J.D. Davis, maybe the most improved member of the New York Mets‘ roster in 2019, spent over a week out of the lineup because of a jammed shoulder. He suffered the injury after diving for a ground ball in spring training play, and after a few days of rest and treatment, he was able to return to the lineup on Sunday.
To be fair, Davis was hitting bombs in batting practice a few days prior to his return to the lineup, so it would be accurate to say that the Mets’ slugger had a swift recovery. In Sunday’s game, he accumulated a couple of plate appearances.
While he conceded that it was “weird” to be back out there making plays in left field and having live game action after a few days of being out, he told Alyson Footer of MLB.com that he felt good afterward.
“It was OK — nothing achy, no stiffness,” Davis said. “I’ve been playing free the past couple of days, so no limitations.”
The exact date of his injury, deemed as a jammed left shoulder, was on February 25th against the Tigers. Before seeing his name on Sunday’s lineup, he had a day of tests on Saturday: he practiced his diving on the bases, ran on steal attempts and made regular moves to both sides, both as a third sacker and as a left fielder. Those are the positions that the Mets’ are hoping he can cover this season.
The Mets’ plans for the slugger
Davis will now rest on Monday, and he is slated to play against his former team, the Houston Astros, on Tuesday.
“It’s great to be back out there,” Davis said. “It was kind of weird being off the field for two weeks. Just getting back to the routine, getting to the weight room. Routine-wise, that was the big thing — it was kind of weird today. Other than that, it’s great to be back on the field.”
Now that the injury is in the rearview mirror, Davis is expected to be ready for the start of the season and be a part of the New York Mets’ opening day roster.
“We’ll see how he keeps responding as he keeps playing,” manager Luis Rojas said. “We want to keep ramping it up progressively as we move forward. He’ll be getting three at-bats in games as we move forward. He’ll play in back-to-back games just like everyone else started doing already.”