Why Chris Davis Might Be the Most Important Man in the 2015 MLB Pennant Race (Grantland)

[Mayor McCheese]

I'am not sure if this was posted yet since I have been offline for a few days but Granland posted an article about Chris Davis...

If you want to define "valuable" that way, the man you're looking for might be Chris Davis.

Yes, Chris Davis, the titanic Texan who spent his early twenties struggling to make enough contact to unlock his uncommon power before ascending to stardom in a chariot of fire upon his arrival in Baltimore, where he hit 33 home runs in 2012, then 53 in 2013 en route to a third-place finish in the real MVP voting.

But as quickly as he was elevated, he was laid low in 2014 by several factors, and as much as I'm inclined to write off any power hitter who suffers a sudden and serious decline as he nears 30, I'm not convinced that any single flaw is fatal in Davis's case.

In fact, I'm not convinced Davis's 2014 was even all that bad. We fixate on two figures: the 25-game suspension for amphetamine usage and the .196 batting average. But here's why neither one really matters that much. First, the suspension is almost over: Davis will only miss Opening Day after serving 24 games between last September and the playoffs. Second, Davis won't miss any physical or mental boost he was getting from his illicit Adderall use last year. You know how I know this? Because Major League Baseball is letting him use it openly this year, thanks to a therapeutic use exemption that he enjoyed until the 2013 season and had restored this offseason. So if you're out there screaming, "Nah, bro, he's off the juice now - he'll suck," you can be seated, please.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-preview-chris-davis-baltimore-orioles-al-east-wild-card-hopes/