Mets first baseman Ike Davis missed over 100 games last season due to a left ankle injury.
And now his 2012 is off to a rough start.
According to Marty Noble of MLB.com, the Mets are “treating Davis as if Valley Fever has been diagnosed” and are already planning days off for him this spring. His blood work is not done being reviewed in New York, but there’s a certainty in Port St. Lucie about what it will eventually say.
Valley Fever is a fungal disease common in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico (Davis lives in Arizona) with symptoms ranging from fevers and coughs to rashes and joint aches. It cost former Diamondbacks outfielder Conor Jackson nearly the entire 2009 season and created a hole in former minor leaguer Joe Vavra’s lung. Vavra is now the Twins’ major league hitting coach.
Davis isn’t symptomatic yet, and the disease can clear on its own, but the Mets are prepared for the worst. When asked Saturday whether the team has developed a contingency plan in case the talented 24-year-old is again absent from the lineup, manager Terry Collins replied: “Had to. Have to be prepared. Can’t be blindsided.” Lucas Duda would likely fill in at first base, where he started 37 games in 2011.
