Will Chris Davis have a worse year than Adam Dunn in 2011?

[FanSince88]

Davis' OPS is currently 56 points lower than Dunn's in his infamous 2011 season.  Of course,  he does play the field competently unlike Dunn, but the metrics don't like his defense as much as many Orioles fans do (he hasn't had positive dWAR on baseball-ref since 2014).  

Will Chris Davis be able to surpass Dunn's horrible .569 OPS in 2011?  And if not, will his passable defense keep him above Dunn's abysmal -2.9 WAR for that year?  

[Moose Milligan]

If by surpass you mean be woefully under?  

Strong chance.   I think it'll be close.  I think Davis can run into enough balls to hit 20 homers this year but it's gonna be a struggle to get that batting average over .200.  It's going to be a long, long year.  

I don't feel bad for professional athletes all that much but I do feel bad for him.  It's gotta suck to go out there and be so terrible at your job, and doing it in front of a few thousand people that are pissed about it.  Your teammates know it.  I don't care how much money you make, that's not a good feeling if you have an iota of pride.

[atomic]

18 minutes ago, FanSince88 said:

Davis' OPS is currently 56 points lower than Dunn's in his infamous 2011 season.  Of course,  he does play the field competently unlike Dunn, but the metrics don't like his defense as much as many Orioles fans do (he hasn't had positive dWAR on baseball-ref since 2014).  

Will Chris Davis be able to surpass Dunn's horrible .569 OPS in 2011?  And if not, will his passable defense keep him above Dunn's abysmal -2.9 WAR for that year?  

Hopefully if he continues to play poorly he doesn't get enough at bats to match Dunn's -2.9 WAR. 

[FanSince88]

9 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

If by surpass you mean be woefully under?  

Strong chance.   I think it'll be close.  I think Davis can run into enough balls to hit 20 homers this year but it's gonna be a struggle to get that batting average over .200.  It's going to be a long, long year.  

I don't feel bad for professional athletes all that much but I do feel bad for him.  It's gotta suck to go out there and be so terrible at your job, and doing it in front of a few thousand people that are pissed about it.  Your teammates know it.  I don't care how much money you make, that's not a good feeling if you have an iota of pride.

Yeah, and a huge difference between Dunn and Davis is that Dunn OPSed .800 or better the year in 2010 and 2012 and had a consistent track record of ten straight years above 800 OPS entering 2011.  Meanwhile, Davis hasn't topped an .800 OPS since 2015.  So in Dunn's case there was reason to hope he'd bounce back next year and he actually did do that.  What hope do we realistically have that Davis will ever again be a useful baseball player?   2017 wasn't nearly good enough to be considered useful, and that would be a huge improvement over what he's shown this year.  

[tntoriole]

Sure...why not?  A man has to have a goal. 

[Punchandjudy]

yes and I'm not sure O's fans are sold on his defense.  I mean I think he is okay, but I believe the drumbeat saying he is a great defensive player comes strictly from the O's and their often surrogate mouthpiece MASN.

[webbrick2010]

Mercifully I think they will find a way to DL him for most of the rest of the year.

[gtman55]

No doubt. Davis at this point is a very poor excuse for an MLB hitter. He's not getting better. I called his contract the worst financial decision this club has made at the time of his signing and I stick by that. We're stuck with 4 more years of a declining Davis and it won't be pretty.

[mattman0182]

He pulled a Flacco.   Has a career year, gets that huge payday, and does nothing afterward.   

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, mattman0182 said:

He pulled a Flacco.   Has a career year, gets that huge payday, and does nothing afterward.   

He’s doing much worse than Flacco.   And at least the Ravens got a Super Bowl ring out of Flacco’s career year.    

[FanSince88]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He’s doing much worse than Flacco.   And at least the Ravens got a Super Bowl ring out of Flacco’s career year.    

I agree, Davis is way worse than Flacco has been.  Flacco has been about average at best and below average at worst since his deal.  But below average is still way better than below replacement level.  Flacco is not and has never been a below replacement level QB.  Chris Davis surely will be below replacement level this year and he was last year too.  He may never again be an above replacement level player, actually.  

[MikeAD]

A fairer question might be: who would have a better season, present day Chris Davis or present day Chili Davis?  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

9 minutes ago, FanSince88 said:

I agree, Davis is way worse than Flacco has been.  Flacco has been about average at best and below average at worst since his deal.  But below average is still way better than below replacement level.  Flacco is not and has never been a below replacement level QB.  Chris Davis surely will be below replacement level this year and he was last year too.  He may never again be an above replacement level player, actually.  

Also QB's need to have talent around them and a good offensive system.  The only thing preventing Chris Davis from being an effective hitter is Chris Davis.  

[Tx Oriole]

14 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

If by surpass you mean be woefully under?  

Strong chance.   I think it'll be close.  I think Davis can run into enough balls to hit 20 homers this year but it's gonna be a struggle to get that batting average over .200.  It's going to be a long, long year.  

I don't feel bad for professional athletes all that much but I do feel bad for him.  It's gotta suck to go out there and be so terrible at your job, and doing it in front of a few thousand people that are pissed about it.  Your teammates know it.  I don't care how much money you make, that's not a good feeling if you have an iota of pride.

I kind of agree. It must be terrible for any pro athelete to struggle so much. Fans pissed at him. Maybe team mates too. Although they won't say so. What a terrible job to have. When I slowed due to age I could still do my job. Pro atheletes cant. 

[Tx Oriole]

47 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He’s doing much worse than Flacco.   And at least the Ravens got a Super Bowl ring out of Flacco’s career year.    

Sorry but I believe you are comparing apples to oranges. I believe hitting a baseball is far harder than throwing a football no matter how good a quarterback is. Whether is Tom Brady or Johnny Unitas.