Serious question: would hypnosis help Chris Davis?

[xian4]

As a Hypno/Psychotherapist, this may be a case where Chris is unsettled by outside noise and pressure. Hypnosis can help reduce these issues which might be affecting his concentration and confidence. Confidence could be linked to the inability to pull the trigger on pitches over the middle part of the plate.

Alternatively, he could be trained in self hypnosis where he can find a safe place and maybe help him to relax.

Another issue might be just accumulated stress from playing everyday, he may not be as good at processing the associated emotional strain as other players and may need to release this stress on a regular basis.

 

Otherwise,  just make him cluck like a chicken when he k's - aversion therapy ....

[bpilktree]

6 minutes ago, nadecir said:

Unless hypnosis can speed up Chris Davis'  bat, I don't think it will help.

Take a look the stats at how Chris Davis' handles a fastball this year versus previous seasons.  From Fangraphs, these were his Runs created above average against a fastball in previous seasons compared to 2017:

2012: 12.8
2013: 26.2
2014: 12.0
2015: 31.9
2016:  24.0
2017: -1.0

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=9272&position=1B#pitchvalues

It's reasonable to assume that Chris Davis' bat speed has radically declined this year based on his poor performance against the fastball compared to previous seasons.  A bat speed decline typically forces a hitter to be more of a guess hitter.   And it seems when Chris Davis guesses wrong, he wants to keep his bat on his shoulder.

That does not mean that his bat speed has slowed down.  He is just not identifying the pitch well enough and looking at lots of them.  When he is seeing it well he can sit back and go opposite field on the pitch or turn on it if it is inside.  right now he is tentative and not sure what the pitch is so he looses that tenth of a second.  

[OFFNY]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

 

I'd try a witch doctor, a shaman, a priest (exorcist), a Christian scientist, or anything else at this point. The guy is losing us ball games. It's not that I think this team is a playoff team because I don't, but he's become an absolute albatross, while Buck insists of batting him in the middle of the order and not pinch-hitting for him in key situations late in games with better options clearly available.  

Let's face it, Adderall-free Davis is not good.

 

o

 

 

 

o

[Beef Supreme]

1 hour ago, Tx Oriole said:

But Tony doesn't he take something else for his ADD? 

Vyvanse, not Adderall. Could Davis go back to Adderall if he is not getting the desired effects from Vyvase?

Quote

When a player wants to switch mediations, he must submit paperwork in conjunction with his treating physician and notify baseball’s independent program administrator that he was making a change, (baseball’s medical director, Dr. Gary ) Green said. The switch is not automatic; the approval of the administrator is required, according to others familiar with the process. 

Green said it is “a relatively simple process” for a player to switch medications; Davis already has been diagnosed with ADHD. “That’s why we want players to be monitored — (their) needs change,” Green said. “Sometimes someone is on a certain medication and they’re not responding. They need a change in the dosage. They need a change in the medication. That’s certainly allowed.”

 

[joelala]

46 minutes ago, xian4 said:

As a Hypno/Psychotherapist, this may be a case where Chris is unsettled by outside noise and pressure. Hypnosis can help reduce these issues which might be affecting his concentration and confidence. Confidence could be linked to the inability to pull the trigger on pitches over the middle part of the plate.

Alternatively, he could be trained in self hypnosis where he can find a safe place and maybe help him to relax.

Another issue might be just accumulated stress from playing everyday, he may not be as good at processing the associated emotional strain as other players and may need to release this stress on a regular basis.

 

Otherwise,  just make him cluck like a chicken when he k's - aversion therapy ....

This.  I'm not sure if hypnosis is the fix, but its clear to me that the pressure (most likely self-imposed) is absolutely crippling him.  If hypnosis can re-frame the way he thinks about the game (right now I'm guessing he is dreading every at bat,) then I'm all for it.  As a former baseball player with ADD, I think I might know some of what he's going through.  Could be way off, but who knows.

Another serious question:  Has anyone seen evidence of him actually having fun while playing recently?  

[Tx Oriole]

9 minutes ago, joelala said:

This.  I'm not sure if hypnosis is the fix, but its clear to me that the pressure (most likely self-imposed) is absolutely crippling him.  If hypnosis can re-frame the way he thinks about the game (right now I'm guessing he is dreading every at bat,) then I'm all for it.  As a former baseball player with ADD, I think I might know some of what he's going through.  Could be way off, but who knows.

Another serious question:  Has anyone seen evidence of him actually having fun while playing recently?  

Maybe he is under a lot of pressure. 

[joelala]

160 million dollars of pressure.

[xian4]

1 minute ago, joelala said:

160 million dollars of pressure.

Strange as it sounds, that type of money can cause all sorts of anxiety, we also don't know what happens behind the scenes, personal life etc, so its hard to get a proper read on his issues.

[joelala]

6 minutes ago, xian4 said:

Strange as it sounds, that type of money can cause all sorts of anxiety, we also don't know what happens behind the scenes, personal life etc, so its hard to get a proper read on his issues.

Doesn't sound strange at all.  I can imagine wanting to live up to those expectations.  Its terrifying to me.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, bpilktree said:

That does not mean that his bat speed has slowed down.  He is just not identifying the pitch well enough and looking at lots of them.  When he is seeing it well he can sit back and go opposite field on the pitch or turn on it if it is inside.  right now he is tentative and not sure what the pitch is so he looses that tenth of a second.  

It better not be a tenth of a second.   It only takes .4 seconds for a pitch to travel from the pitcher's hand to home plate, and a hundredth of a second to cross home plate.     A tenth of a second is the difference between a major leaguer and me.

[spiritof66]

Maybe 20 or 25 years ago, there were reports that MLB teams -- the NYYs were one of them -- were retaining sports psychologists (some, maybe most, of them psychiatrists) to work with players whose performance drop-offs didn't seem attributable to injuries or the normal aging process. It was stated or implied that teams were pushing players to try that therapy or counseling even if they were reluctant to do so.

I don't know whether that proved to be successful or whether it's continuing among MLB teams. As I recall, it also wasn't clear whether the practice was more widespread than reported but some teams succeeded in keeping it confidential. I do know that if I were Chris Davis, or if he and his contract were assets (and I use the term loosely) of my team, I'd be pretty desperate for solutions even if they were outside the usual scope or beyond what Chris could be required to do.

 

[AnythingO's]

3 hours ago, Roll Tide said:

If you've ever had ADD, and other similar issue. You'd know that each medication effects people differently and sometimes have adverse side effects. 

The fact that Adderral seemed to work well for him is the right outcome if you are a doctor. It could take years to find something else and maybe it doesn't happen.

In my experience this is spot on. My daughter has ADD and we went thru Ritalin, Concerta, Adderrel, and some others I can't recall. Each med had a different effect on her. Davis looks like he just can't pull the trigger,  IMO he isn't processing info fast enough in the split second he has to decide. He needs a different med.

[Chavez Ravine]

1 hour ago, spiritof66 said:

Maybe 20 or 25 years ago, there were reports that MLB teams -- the NYYs were one of them -- were retaining sports psychologists (some, maybe most, of them psychiatrists) to work with players whose performance drop-offs didn't seem attributable to injuries or the normal aging process. It was stated or implied that teams were pushing players to try that therapy or counseling even if they were reluctant to do so.

I don't know whether that proved to be successful or whether it's continuing among MLB teams. As I recall, it also wasn't clear whether the practice was more widespread than reported but some teams succeeded in keeping it confidential. I do know that if I were Chris Davis, or if he and his contract were assets (and I use the term loosely) of my team, I'd be pretty desperate for solutions even if they were outside the usual scope or beyond what Chris could be required to do.

 

It has continued, and yes this article says they often are not very forthcoming about it.  The list of teams is at the bottom of the article:

http://sabr.org/research/work-harvey-dorfman-professional-baseball-mental-training-consultant

It includes the Orioles, who at least in 2012 had sports psychologist Seth Kaplan.  Here is an article Britt wrote about it then:

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/26829668//

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, birdwatcher55 said:

Can we hypnotize PA and have him eat the remaining $125mil so we can jettison this stiff?

I'm sure if the O's ate say 100M some team would be willing to take the rest of the contract on.

[interloper]

6 hours ago, Tx Oriole said:

But Tony doesn't he take something else for his ADD? 

He absolutely does.