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Duda To Get First Full-Time Shot To Be Mets' Starting First Baseman

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Their spring training showdown never materialized, but now, just three games into the season, the Mets apparently have their minds made up on a starting first baseman.

Lucas Duda will get the first full-time shot to keep the job permanently, CBSSports.com and WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman reported Thursday evening.

Duda will start the series opener against visiting Cincinnati on Friday.

It's hard to know what manager Terry Collins saw in Duda over Ike Davis during the Mets' opening series to convince him to make the decision he made. And that's not to say that Davis played lights out, either.

Duda went 0-for-6 with three strikeouts during Washington's sweep. A career .246 hitter, the 28-year-old slugger hit 15 homers in both 2012 and '13.

Davis went 1-for-3 in two games. The 27-year-old was thought to have the inside track on the job heading into spring training, but injuries limited him to just 10 games, in which he hit .241 (7-for-29) with 2 homers and 7 RBI.

General manager Sandy Alderson has repeatedly attempted to trade Davis, but his value is nowhere near what it was when he hit 32 homers and drove in 90 runs back in 2012.

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