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

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Babypowder said:

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 is 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.

My sentiments exactly.    

[foxfield]

4 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

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.

 

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

My sentiments exactly.    

Mine too!

[El Gordo]

Just now, foxfield said:

 

Mine too!

Ditto, ditto, but Oswald didn't kill Kenedy.

[FanSince88]

1 hour ago, foxfield said:

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.

Well put, and I agree with your sentiments.  At this point, I think the Orioles need to think creatively about ways for Davis to provide some value.  Look, I have no expectation that we will get our money's worth from him.  But when you have all this money tied up in one player, it is hard to imagine the franchise achieving even a modicum of success in the next 5 years unless it can find some way for him to offer a positive contribution to the team.  We still have five years to figure this thing out.  As unlikely as it seems, maybe a radical shortening of his swing to turn him into a Nick Markakis-type hitter could be more likely to offer positive value than the current approach.  Or if his offense is totally shot, perhaps he can learn to field well at a more important defensive position than first base (ie, 3B or OF).  Or if things are really desperate, maybe see if he can be a relief pitcher...and I'm only half joking about that one.  The point is, we can't afford to just DFA Davis (as much as so much of you, and I, want to) without trying to think way outside the box to see if he can offer some sort of value for all the money he's guaranteed to get.  

[eddie83]

3 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

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 is 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.

Well said. 

I think with Davis it is the contract that drives people nuts and the concern the Orioles will not have the guts to move on if needed. 

Righy or wrong he is an extremely frustrating player to watch even for long term fans who get the sport. I know I was guilty of talking about what is going on in his head. I just can’t fathom with 2 strikes constantly being called out on pitches that aren’t painting the black. His off year in 2014 and bounce back in 2015 I think impacts people as well. Knowing his personal history and seeing him be inconsistent makes people wonder. That said it may very well be a loss of skill and nothing more.  

[InsideCoroner]

10 hours ago, 24fps said:

What sort of standardized vision test is there that reliably measures tracking a thrown baseball from 60 feet away at 90-100 mph?  I don't think that simple visual acuity tells the whole story for a baseball player.

Last year I was also wondering if he had problems picking up the ball. But it seemed that if he really had a vision problem, he wouldn't be able to pick up throws from the left side of the infield and be able to pick balls out of the dirt, many of which are coming from much further away and nearly as fast. He doesn't seem to have an issue there. 

[foxfield]

7 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

Ditto, ditto, but Oswald didn't kill Kenedy.

Wait What?!?!  LOL

[TouchemAll]

16 hours ago, eddie83 said:

His issues are between his ears. That needs fixed the most.  

Combine that with a dead slow bat and it's a REAL BAD combo. Right now we got and OK defensive 1st basemen with no offensive production.

[Camden_yardbird]

2 minutes ago, foxfield said:

Wait What?!?!  LOL

It was the Comedian...spoilers.

As to keeping a level head and overreacting and living and dying with the game and your team, has it ever occurred to those more analytical of you that those are the things that are fandom for some.

Not everyone wants to look at sabermeteic numbers, some people want to believe that Chris Davis can turn it around if you bring in the right coach for him.

[24fps]

7 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

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 is 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.

Baseball fans, and sports fans in general, are emotional by nature.  If you expect everyone around here to be George Will, I think you're going to be disappointed.  There have been some wacky theories and blatant mischaracterizations in pursuit of personal agendas over this last week, that's clear.  But don't expect "a bad stretch" to be a sufficient explanation for a group who routinely puts everything under a microscope.  Tillman and Davis both look to have problems that go beyond mere slumps, and that's going to be discussed at length.

What is a "long term baseball fan" these days anyway?  When I was very little, we had a rotary phone.  OTOH there are some 20-year veteran Orioles fans who have never been without internet since their teens.  I'll bet the attention spans and expectations for results are very different for each of these groups.  That's going to be reflected in the way people post.

[Tony-OH]

13 hours ago, Frobby said:

This is one of those unattributed rumors with no identified source.   I do think that Tony may have heard something to this effect from someone in the organization, however.   I think I remember him saying that, or at least hinting it.

Yep, and it will stay that way, but that's what I heard. 

[Tony-OH]

32 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

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.

You know, one of my pet peeves is when people take one post out of a thread with hundreds that is almost universally panned by the rest of the board and then generalize it like the entire board feels these ways.

I don't know if posters like you only focus on those hyperbolic statements or not, but there really is no reason to act like the general feeling of the board agrees  with all of these statements. Is the general feeling negative around here? Sure.

Probably for good reason though. The Orioles have lost five in a row, are coming off a sweep, the starters ERA is actually higher than it was last year when it was historically bad, the bullpen has blown every lead or tie this team has had, the hitting has minus one game, and the team is coming off a last place finish in which they crashed in September. Do I think the Orioles will play better, sure I do, they aren't going to be historically bad this year. Do I think they are a contender? Nope.

[Babypowder]

20 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

You know, one of my pet peeves is when people take one post out of a thread with hundreds that is almost universally panned by the rest of the board and then generalize it like the entire board feels these ways.

I don't know if posters like you only focus on those hyperbolic statements or not, but there really is no reason to act like the general feeling of the board agrees  with all of these statements. Is the general feeling negative around here? Sure.

Probably for good reason though. The Orioles have lost five in a row, are coming off a sweep, the starters ERA is actually higher than it was last year when it was historically bad, the bullpen has blown every lead or tie this team has had, the hitting has minus one game, and the team is coming off a last place finish in which they crashed in September. Do I think the Orioles will play better, sure I do, they aren't going to be historically bad this year. Do I think they are a contender? Nope.

You're right. I didn't mean to generalize the whole board as my initial sentence certainly does. It's definitely not one post or poster that is the target but I'll concede that it is a vocal minority. 

I don't think the Orioles are good and think I have been pretty clear about that. I just don't think it's due to lack of effort, them being headcases, or scheming with ill intent. I just think they aren't good.

[Ripken]

I'm not angry at the ballplayer who can't play ball anymore.  I'm not even angry (frustrated, maybe) that we signed ballplayers who can't play ball anymore.  What pisses me off, is PLAYING the guys who can't play ball anymore.  That is stupidity.  

Outside of money... there is zero reason to let Chris Davis, Chris Tillman, or Pedro Alvarez ever take the field for the Orioles again.

[Tony-OH]

Davis has long, slow swing and pitchers have found a hole down and in on him as the chart below shows. When you add this to a bat path that is an extreme upper cut on most pitches and along with what appears to be a mental block and the inability to pick up spin and you have a guy who is a mess at the plate. The problem is, that's a lot of things to correct and the big question is whether that bat speed is gone forever.

We had a discussion last night on him during our fan forum at the Baltimore Center Club and when asked how he would get Davis out, Ross Grimsley said, "Throw it over the plate." 

Here's the interesting thing, pitchers mostly worked Davis away last year and had success, so I guess if you can have any hope is that Davis will fix the hole inside and perhaps have some success until the pitchers adjust again.

Last year his success was on the inside part of the plate, so either Davis' bat is still very slow from the lack of PAs in spring training, or that bat speed is just lacking at this point in his career.