J.D. Davis lost his job for a few days, but when he landed on his feet, he did so at the opposite end of the standings and on a much bigger stage.
After the Yankees acquired Davis from the last-place Athletics on Sunday to bolster the middle of their hurting lineup, he arrived at Citi Field on Tuesday as part of a first-place team and started at first base in the first iteration of the Subway Series.
“It’s kind of unreal because last week, I didn’t really have a job and then all of a sudden I’m back here in New York playing with the Yankees [against] the Mets,” Davis said Tuesday afternoon inside the visiting clubhouse of the stadium he called home as a Met from 2019-2022. “It’s pretty surreal. It’s a great opportunity.”
Davis’ first impression was not a strong one, as he struck out twice and then grounded into an inning-ending double play before being pinch-hit for by Ben Rice in the eighth inning of a 9-7 loss.
“Not much to show for it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s kind of been inactive for a few days now so just getting here and getting accustomed.”
But the Yankees are hoping that Davis, once he gets settled, can make more of an impact at a time when they are without Anthony Rizzo (arm fracture) and Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring strain).
They were already expected to be in the market for a corner infielder by next month’s trade deadline, but in the meantime, Davis will get a runway to see if he can be a helpful 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 lefty David Peterson on Tuesday night and is expected to be back in the lineup on Wednesday against lefty Sean Manaea.
Boone indicated that he will bounce Davis around between first base, third base and DH, though he won’t be a straight platoon with the left-handed hitting Rice.
“I want him to get here and get settled, get comfortable,” Boone said. “But hopefully just a presence. Right-handed presence, see him in there a lot probably against left-handed pitching.”
The 31-year-old Davis was batting .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 the middle of March, scooped up by the A’s a few days later, hit the IL in the middle of April with an adductor strain, came back in early May and then missed a few games in late May after being hit on 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 at-bats to their younger players.
Davis said he understood, even if it meant him being 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 sub-.500 and now a team that’s going for a division, going for a pennant and always looking to win a World Series,” Davis said. “Whenever you’re a part of that, it’s only energizing and motivating for you to come in and be your best player.”
Davis is also hoping that he has learned from all the interruptions to his daily playing routine and that he can benefit from it now after being in DFA limbo for the past week, even if he had a tough restart Tuesday night.
As for making his Yankees debut against his old team, Davis said he “had a good time here” while hitting .278 with a .815 OPS and 37 home runs across 335 games with the Mets.
“I think my time over here [with the Mets], it was kind of hindered [by] the injury I had with the surgery [to repair a torn ligament in his hand],” Davis said. “With so many moving parts, so many GMs, so many managers, so many different opinions on what core group we should stick with, I think it was just a business decision to let me go and go over to San Fran.”