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Chris Davis has a problem with velocity.


Luke-OH

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1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

He's never looked like he's had a fast bat to me.  Like Raffy had that long, looping swing.  Davis has that swing where it looks slow and easy when he misses (which is ALL THE TIME NOW) but beautiful, fluid and effortless when he happens to square one up.

I would like to see bat speed data measured in MPH from his big homer seasons to where he is now.  

Long Looping swing? I don't think so.

 

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47 minutes ago, Es4M11 said:

I'm finding it hard not to assume he was enhanced in those years. Either that, or his use of amphetamines has caught up to him.

Is he still using tobacco?  Isn't that used to heighten awareness through nicotine?

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5 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

The problem with Davis is he also has a problem with off speed. Not sure where to get the numbers but my eye test says it is true. I think Davis has a problem with pitching in general.

In 2017/2018 Davis's wOBA against Sliders, Changeups, and Curveballs is .272. Which is higher than his wOBA against 92+mph FBs and much higher than his wOBA against 95+mph FB.

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10 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I was going to guess Jones, mostly because he is so bad at hitting off speed :)

I wouldn’t say Jones is uniformly bad at hitting offspeed.   He absolutely crushes hanging breaking balls.   But throw him a good one low and away and he’s helpless.    

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Oh and for those who are wondering how Davis had .312 wOBA last season given this data.

It's slow fastballs.

FBs less than or equal to 92mph = .424 wOBA

Less than or equal to 90mph = .546 wOBA

For reference, he's 3rd out of 203 players who have seen 200+ FBs <=90mph in wOBA in 2017-2018.

So worst in the league at hitting plus fastballs, best in the league at hitting below average fastballs.

This is useful knowledge if you are trying to choose when to play him.

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12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I wouldn’t say Jones is uniformly bad at hitting offspeed.   He absolutely crushes hanging breaking balls.   But throw him a good one low and away and he’s helpless.    

In Jones' defense, NOBODY hits those low and away breaking balls! It's just that the vast majority of other players don't try to hit them. ;)

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1 hour ago, webbrick2010 said:

That's why I keep asking about whether anyone has watched him closely in BP.

Usually you can see when a power hitter has lost bat speed from how far and how many big flys he hits in BP.

I can't believe it wasn't obvious to the O's coaches and Buck that Davis is washed up.... and yet there he is batting against Chris Sale

That might literally be the worse place to look for bat speed. Big strong guys can hit a slow straight pitch a long way without premium bat speed.

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This is fascinating stuff.  The big question is whether poor performance against good fastballs is a terminal condition or whether a player can snap out of it.  If it's the former then Peter Angelos needs to accept that the Davis contract was a bad investment that is best written off, because fastball velocities will only continue to rise throughout MLB in the coming years.

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30 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

Oh and for those who are wondering how Davis had .312 wOBA last season given this data.

It's slow fastballs.

FBs less than or equal to 92mph = .424 wOBA

Less than or equal to 90mph = .546 wOBA

For reference, he's 3rd out of 203 players who have seen 200+ FBs <=90mph in wOBA in 2017-2018.

So worst in the league at hitting plus fastballs, best in the league at hitting below average fastballs.

This is useful knowledge if you are trying to choose when to play him.

Science. Thank you. Wonder if Buck, Dan or anyone in The Warehouse has examined any of this or is there  anyone employed there who would feel comfortable bringing them this?

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