Davis showing noticeable improvement since return

NEW YORK -- Something certainly clicked for Ike Davis during his trip out to Triple-A Las Vegas. As the boos grew louder and louder within the confines of Citi Field, he was getting on base at an unseemly .242 rate.

After nearly a month in the Minors working on his swing, he's returned to the Mets an improved player. The New York fans still boo when they can, but those opportunities have become less frequent.

Four games into this current six-game homestand, Davis has been on base in 10 of his 12 plate appearances. Since his return to the Majors, a stretch of 26 games, he's batting .282 with a .446 OBP and .868 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

"He's obviously laying off pitches he was swinging at early," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

That's helped him get on base at a better rate, even if he's not driving the ball with the power he's shown he has. Davis has hit just six home runs this season and just one in the month since his return to New York. That could be the attribute to come.

On Tuesday he hit a pair of doubles and walked twice in the Mets' 3-2 win over the Rockies. Now at .195, his average is creeping toward the Mendoza Line, and his OBP is up to .304, marking the first time that it's been better than .300 this season.

He even made a spectacular diving grab in foul territory to end Tuesday's game. Of course, the crowd was still near its loudest when it booed an error by the first baseman early in the game. He's still a work in progress, but he's giving New York a bit of an added punch in the middle of the lineup that he wasn't providing early in the year.

"He's done a better job of getting something to hit, something he can handle," Collins said. "That's why I think you're seeing him get on base the way he's gotten on."