Mets' Davis 'Under No Real Restriction' Despite Valley Fever
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- Ike Davis' "working diagnosis" of valley fever may sound fearsome, but Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Sunday it may sound worse than it is.
The first baseman is currently "under no real restriction" at Mets camp, Alderson announced. Davis hasn't changed anything about his workouts and hasn't reduced his participation in drills.
"What I understand is that quite often there are no real significant issues with this," said Alderson, "and when there are it usually has to do with a compromised immune system -- or something else going on with the patient."
Valley fever requires no medication. Alderson said the illness is expected to resolve itself and the Mets announced in a statement that Davis "will have a follow-up exam" next month in New York.
"The tests that we have, which include the X-ray, a follow-up to that, as well as the blood test, aren't necessarily conclusive because the blood test came back negative," Alderson said. "There can be a delay of some period of time, so the blood test might become positive at a later date."
Davis insisted he felt fine. Valley fever is a fungal infection that is released from the dirt in desert regions of the Southwest and can cause extreme fatigue. He lives in Arizona in the offseason.
"Forty percent of people who live in Arizona get it during their life. It's person-by-person, but it can take a year (to get over it). I could've had this for a year and not known it," said Davis.
An ankle injury limited Davis to 36 games last year, but he said he doesn't expect this setback to slow him down much. If he feels tired during the spring, he said, he will just take a break.
"We're treating him as if (valley fever is) what it is," said Mets manager Terry Collins. "We can't let him run down. That's what we've been told. We'll give him some days off. He says he can go, and he's been doing everything he's supposed to. But we need to be sure he doesn't push it."
"I feel great, and I don't have any symptoms of it," Davis said. "I'm not coughing or throwing up blood. It's not even hard to breathe. The doctor said I can play, but I can't get fatigued."
Meanwhile, third baseman David Wright was scratched from an intrasquad game Saturday due to soreness around his left ribcage. The All-Star was told Sunday by manager Terry Collins he wouldn't play Monday night or Tuesday when the Mets start the exhibition schedule.
"If this was opening day, I'd be playing 100 percent," Wright said.
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