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TagsBY DAVE RAGAZZO
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
After missing almost the entire 2011 season, Mets fans were eager for Ike Davis to return to the lineup to give the team another bat besides David Wright.
But just like his injury last season, the 24-year-old first baseman has another mysterious ailment that could sideline him for a significant amount of time.
ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin has reported that the Mets are worried that Davis has contracted valley fever. There has been no indication on how much time Davis is expected to miss, and manager Terry Collins is going to be cautious with him.
"We're treating him as if that's what it is," Collins said of Davis’ disease. "We can't let him run down. That's what we've been told. We'll give him some days off. He says he can go, and he's been doing everything he's supposed to. But we need to be sure he doesn't push it."
Valley fever is a fungal infection that normally effects people in dry desert regions in the southwest. The fungus lives in the soil and once it is released and inhaled, it can give a person the disease.
During the offseason, Davis spends his time in Phoenix. The only treatment for the disease is rest and medicine.
When Davis collided with Wright on May 10 of last year, the Mets originally reported the injury as a strained calf.
“I don’t know what it was because at the time there was a lot of pain everywhere,” he said after the injury occurred. “It’s more like the backside of my lower leg, I don’t know what it is.”
After the game, the Mets listed him as day-to-day and he left Coors Field in a protective boot. Davis would go on to miss the rest of the season.
The last case of valley fever in the majors was back in 2009 when Conor Jackson played only 30 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jackson would go on to describe the disease as “mono on steroids.”
"I'm tired. I'm fatigued," Jackson told The Arizona Republic at the time. "Some days I feel like I'm able to do stuff, and I do stuff. I sleep 12, 13 hours and I'm exhausted."
The last thing the Mets need is for Davis to miss significant time for the second straight season. After losing Jose Reyes to free agency, Davis was going to be one of the big bats along with Wright in what looks to be a soft hitting lineup.
Right now, the only other first baseman on the roster is Valentino Pascucci. Newsday reported that Justin Turner will be used as Davis’ primary backup after the Mets decided not to use former first baseman Lucas Duda for that role.
