Can Chris Davis Be Fixed At the Plate?

[ELMERO]

Hitting 38 HRs is a magnificent feat and fun to watch, but, sheesh, the vast majority of the rest of his ABs were absolutely pathetic.  How many times did he break our hearts and just leave us shaking our heads or make us want to throw the remote through the TV screen?  I don't mind watching a guy strike out swinging, but, to see him, time after time, after time , just stand there and look at the third strike, is maddening.  Or to see all that open space on the left side, only to hit, what 5-6 balls, all year, in that direction? With a guy so athletic and near perfect with the glove, how is this possible? The thing that really jacks my jaws is he seems to be okay with it all!  Oh, and how come nobody knows how to bunt anymore?  I love OH, with the most knowledgeable fans in the country posting here.  So I look to you for help.  Please don't tell me I need to be on a psychiatrist's couch, although I am a "couch potato".

[ORIOLE33]

I personally believe that he should stand closer to the plate.

[Number5]

Yes, especially if he gets it out of his head that he should work the count just to work the count.  What so many people don't realize is that the main objective of "working the count" is to get a pitch you can drive .  If the fist pitch is thigh high on the inner half, hit it!!!  Davis took way too many strike one pitches in 2016 that were served up on a platter, IMO.

[sportsfan8703]

Chris Davis revealed Saturday that he's been dealing with soreness in the thumb area on his left hand all season.

Davis had a couple days off last week when his hand flared up on him again, but he said it didn't help. "Swinging a bat is painful," Davis said. "I went 0-for-3 [Friday] night. I had two days off before that. I don't think it made a whole lot of difference." Davis has had a relatively disappointing season with a .228/.341/.489 batting line, although he has popped 36 home runs. His hand isn't expected to heal until the offseason but shouldn't be a long-term issue.

 

 

Source: Baltimore Sun

Sep 11 - 9:50 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Moondoggie]

To a certain extent, I think he just is who he is. It's why the Rangers gave up on him (he struck out 150 times in 391 at-bats in 2009). But it does seem as though it gets worse every year. You would think he could change his approach and at least cut down on those called third strikes, but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

[Aristotelian]

I have noticed that his spray chart is actually pretty balanced for balls hit to the outfield. He hit 15 HR to left, plus a handful to straightaway center. That means he is only pulling about half of his HRs. Is he prone to pull the ball when he is hitting grounders, or is he hitting grounders when he is pulling the ball? I don't really get it, but it does seem his swing is more fluid when he goes to the opposite field. 

[sportsfan8703]

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said that Chris Davis (thumb) should be able to return to the lineup on Thursday.

Davis is sitting out Wednesday's game against the Royals due to a few minor nagging physical issues, including some thumb discomfort. Just a day of rest and relaxation for the 30-year-old slugger -- the first he has had all year. Mark Trumbo earns the start at first in his place.

 

 

Source: Roch Kubatko on Twitter

Jun 8 - 5:03 PM

[Aristotelian]

Also I agree, the called third strikes were maddening last year. His overall K numbers have always been bad, so I am not sure if it was a change from previous years, but I definitely noticed it more in 2016.

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Chris Davis revealed Saturday that he's been dealing with soreness in the thumb area on his left hand all season.

Davis had a couple days off last week when his hand flared up on him again, but he said it didn't help. "Swinging a bat is painful," Davis said. "I went 0-for-3 [Friday] night. I had two days off before that. I don't think it made a whole lot of difference." Davis has had a relatively disappointing season with a .228/.341/.489 batting line, although he has popped 36 home runs. His hand isn't expected to heal until the offseason but shouldn't be a long-term issue.

 

 

Source: Baltimore Sun

Sep 11 - 9:50 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just now, sportsfan8703 said:

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said that Chris Davis (thumb) should be able to return to the lineup on Thursday.

Davis is sitting out Wednesday's game against the Royals due to a few minor nagging physical issues, including some thumb discomfort. Just a day of rest and relaxation for the 30-year-old slugger -- the first he has had all year. Mark Trumbo earns the start at first in his place.

 

 

Source: Roch Kubatko on Twitter

Jun 8 - 5:03 PM

I think Davis was hurt most of the year and played through it because we needed him.  It's not a total excuse but if healthy I expect him to put up numbers closer to what he did in 2013-2015.  

[turtlebowl]

It really isn't that complicated.  First off he has a flawed swing, he drops his hands and has a huge uppercut.  Try hitting anything when something is thrown at you horizontally and you swing at it vertically.  Really seems like something that could be ironed out some but it doesn't seem to change.

Another thing is baseball has gotten to a point where it is acceptable to strike out as long as you hit bombs and do damage when you make contact.  I think the game will suffer from this as strikeout continue to go up  around the league, especially with the bullpen specialization.  What is wrong with hacking early and then have a 2 strike approach? Chris I believe tries to have a 2 strike approach by really trying to avoid swinging at movement pitches off the plate. He becomes so worried about those pitches though it seems like he locks up on well located fastballs which he takes for called 3rd strikes.  I bet if researched his called 3rd strikes were mostly from fastballs. It is the old saying, you hit off the fastball and react to everything else.

When you add it all up he has many flaws that are likely to get worse as he ages.  This in my opinion was not a good signing by the O's.

[canonfaz]

7 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Also I agree, the called third strikes were maddening last year. His overall K numbers have always been bad, so I am not sure if it was a change from previous years, but I definitely noticed it more in 2016.

For sure. the numbers back it up too. He struck out looking 36.1% of the time last year, compared to 26.9% in 2015.

 

[canonfaz]

Year   Age  Tm Lg   PA   Pit Pit/PA   Str  Str% L/Str S/Str F/Str I/Str AS/Str I/Bll AS/Pit   Con  1stS  30% 30c 30s   20% 20c 20s   31% 31c 31s L/SO S/SO L/SO% PAu Pitu Stru

2008    22 TEX AL  317  1212   3.82   811 67.1% 19.7% 25.9% 28.7% 25.6%  80.3%  1.0%  53.9% 67.7% 36.3% 3.5%  11   4 13.9%  44  23  6.6%  21  16   18   70 20.5%   0    0    0

2009    23 TEX AL  420  1635   3.89  1086 66.7% 20.3% 30.8% 26.4% 22.4%  79.7%  1.5%  53.2% 61.3% 38.8% 3.6%  15   1 11.4%  48  29  5.2%  22  13   36  114 24.0%   0    0    0

2010    24 TEX AL  136   522   3.84   320 62.7% 24.4% 20.3% 30.0% 25.3%  75.6%  5.9%  47.5% 73.1% 30.1% 8.1%  11   0 18.4%  25   9  8.8%  12   7    9   31 22.5%   0    0    0

2011    25 TOT AL  211   835   3.96   569 68.5% 17.9% 26.7% 31.5% 23.9%  82.1%  1.5%  56.2% 67.5% 41.2% 1.9%   4   0  8.1%  17  10  2.8%   6   5   12   51 19.0%   0    0    0

2011    25 TEX AL   81   316   3.90   210 66.5% 19.0% 27.6% 28.6% 24.8%  81.0%  0.0%  53.8% 65.9% 42.0% 1.2%   1   0  4.9%   4   2  1.2%   1   0    4   20 16.7%   0    0    0

2011    25 BAL AL  130   519   3.99   359 69.7% 17.3% 26.2% 33.1% 23.4%  82.7%  2.5%  57.7% 68.4% 40.8% 2.3%   3   0 10.0%  13   8  3.8%   5   5    8   31 20.5%   0    0    0

2012    26 BAL AL  564  2254   4.00  1467 65.8% 17.6% 25.4% 33.2% 23.8%  82.4%  3.0%  54.2% 69.1% 41.1% 2.8%  16   3 10.3%  58  34  6.0%  34  24   40  129 23.7%   0    0    0

2013    27 BAL AL  674  2678   3.97  1627 61.8% 18.6% 26.8% 30.5% 24.1%  81.4%  4.3%  50.3% 67.1% 37.1% 7.3%  49  11 16.9% 114  45  7.7%  52  32   48  151 24.1%   0    0    0

2014    28 BAL AL  527  2191   4.16  1323 61.2% 23.5% 27.7% 27.4% 21.4%  76.5%  3.5%  46.8% 63.7% 34.5% 5.5%  29   3 12.1%  64  24  7.6%  40  23   56  117 32.4%   0    0    0

2015    29 BAL AL  672  2786   4.15  1664 60.2% 20.8% 28.2% 28.8% 22.2%  79.2%  1.8%  47.7% 64.4% 40.2% 3.7%  25   4 13.5%  91  48  9.1%  61  36   56  152 26.9%   0    0    0

2016    30 BAL AL  670  2755   4.11  1622 59.1% 27.6% 26.9% 24.0% 21.6%  72.4%  0.9%  42.8% 62.9% 31.3% 7.5%  50  10 18.2% 122  46 10.3%  69  27   79  140 36.1%   0    0    0

9 Yrs             4191 16868   4.02 10489 62.8% 21.2% 27.1% 28.7% 23.0%  78.8%  2.5%  49.4% 65.6% 37.0% 5.0% 210  36 13.9% 583 268  7.6% 317 183  354  955 27.0%   0    0    0

MLB Averages                         3.82 63.6% 27.5% 15.8% 27.2% 29.5%  72.5%  1.5%  46.1% 78.3% 27.2%         4.7%         14.1%                    8.5%               24.2%

 

[Frobby]

His basic flaws aren't fixable at this point in his career.   But he had the same flaws in 2013 and 2015.    Hopefully his hands will hold up a little better in 2017 and his hot streaks will be a little longer and the cold spells a little shorter.   He's always going to be streaky and strike out a lot.    That's just who he is.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, canonfaz said:

For sure. the numbers back it up too. He struck out looking 36.1% of the time last year, compared to 26.9% in 2015.

 

He set the all-time record for striking out looking in a season, and by a comfortable margin.  

[sportsfan8703]

Davis wasn't waiting back and driving the ball to Left Center as much as before.  That's when he was killing.  Instead he was just waiting too long and taking those same high pitches for called strike threes. He's so tall that he does seem to get burned on the high strikes a lot.