Is it time to bring in a "Davis Whisperer"?

[El Gordo]

Bring back Jim Thome. He's the one who got CD started on his HR kick.

[VaBird1]

I think the first step is you have to bench him.  You tell him, look you aren’t hitting and you aren’t fielding well.  Then Buck gets to say one of his favorite lines, “If you want to play more, play better.”

Someone who is too proud to bunt when hitting .200 isn’t going to make a drastic change if they are still the primary starter.

[Can_of_corn]

I wish his issues could be solved by something as simple as laying down a few bunts.

[wildcard]

He didn't have a spring training because of the injury.   He needs to build some confidence.   When he is ready to do it, the O's can waiver him, then send him to the minors to work on his swing.  No other team will pick up that contract so he can pass through waivers.   

Let him get to the minors and just hit for a while.     Then bring him back once he finds his groove.   He has to be ready to do it and have an agreement with the O's on his return.

[sportsfan8703]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I wish his issues could be solved by something as simple as laying down a few bunts.

What’s sad is teams have realized that might be a way to get on base so they take that away now. 

The guy is done. Teams just don’t have any reason to fear him. 

[sportsfan8703]

I’m pretty sure the Davis Whisperer is behind bars right now for a distribution charge. 

If you ain’t cheatin, you ain’t tryin. 

 

[Bonecrusher52]

Send in Mark Reynolds. I'm pretty sure he's available. He probably still hate Buck but I don't know if that's true or not.

[Frobby]

11 hours ago, Oriol3s said:

Does he need glasses? Seriously. I know most MLB hitters are better than 20/20 vision.  It really seems like his vision could be a big part of his lack of pitch recognition and slow bat speed.

 

10 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

How likely is it that the elaborate physicals they take in spring training don't include a vision test?

 

7 hours ago, section18 said:

He may have cataracts and need surgery or may just need one procedure. 

There is no doubt in my mind that professional athletes get thorough vision tests annually, if not more often than that.    Whatever problem Davis is having, I’d be 99.99% sure that it’s nothing that can be fixed with glasses, contacts or eye surgery.   That’s way too easy to check and correct.

Now, Luke points out that even if Davis’ vision is 20-20 or better, he may not he able to track a 90-100 mph pitch as well as he used to.   That might be correct, but if so, I don’t think glasses, contacts or eye surgery are going to fix that problem. 

[Babypowder]

I am not sure why we are immediately is rushing to the conclusion the issue is mental. Davis is following a pretty typical career arc for players with his skill set. We have scientific evidence his athleticism has declined sharply in his sprint speed. That loss of athleticism is going to show up at the plate too. The bat has slowed and his offensive profile was living on a thin line as it was. He may just be physically done as a major league hitter. It wouldn't be that out of the ordinary.

[DJHJR86]

He should absolutely be relegated to the 8 or 9 hole in the line up, at the very least.  

[foxfield]

9 hours ago, webbrick2010 said:

Lol and people gave me flak when I said he was totally washed up back in january

You say everything Orioles is washed up and it goes back farther than January.  I have an old Seiko in my dresser drawer.  Its right twice a day.

 

I hate this.  I hate it for Baltimore, I hate it for fans, I hate it for my son who wears #19 on his Orioles Travel Baseball team uniform.  But mostly I hate it for Chris Davis.  His contract and the inability to live up to it seem to be pulling a ton of negative energy to the club and honestly its fan base.  We look for solutions to improve him or to wish away the remaining 5 years.

I wish nothing more than a path forward for both.  It does not seem readily apparent what that path will be nor does there appear to be one that is not painful...but baseball is a funny game.  No matter what happens from here, I will remember the resurgence of baseball in Baltimore and the parts of it supplied by Chris Davis.

Chris Davis, and the Baltimore Orioles...I hope you figure this thing out and find a path.  Godspeed.

[Babypowder]

3 hours ago, VaBird1 said:

I think the first step is you have to bench him.  You tell him, look you aren’t hitting and you aren’t fielding well.  Then Buck gets to say one of his favorite lines, “If you want to play more, play better.”

Someone who is too proud to bunt when hitting .200 isn’t going to make a drastic change if they are still the primary starter.

It's not about pride, it's about physical ability. I watched him lay down 3 bunts in spring training games, he was thrown out at first each time after bunting directly to the pitcher. He just doesn't seem to be able to do it.

[bobmc]

21 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

It's not about pride, it's about physical ability. I watched him lay down 3 bunts in spring training games, he was thrown out at first each time after bunting directly to the pitcher. He just doesn't seem to be able to do it.

SSS?    LOL - Drungo mentioned how difficult it is nowadays.  If they were all throwing 75, no problems right?  At 90+ with movement not so easy even when you have the "physical ability".

[joeyc]

Chris Davis refuses to  listen to anyone. He is a hard head and an idiot. Anyone who would continually pull the ball into a shift is an idiot. Plain and simple. The organization should cut there losses with him. he will never be worthy of a major league contract.

[Babypowder]

24 minutes ago, bobmc said:

SSS?    LOL - Drungo mentioned how difficult it is nowadays.  If they were all throwing 75, no problems right?  At 90+ with movement not so easy even when you have the "physical ability".

Everything is so emotional around here, it bugs me. The team is losing because they don't care. Davis isn't hitting because he's a headcase, he could bunt for a hit every time if he just wanted to do it. Chris Tillman is a liar just trying to swindle the team out of money. If Adam Jones could just concentrate harder, he would stop chasing pitches out of the zone. The list goes on.

What if the team is just having a bad stretch, as every team does? What if Davis has just declined and doesn't have the skills anymore? Same for Tillman. There doesn't have to be some negative force driving these things. Baseball players have bad stretches, they decline, they lack certain abilities. You'd think long term baseball fans wouldn't react so emotionally to issues so commonplace in this game.