Chris Davis should be getting more criticism

[geimans35]

I am a new poster to this forum so please be gentle. I am an Orioles fan, not like when I was growing up in the 80's but still love to watch them. To this point I've been more of a lurker instead of participating in chats. But I just have to say that I think Chris Davis is getting a free pass because of his great season last year. It's almost like you can't say anything bad about the guy or you'll get blasted for saying something. I don't know if he is injured or what but he just looks awful at the plate. I can't recall a player swinging at more pitches in the dirt and not even coming close to getting the bat on the ball. What happened to all those Hr's he hit to left field the last couple years? Everything is a pull to right into the shift. I just think he needs to be taking more of the blame this season. Yes the pitching goes into bad spurts but recovers somewhat. But besides the game in Pittsburgh I haven't seen any sign of him coming out of this bad season he's having. Your thoughts.

[luismatos4prez]

His hitting is still above league average, so it seems silly to get too worked up about him. He's not killing the team. Just not helping as much as we want him to.

Definitely disappointing that he isn't putting his bat on the ball as well as he did last year, but I think he'll get his slugging percentage up around .500 by the end of the year.

[mark_beckens]

I am a new poster to this forum so please be gentle. I am an Orioles fan, not like when I was growing up in the 80's but still love to watch them. To this point I've been more of a lurker instead of participating in chats. But I just have to say that I think Chris Davis is getting a free pass because of his great season last year. It's almost like you can't say anything bad about the guy or you'll get blasted for saying something. I don't know if he is injured or what but he just looks awful at the plate. I can't recall a player swinging at more pitches in the dirt and not even coming close to getting the bat on the ball. What happened to all those Hr's he hit to left field the last couple years? Everything is a pull to right into the shift. I just think he needs to be taking more of the blame this season. Yes the pitching goes into bad spurts but recovers somewhat. But besides the game in Pittsburgh I haven't seen any sign of him coming out of this bad season he's having. Your thoughts.

Other then making you and others feel better, exactly what good will that do? :scratchchinhmm:

[SteveO]

I am a new poster to this forum so please be gentle. I am an Orioles fan, not like when I was growing up in the 80's but still love to watch them. To this point I've been more of a lurker instead of participating in chats. But I just have to say that I think Chris Davis is getting a free pass because of his great season last year. It's almost like you can't say anything bad about the guy or you'll get blasted for saying something. I don't know if he is injured or what but he just looks awful at the plate. I can't recall a player swinging at more pitches in the dirt and not even coming close to getting the bat on the ball. What happened to all those Hr's he hit to left field the last couple years? Everything is a pull to right into the shift. I just think he needs to be taking more of the blame this season. Yes the pitching goes into bad spurts but recovers somewhat. But besides the game in Pittsburgh I haven't seen any sign of him coming out of this bad season he's having. Your thoughts.

Last season everything seemed to go right for him. He stayed pretty healthy, got off to a great start and never looked back.

This year he got off to a slow start, dealt with an injury and has really never gotten into a good groove.

My feeling is that CD is neither as good as we saw last season nor is he the guy we have seen so far this season. Guys have off seasons, its part of the game. He may get it going in the second half or it may never really click at all for him this year. Some of the best to play the game have had those type of years.

Like another poster said, he is not killing us, just not helping us to the extent he is capable of.

[bpilktree]

His hitting is still above league average, so it seems silly to get too worked up about him. He's not killing the team. Just not helping as much as we want him to.

Definitely disappointing that he isn't putting his bat on the ball as well as he did last year, but I think he'll get his slugging percentage up around .500 by the end of the year.

My biggest concern is that his OBP has dropped each of the last few months. He wasn't hitting well early on but he was still getting on base so it was helping the team that way. May and June that average has really dropped. He was contributing with walks which was helping. He is the opposite of JJ Hardy who is getting hits but not walking at all. I was imaged today that Hardy swings at the least perccentage of first pitch balls yet never walks. I wonder how many times he has taken a strike in that to how many balls.

[BarclaySouthway]

I don't think anyone expected him to repeat his first half, 2013. Very few players in history have done what Chris Davis did in the first half of last year.

I'd say I was expecting something a little better than 2012 or second-half, 2013 Davis. He's hasn't even been that yet, and it's somewhat perplexing/ troubling because he doesn't look all that different. One hot week, though, and he's pretty close to respectable. So, I'm not pushing the panic button yet.

His walk rate is at a career high. That's good. If he could find a way to walk some more in front of Cruz, it'd be a big plus for the offense. He could become our version of Adam Dunn (the 5 years ago version).

[El Gordo]

He's the third best hitter on the team, of the regulars with QPA. What about all the others. I would say I wish he would take advantage of hitting away from the shift more often and laying off more OZ pitches, but that's not where the money is.

[Shabadoo25]

I think it's scouting. He's susceptible to inside breaking balls and high heat. No one throws him outer half, lower fastballs anymore to golf over the LF fence.

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[wildcard]

If Davis got as many AB as last year he would be on pace to hit 30 HR and knock in 95. i can't really be disappointed with that. Of course he will not get that many AB because of the injury he had.

If there is anything that is concerning to me its that he doesn't seem to be getting as many bounced throws as he did last year. This is causing the O's infielders more errors. It doesn't show up as his errors but its not good for the defense overall.

[mdbdotcom]

I think it's scouting. He's susceptible to inside breaking balls and high heat. No one throws him outer half, lower fastballs anymore to golf over the LF fence.

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While clubs have changed the way they pitch to him and play him in the field, it's not scouting that has made his swing a parody of last year's. That said, I don't know what good it would do to criticize him. I'm sure he's making every effort to correct his flaws. Hitting isn't easy.

[LoyalBirdFan]

While clubs have changed the way they pitch to him and play him in the field, it's not scouting that has made his swing a parody of last year's. That said, I don't know what good it would do to criticize him. I'm sure he's making every effort to correct his flaws. Hitting isn't easy.

:agree:

In the meantime, it wouldn't be a horrible idea to start Pearce at 1st from time to time (when the opportunity presents itself).

[BobbyWoontz]

The All-Star HR Derby last year still has him screwed up!

[Flosman]

My biggest concern is that his OBP has dropped each of the last few months. He wasn't hitting well early on but he was still getting on base so it was helping the team that way. May and June that average has really dropped. He was contributing with walks which was helping. He is the opposite of JJ Hardy who is getting hits but not walking at all. I was imaged today that Hardy swings at the least perccentage of first pitch balls yet never walks. I wonder how many times he has taken a strike in that to how many balls.

I think the drop in OBP is not from his approach as much as it has been a change in the way pitchers are pitching him. From the sound of things he has developed a flaw with his hands and pitchers think they can pitch to him right now. It is known they are trying to fix this and I bet they do at least for awhile. Once he goes through a period where he is fixed the walks will come back. He is missing balls currently that he handled last year. But this is how baseball goes if it was not this way it would be easy. I expect him to go on a tear and go back to instilling fear in pitchers sometime soon and then pitchers will go back to not giving him anything to hit.

[LoyalBirdFan]

I have zero expectations for CD. He might get better and he might not get better. I've seen enough to know he isn't worth the BIG money. You have to be consistent to some extent.

There have been a lot of here today/gone tomorrow players (especially pitchers). Warren Morris was out of baseball before he hit 30 years old I believe and he is just one example.

[Flosman]

I have zero expectations for CD. He might get better and he might not get better. I've seen enough to know he isn't worth the BIG money. You have to be consistent to some extent.

There have been a lot of here today/gone tomorrow players (especially pitchers). Warren Morris was out of baseball before he hit 30 years old I believe and he is just one example.

Within a season no one is consistent IMO. I don't know if CD can repeat last year's numbers but I do expect him to produce at a level that will get him "big money". The test is will he be able to make the necessary adjustments to end up with good numbers by the season's end.