Mike for Ike?

The Mets have designated the struggling Mike Jacobs for assignment, and according to a report in the New York Post, the Mets are getting ready to bring up Ike Davis (left). The story says a major league source claims Davis will be in Flushing sometime over the next couple of days. Davis hasn’t stopped hitting since tearing up spring training, with 2 homers, 4 RBIs and a .364 batting average in  Buffalo. In contrast, Jacobs was hitting .208 with a homer and 2 RBIs.

If Davis can hit like he did down in Port St. Lucie, Daniel Murphy is out of a job. It’s too bad for Murphy, who apparently isn’t even close to being ready to return, anyway.

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 I knew Sunday night’s game was going to be trouble when Frank Catalanotto was announced as the cleanup hitter. That’s never a good sign. A team with a starting lineup including Catalanotto, Alex Cora and Gary Matthews, Jr. is not going to win a lot of games.

Speaking of Sunday, how about John Maine’s pitiful performance? It wasn’t bad enough that he coughed up a three run lead. No, the worst part was that he only lasted five innings. The Mets desperately needed him to go at least seven innings following Saturday’s marathon that saw the entire bullpen used. But in his typical fashion, Maine struggled throughout, and was done by the time Cory Rasmus hit the game-tying three run homer in the 5th. My guess is Maine will be given one more start. And if he fails again, he’s done.

Why couldn’t Maine rise to the occasion like Adam Wainwright did for te Cards, going all the way for a complete game, allowing his bullpen to rest?

On the other hand, a big round of applause to Tobi Stoner for bailing the bullpen out. Called up from Buffalo Sunday exactly for this situation, Stoner pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief. He ended up taking the loss because the runner who scored on Ryan Ludwick’s two-run homer off Ryota Igarashi was his responsibility. However, Stoner looked pretty good, and could be one of the guys considered for Maine’s spot in the rotation, along with Pat Misch and maybe even Dillon Gee.

*****

I wish I could write a nice long column about Saturday’s epic 20 inning game against the Cardinals. But I can’t because I couldn’t see it. Here in Los Angeles, we usually get West Coast teams as Fox’s national game. So I was left following along on ESPN. Very frustrating. But still, I’ll take missing an occasional Mets game in exchange for missing all of the blizzards and rain and hail and muck and mire of New York while I lounge at the pool on a beautiful sunny day in January in LA. Not to rub it in or anything.