirates at Citi Field. In a three game stretch he had two hits in each game, during the Mets seven game streak. 

From August 6th to August 10th, during a ten game hit streak, Davis hit four HRs & drove in eight runs with ten hits. During his hit streak he batted .429.

On August 5th, at the start of the Mets eight game win streak, Davis started the Mets comeback rally with a 7th inning lead off HR, off the Marlins Jeff Brigham. 

On August 9th, he homered in another great Mets comeback win. This time Todd Frazier hit a three run 9th inning HR to tie it & Michael Conforto had a walk off hit to beat the Nationals. 

The next night, Davis hit an 8th inning HR off Daniel Hudson, breaking the 2-2 tie & giving the Mets the lead in what was the exciting winning run.

On August 20th, he hit another HR & drove in runs in three straight games. 

First Career Walk Off Hit: On the next night, August 21st, in the bottom of the 10th inning, he battled Brad Hand in an exciting nine pitch at bat. 

He then hit a walk off single over the Indians left fielder, to beat the Tribe 4-3. It was his first career walk off hit. His team mates met him at home plate & ripped his jersey off.

He closed out August with HRs in three straight games against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field.  On August 26th, he made a an over the shoulder basket catch that MLB, awarded the play of the week.

In September the Mets stayed in the race but faded out by the latter part of the month. In September Davis batted .357 with 25 hits with eight multi hit games. 

Davis finished the year batting .307 with 22 HRs 22 doubles 65 runs scored 57 RBIs 3 stolen bases & a .369 on base % (second to Jeff McNeil on the club). His .527 slugging % was the teams third best. 

Trivia: Davis batted .312 against lefties which was 12th best in the NL. 

At home, he batted .354 (2nd best in the majors). His .665% slugging % at Citi Field was the best in franchise history for a Met at home. It was also the third best slugging % in the majors.

On the field he was a vital asset filling in for injured players & being very versatile. He saw the most action in left field (79 games) then at third base (31 games) & one game as the DH.

2020: In the Covid shortened season, Davis started out hitting a HR in his fifth game, he hit another three days later. 

On August 8th, he hit a three run HR & drove in another run with an earlier sac fly, leading the Mets to an 8-4 win over the Marlins in Florida. 

On September 3rd, with the Mets down 7-6 in a subway series matchup, Davis homered off Aroldis Chapman, to tie the game. Pete Alonso's walk off won it in the bottom of the 10th. 

On September 13th, he homered off former Met, Zach Wheeler to bring the Mets within a run of the Phillies. He later doubled scoring Michael Conforto with the tying run, in a game the Mets won in the 9th inning 5-4.

Overall he had a disappointing year, batting just .247 with 6 HRs 9 doubles & 19 RBIs. His defense at third was also on the down side. 

2021: On April 5th, he hit his first HR of the season, driving in runs in four straight games. On April 25th his two run HR off the Nats Phil Corbin, led the team to a 4-0 behind Taijuan Walker.

From there injuries plagued his season, he missed two & half months of play. On June 25th he officially went on the 60 day Injured list with a left hand sprain.

In his second game back on July 18th, he hit two HRs at Pittsburgh in a 9-7 Mets loss. At this point he was batting .426. He fell below .300 by early August. 

Davis ended the year playing in just 73 games, batting .285 with 5 HRs 12 doubles 23 RBIs & a .384 on base %. He played 50 games at third base with a .960 fielding %.

2022 Mets Wild Card Season: With the Mets acquiring Eduardo Escobar for third base in the off season, Davis' role in 2022 is unclear. He will most likely be used as a DH & pinch hitter most of the time. 

New Mets manager Buck Showalter gave him an opening day start, at DH, where he doubled &
scored a run, in the Mets 5-1 win in D.C.

On April 17th, he got a pinch-hit base hit off former Met, Oliver Perez, driving in Francisco Lindor with the Mets second run, in a 5-0 Easter Sunday win. On April 24th, in Arizona he hit hist first HR of the year, a solo shot in the Mets 6-2 win.

Seven Run 9th Inning Comeback: On May 5th, the Mets were down to the Phillies 7-1 in the 9th inning but made an incredible seven run comeback. After the Mets had scored three runs, Davis pinch hit for Tomas Nido & delivered an RBI double off Corey Knebel. The Mets went on to an 8-7 win.

On June 5th in a big series in Los Angles, the Mets & Dodgers were locked in a 4-4 tie in the 10th inning. Davis doubled off Craig Kimbrel bringing in Pete Alonso in what was the games winning run as the Mets went on to a 5-4 win & take two of three in the series.

Davis would drive in two runs in his next game in a series in San Diego.

Grand Slam: On July 7th Davis had a career day in a 10-0 Mets win over the Marlins at Citi Field. In the 4th inning he collected an RBI single off Daniel Castano. He scored on James McCann's three run HR. 

In the 5th, he came to bat with the bases loaded & hit his first career grand slam HR. It came off pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis, giving the Mets a 10-0 lead & JD a five RBI game.

But as many expected when the trade deadline came around Davis was the most likely to go. He had been struggling all year & now with the Mets in first place chasing the post season, they ended their time with him.

After 66 games Davis was batting .238 with eight doubles four HRs & 21 RBIs with a .324 on base
% & .683 OPS. On August 2nd he was traded with three minor leaguers to the San Francisco Giants for veteran Darin Ruf.

Post Mets Career: Davis saw playing time in 49 games with the Giants, he batted .263 with 8 HRs & 14 RBIs with an .857 OPS. In 2023 he made the Giants team as well batting .311 in spring training.

Grand Slam: On April 6th, he hit a grand slam HR off the White Sox Hanser Alberto in a 16-6 Giants win. Davis had hit his first HR of the year the game before. In this game former Mets Michael Conforto & Wilmer Flores also homered.

On April 14th & 15th Davis would also homer in back-to-back games with the Tigers. He began the season well after 17 games (thru April 19th) Davis was batting .333 with 4 HRs & 13 RBIs with a .965 OPS.

Grand Slam HR: On June 17th, Davis hit his second grand slam HR of the year, coming off the Dodgers Alex Vesia. He matched his season high five RBIs in the 15-0 blow out in Los Angeles.

On the season he hit 18 HRs with 23 doubles a triple 61 runs scored & 69 RBIs. He struck out a lot, 152 times in 480 at bats, with 52 walks a.325 on base % & .738 OPS in 144 games played.

After the season he was made available by the Giants but found no takers. He won his arbitration case but lost out when he was placed on waivers in mid March. He eventually signed a deal with the Oakland A's.

Career Stats: In an eight-year career he is batting .261 with 454 hits 68 HRs 88 doubles 233 runs scored & 215 RBIs. He has 198 walks & 544 strike outs with a .343 on base % & .775 OPS in 594 career games.

Personal: Davis enjoys playing video games, visiting zoo's, aquariums & museums as well. His pregame ritual consists of eating a grilled cheese sandwich.

 

JD has been linked romantically with former UCSB softball pitching star Shelby Wisdom.