<
        >

          New York Mets

          Collins: Feel something, say something

          • Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 24, 2014, 08:00 PM
            Close
              Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.
              Follow Adam on Twitter »  Chat archive »
            Follow on X

          PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Terry Collins said he had no inkling until reading a published report that Ike Davis was dealing with an oblique issue well before it finally popped in Washington on Aug. 31.

          "There's got to be a conversation. And then certainly it's up to me to decide which way to proceed," Collins said regarding whether injuries should be disclosed by players to Mets staff.

          Regarding Davis specifically, the manager concluded: "As I look back now, everything would have been better off had he said something, and certainly he'll hopefully learn from it that he needs to speak up."

          Should there have been a conversation last summer initiated by Davis?

          "Well, I'm not really sure what to say. I was surprised as anybody by what I heard," Collins said after Monday's workout.

          Collins said there never appeared to be any reason to suspect Davis was banged up. Davis, for his part, vehemently said Monday morning that the nagging issue was no big deal, that plenty of ballplayers deal with mild stuff and keep it quiet, and that his subpar 2013 performance was not injury-prompted. Davis added that the issue did not start until at least June.

          "Guys deal with stuff in different ways," Collins said. "Certainly, if you're failing at what you're supposed to be doing, something needs to be addressed. And if you feel it's taking away from your game, you've got to say something.

          "Again, we're talking about something that happened last year. I'm not really sure when it occurred. I'm not sure Ike can give you an exact date. But certainly you've got to take into consideration the fact that, as I've told you before, you're always being analyzed when you're on the field. You've got on a uniform, you take the field, somebody's watching. And you're always going to be critiqued -- good or bad -- by what's going on. And if there's an issue, certainly we need to know about it, for sure.

          "I'll go back to the night Ike hit in the cage long after the game was over [in mid-May in St. Louis]. If there was a huge issue, there were 10 guys watching him, somebody would have picked up something.

          "Once again, I can't address it because I don't know how bad it was. Was it aggravating? Was there pain? Did it hurt you to swing? Were you trying to protect it coming off the ball? I mean, there's all sorts of different things. And I certainly don't have any answers for you."