Chris Davis 2019 and beyond

[bird watcher]

31 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

If Davis is performing like he did in 2017, I could see him not starting as many games against lefties. For a player who has exhibited fairly even splits in other seasons, last year Davis slugged a mere .319 against left-handed pitchers! That weak performance helped produce a meager .618 OPS, as compared to an OPS of .785 versus right-handed pitchers.

Perhaps then the leash is shorter with lefties on the mound.  Maybe a month repeating those splits forces the platoon.  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

42 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

If Davis is performing like he did in 2017, I could see him not starting as many games against lefties. For a player who has exhibited fairly even splits in other seasons, last year Davis slugged a mere .319 against left-handed pitchers! That weak performance helped produce a meager .618 OPS, as compared to an OPS of .785 versus right-handed pitchers.

2018 Orioles could end up with the most expensive platoon combination of all time in Trumbo and Davis.  

[Moose Milligan]

There's a lot of reason to be down on the big guy after the year he had.  I have a hunch that he's in for a big year, though.  I don't think he's one to not work hard in an offseason.

I predict 35 bombs, a .250 average with a .350 on base.  One thing I like about Davis is that his on base percentage isn't propped up by his batting average.  

[Tx Oriole]

1 hour ago, bird watcher said:

Obviously with his salary he will be given every opportunity. I do however believe there has to be some degree of awfulness/time being awful that would be just too much to over look.  What does that look like for you?  Say he has an identical year to last year.  Does he start all year?  or does his playing time diminish?  What if he is worse?  How bad would it have to get and for how long?  Is it even possible this year or does he have to be awful into next year?

My take is that as long as he is performing above average defensively he will be the starting first baseman all year.  Buck will stick with him longer than I think most here would want.  

It won't matter with Buck. He is one of Bucks boys. If they did sit CD who would play 1st? Mancini? 

[bird watcher]

9 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

It won't matter with Buck. He is one of Bucks boys. If they did sit CD who would play 1st? Mancini? 

I mentioned potential options given scenarios on page one.  Yes.  Mancini/Trumbo.  This would of course require adequate production in the outfield.  

 

[webbrick2010]

Someone should start a poll: What year will he either be DFA'd or traded with O's still paying majority of his contract? 2019, 2020, 2021

I think he'll be out of baseball sometime in 2020

[Frobby]

39 minutes ago, bird watcher said:

Perhaps then the leash is shorter with lefties on the mound.  Maybe a month repeating those splits forces the platoon.  

Makes sense, considering that we have a team full of RH hitters.

[gmelson26]

I expect Davis to sit every 5th or 6th day.. so that he can start in the rotation.

[Whammer]

On a related note, I was listening to MLB Radio yesterday. Steve Phillips was making the point that Chris Davis was the poster boy for all things wrong with today's free agent system. If players want to go back to bargain table,  they'll have to give owners some leeway with guaranteed contracts or get used to the fact that players > 30 Y.O. may never see 7-year contracts ever again.  Says Boras and other agents can thank Chris Davis for current sad state of affairs.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Whammer

[pastorfan]

2 hours ago, bird watcher said:

Potential comeback player of the year numbers?  Would be nice.  

All he has to do is follow one simple rule to begin the year and he will have better numbers: AUTOMATICALLY SWING ONCE YOU HAVE TWO STRIKES ON YOU BECAUSE IT WILL BE RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE!

[weams]

2 hours ago, bird watcher said:

I wasn't knocking Buck at all.  Just stating an opinion that his leash would be longer than many here.  I suspect there are some who would bench him/significantly reduce his playing time after a month of last year's Numbers.  

 

 

He's not getting benched.

[Redskins Rick]

2 hours ago, theocean said:

Well, taking the bat off his shoulder every once in a while would probably help.

Then you would complain about his being overly aggressive like AJ!

[jabba72]

17 minutes ago, Whammer said:

On a related note, I was listening to MLB Radio yesterday. Steve Phillips was making the point that Chris Davis was the poster boy for all things wrong with today's free agent system. If players want to go back to bargain table,  they'll have to give owners some leeway with guaranteed contracts or get used to the fact that players > 30 Y.O. may never see 7-year contracts ever again.  Says Boras and other agents can thank Chris Davis for current sad state of affairs.

I think Boras is much more to blame than Davis is. 

[Redskins Rick]

30 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

I think Boras is much more to blame than Davis is. 

Boras is a problem here, but ownership was willing to spend the money. Can't fault the player for trying to get as much as he can.

 

[Frobby]

47 minutes ago, pastorfan said:

All he has to do is follow one simple rule to begin the year and he will have better numbers: AUTOMATICALLY SWING ONCE YOU HAVE TWO STRIKES ON YOU BECAUSE IT WILL BE RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE!

I know this was something of a joke, but to be clear:

1.   Davis did strike out swinging 120 times, compared to 75 times looking; and 

2.   After reaching a full count, Davis walked 41 times, while striking out only 36 times.

Accordingly, I don’t think swinging at every 2-strike pitch would be an improvement