First Base Competition

The leader going into Spring Training was the incumbent Daniel Murphy but he hasn't hit at all and Ike Davis and Chris Carter have been killing the ball and Mike Jacobs is patient all of a sudden.

Murphy so far this spring is 3-17 with no extra base hits and only one RBI. It might take Murphy a little while to get going because he is using a new stance, but he went 2-5 last game. He has looked good on defense and has always been a hard worker, trying to improve his defense. Right now, he is the best defensive first basemen at the Major League level. It will take a terrible spring for Murphy not to be the starting first basemen on opening day.

Jacobs is probably second on the depth chart right now and only has one hit which is a homerun. But he has walked five times and only struck out once. This is quite a contrast to how he has been his whole career, he has never been a patient hitter and always struck out alot. He doesn't play good enough defense to be an everyday first basemen. The Mets could really use a power bat off the bench ala Matt Stairs and Manuel has already acknowledged this. If Manuel does go with the all bat no defense for the last bench spot Jacobs has a good chance of making this team.

Chris Carter had a tough time finding ab's to start this spring but I don't think he will have that problem anymore after hitting homeruns in three straight at-bats. He is now 5-8, with those HR's, double and one single with eight RBI's and has yet to strikeout. The knock on Chris is his defense, but atleast he has the ability to play multiple positions unlike Jacobs, as he played LF yesterday and CF against the Marlins. He has also played RF and 1B extensively in the minor leagues, giving him lots of versatility.

Ike Davis has been the big hype this spring and hasn't stopped hitting yet as he is 11-21 with two HR's and nine RBI's. I have seen him get at least three of those hits versus lefties, he stays in well and has the patient to lay off breaking balls. Scouts have raved about his defense but it just has not been good at all this spring committing four errors and should have two more if it wasn't for generous scoring. He looks natural at first base and I'm sure his poor play is just jitters or focusing solely on his offense. Davis isn't going to make this team out of spring maybe even if he continues to mash, because he needs some seasoning at AAA. I think we will see him at some point this season though, so Murph better not get off to a slow start.

All Mets fans have enjoyed watching the youngster Davis crush the ball, but the reality is that Murphy is gonna be the Mets opening day first basemen barring something crazy. Davis is the Mets first basemen of future but I think it would do him good to go to AAA and get some experience and fine tune his defensive skills.

Now for the last spot on the bench I would choose Chris Carter  because of his versatility to play multiple positions compared to Jacobs who can only play a poor 1B. Jacobs did sign a contract that could be worth more then Carter, but the fact is Jacobs was a minor league contract meaning he is not on the 40-man roster while Carter is. Ultimately I think Carter will make this team and the Mets will try and trade Jacobs to a American League team.