J.D. Davis was out of work for a few days, but when he bounced back he was back in the running and on a bigger stage.
The Yankees acquired Davis from the last-place Athletics on Sunday to bolster their faltering core, but he arrived at Citi Field on Tuesday as part of the first-place team and started at first base in Game 1 of the Subway Series.
“It feels surreal to be out of work last week and then all of a sudden I’m back in New York playing for the Yankees. [against] “It’s unbelievable to be playing for the Mets,” Davis said Tuesday afternoon inside the visitors’ clubhouse at the stadium that was the Mets’ home from 2019 to 2022. “It’s pretty surreal. It’s a great opportunity and I’m grateful.”
The Yankees will be hoping Davis can make the most of this opportunity with Anthony Rizzo (broken arm) and Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring tightness) sidelined.
The team was expected to pursue an infielder at next month’s trade deadline, but in the meantime, Davis will have time to figure out whether he can become a valuable player for the team.
In the short term, that means starting against left-handed pitchers, but Davis, a right-handed hitter, generally excels against them.
He batted sixth Tuesday night against Mets left-hander David Peterson and is expected to be back in the lineup Wednesday against left-hander Sean Manaea.
Manager Aaron Boone has indicated he plans to rotate Davis among first base, third base and designated hitter, but he won’t use him in a full platoon with left-handed rookie first baseman Ben Rice.
“I want him to come in here and be comfortable and settled in,” Boone said, “but hopefully have a presence. If he has a right-handed presence, he’ll probably play well against lefties.”
Davis, 31, batted .236 with a .670 OPS in 135 at-bats for the Athletics this season.
But he blamed it on a lot of stops and starts: He was waived by the Giants in mid-March, picked up by the Athletics a few days later, went on the disabled list in mid-April with an adductor injury, returned in early May, then missed several games in late May after being hit in the hand by a pitch.
Davis was beginning to find his rhythm, batting .275 with a .727 OPS over his final 24 games, but Athletics general manager David Forst called him last week and told him the team was looking to give its younger players more at-bats.
Davis said he would understand if he were to be named last Tuesday.
By Sunday, he had risen from last place in the American League West to first in the American League East.
“Going from a team that was under .500 winning percentage to a team that’s always going to win a division, win a championship and win a World Series is exciting,” Davis said. “As long as you’re a part of that, it just creates energy and motivation to be on the team and be the best player you can be.”
Davis is also hoping he can benefit from what he’s learned from the interruption to his daily playing routine and after being in DFA limbo for the past week.
Davis, who made his Yankees debut against his former team, said he had “a good time here” after batting .278 with an .815 OPS and 37 home runs in 335 games with the Mets.
“My time here [with the Mets]that was kind of hindered [by] Injuries sustained during surgery [to repair a torn ligament in his hand]”With so many moving parts, so many GMs, so many coaches, so many different opinions on what core group to stick with, I think it was just a business decision to let me go and send me to San Francisco,” Davis said.
