Davis enjoys quiet since trade to Pirates

NEW YORK -- Even on morning trips to the coffee shop, Ike Davis could not escape the cacophony of voices offering hitting advice, tips and whatever else. The chorus had grown stale. The voices were not helping. So perhaps it is unsurprising that one of Davis' favorite things about Pittsburgh is the relative quiet.

"I don't want to have to think about my stance at nine in the morning," Davis said Monday, returning to Citi Field for the first time since the Mets traded him to the Pirates last month. "When you're done with the game, you kind of just want to be done with the game and not think about it for the two hours of your life that you're not at the field."

Davis said he expected a fair amount of boos in his return to New York, given the massive slumps he endured early in 2012 and '13. But it was the Mets, not their fans, who essentially chose Lucas Duda over Davis. Since the trade, Davis is batting .303 with two home runs and an .819 OPS, while Duda is batting .208 with two home runs and a .613 OPS.

"I love Ike Davis," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He plays hard. I've known him since the day that I got here. All he's ever done is cared and been a great teammate. The Pittsburgh Pirates have themselves a good player."