Amid Ike Davis’s atrocious first half of the season, the NY Times brings up a factor that most appear to have forgotten about: his diagnosis of possibly having Valley Fever.
Davis hasn’t exhibited any symptoms and both he and the Mets are saying that the disease has nothing to do with his anemic hitting. If it is having an effect on his play, there’s no quantifying it unless it’s cited as an issue. There’s not much Davis or the Mets can do about it. The bottom line is that he’s not performing.
The decline of Conor Jackson—who definitely had the disease and saw it derail his rising career—is discussed in the article. But Jackson was clearly ill. Davis looks fine. Jackson’s symptoms directly caused his slide. Davis’s problems don’t appear fatigue-related; his swing is out of whack.
Either way it’s not an excuse. He could go to Triple A Buffalo to get some time in a less pressurized atmosphere or he could head to the disabled list to get better from something that hasn’t manifested itself.
Davis isn’t hitting. He’s not helping the team. If manager Terry Collins is holding true to his preseason edict that there are expectations and demands on the players that are with the Mets; if there are consequences for poor play and if one particular player isn’t pulling his weight, then someone else will get an opportunity. Unless he starts hitting immediately Davis has to be held accountable and go down to the minor leagues.
He doesn’t look sick. But his bat certainly does. There’s a diagnosis for that. It’s called a demotion to Triple A to get straightened out where he’s not hurting the big league club. And that’s what he’s doing now.
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PAULLEBOWITZ.COM 
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that fighting valley fever takes a lot out of a person and he or she can’t be expected to perform at peak powers. Davis himself may be in denial of the disease.
As executive director of the Phoenix-based Arizona Victims of Valley Fever, I’ve heard a lot of stories of people who have struggled with the disease. The common denominator symptom is fatigue. Since no cure exists yet for valley fever (thanks to the uncaring, head-in-the-sand attitude of the state of Arizona), the antifungal meds now available don’t entirely fight off the body’s production of spores. The hope for most valley fever patients is that the immune system will eventually figure out how to battle the disease, and the infection will go into remission or a dormant state. But this can only happen when the patient takes medications such as fluconazole and does not put added stress on his immune system.
Davis needs to treat the disease. It won’t go away.
See http://www.arizonavictimsofvalleyfever.org. for more info.
He hasn’t exhibited any symptoms and they haven’t said he absolutely has it. The words they’ve used are “likely” and “probably”. If he’s not showing any signs of the disease and isn’t fatigued, there’s not much they can do about it. Giving him medication he doesn’t need isn’t a good idea either. I think the disease of not being able to hit the curveball is what’s hurting him now and not Valley Fever.
These are the Mets we’re talking about; they’re a bit short on rocket scientists or near rocket scientists. They’ve got some Ivy League guys in the front office though.