Athletics first baseman Ike Davis will undergo season-ending hip labrum surgery, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). The left-handed hitter was acquired from the Pirates over the offseason in deal that included a swap of international bonus pool slots.
Davis, 28, got off to a solid start this year but saw his production fade. He also missed some time with a quad strain. All told, he owns a .229/.301/.350 slash with three home runs, falling well shy of his career .748 OPS output.
Last August, Troy Tulowitzki underwent a procedure to repair his hip labrum and was able to return for a full spring. While it’s impossible to know whether the two players are in equivalent situations, that precedent at least provides reason to believe that Davis may be able to do the same.
But it’s far from clear that Davis will be back in Oakland, even though he is arbitration eligible for the final time in 2016. He’ll be working off of a $3.8MM salary this year, making him a reasonably significant investment through the arb process. If Davis wasn’t already a likely non-tender candidate, the surgery (and lack of opportunity to improve his numbers down the stretch) could push him onto the open market.
Beane’s entire offseason was puzzling. I still can’t believe he signed Butler to that albatross and counting on Davis for anything was a huge mistake. It’s not like the AL West wasn’t winnable either.
Seeing how tulo’s injury was last year and how quick he came back, I’d guess Davis will be back and ready in the spring
I wonder if Ike Davis will ever get it together.. When he first came up he looked like he was going to be playing first for the Mets for quite awhile.. Then in 2013 he forgot how to hit.. He seems like a good guy and I hope he figures it out..