It's past time to move Davis up in the order

[gmelson26]

I think its ridiculous at this point that Davis is still batting 5th in the lineup. I refuse to believe that he's hitting so well because he loves batting in front of Pearce, or Hardy, or Wieters. I think he'd hit just as well or better in a different slot.

I'm going to make my suggestion based on the assumption that Showalter insists on his rightie, leftie, rightie, etc batting order. With Mclouth and Machado batting 1 and 2, that leaves the 3 hole or 4 hole. In order to perverse the fabled leftie, rightie, we should switch Kakes and Davis in the lineup.

To put some perspective on it, Miggy is batting 3rd for the Tigers with Fielder protecting him. He has gotten 27 more at-bats than Davis has so far. Over the course of the entire season, we're talking around 60-80 more at-bats different from the 3 slot to the 5 slot.

I don't make this argument so he can compete for the Triple Crown, that would just be a side bonus. The big thing here, he's our best power hitter and he's not getting as many chances in the 8th or 9th innings.

You could also argue that he'd maybe get some better pitches with Jones in the on-deck-circle than say Wieters or Hardy.

[Fiver]

I don't agree with moving up Davis; I actually like Buck's seeming obsession with the L/R/L/R/L alternating, the more I think about. Think about how hard it was for Leyland to match up yesterday in the 7th inning, after the lineup turned over. There was just never a real chance to get Coke out of there, because there was always a LH batter either batting, or on deck. Take Coke out for Machado, and then you've got Markakis vs. a righty next batter (I believe there was only one out at this point, if I'm not mistaken).

And all of this was exacerbated by the fact that they would still have to get through the 8th and (they hoped) 9th innings, so not like they could burn through all their pitchers. Not sure how many LH Detroit has, but for teams with only one, it's all the more difficult to wind through that.

Yesterday's game really was a great example of how tough it can be to matchup late in games versus our lineup.

So, with this in mind, and the simple fact that our offense has been pretty AWESOME as is, I see no need to be switching up the lineup. At all.

[MDK02]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Buck keeps Chris at the 5 spot all year. Much like he never took JJ out of the 2 spot last season. He has a thing for continuity with stuff like that it seems.

[Can_of_corn]

Davis isn't going to win a triple crown. He has a chance at keeping Miguel Cabrera from winning another one.

I know this is going to come as a shock to you.

The 5th spot in the lineup is actually more important then the 3rd spot.

3rd is actually 5th most important. Crazy right?

[Dipper9]

Baseball is a game of superstitions. What happens if Buck moves Davis up and he suddenly slumps? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It's not like Jones is killing us in the cleanup spot!

[Skipjack33]

With the O's leading the league in almost every offensive category, I see no need to tinker with the batting order.

[wildcard]

Markakis is much better at getting on base than driving runners in. I would let the lineup the way Buck has it now. The O's are at or near the top to the league in hitting. There is not reason to change IMO.

[gmelson26]

I agree I don't think there's a chance at all for Davis to get a triple crown, his average has to dip right?

Also I like hte philosophy behind the leftie rightie line up. I don't like that pigeon holes Jones as our clean up hitter however. I think hes a better 2, 3, or 5 hitter and Davis would be better as clean up. But going along with the leftie rightie stuff that would make switching Markakis and Davis would be the only way to move him in the line up.

Additionally, I think Davis will stay there at 5 unless there's an injury to someones like Jones... much like Hardy last year. Doesn't mean I think its right.

[nate22]

I think that Davis helps Jones see better pitches.

[gmelson26]

Personally, if Machado hits a double in the bottom of the 9th and we're down by 2 with 1-2 outs, I'd rather see Davis at the plate then Markakis. This is nothing against Nick, he's one of our better hitters.

[smootharch]

I think that Davis helps Jones see better pitches.

Which would be great if he didn't always swing at the bad ones.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Which would be great if he didn't always swing at the bad ones.

Just think how bad that game would have been yesterday without protection.

[Ruzious]

I guess ya don't fix what's not broken, but it would make sense to get Davis more at bats AND avoid the intentional walks.

Otoh, what are the stats on intentional walks? Are they really effective for the pitching team?

[Frobby]

To put some perspective on it, Miggy is batting 3rd for the Tigers with Fielder protecting him. He has gotten 27 more at-bats than Davis has so far. Over the course of the entire season, we're talking around 60-80 more at-bats different from the 3 slot to the 5 slot.

No, it shouldn't be that many. It should be approximately 18 extra PA for each spot higher in the order over the course of a season. Right now, the #3 hitters for the Orioles have had 13 more PA than the #5 hitters. Last year, the differential was 32 for the whole season.

The reason Cabrera's PA are so much higher than Davis has to do with the fact that, in addition to hitting higher in the lineup, he plays on a team that has a much higher OBP, and therefore they turn the lineup over more often than the Orioles do.

I'm OK with Davis where he is, but if they want to move him up, that would be fine, too.

[pollaxt]

Davis isn't going to win a triple crown. He has a chance at keeping Miguel Cabrera from winning another one.

I know this is going to come as a shock to you.

The 5th spot in the lineup is actually more important then the 3rd spot.

3rd is actually 5th most important. Crazy right?

But 4th is more important than 5th. And it's frustrating watching Jones end innings with strikeouts and weak double plays.