Chris Davis 2019 and beyond

[weams]

1 minute ago, weams said:

 

Quote

I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I'm not enough

Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up

Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low?

Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know

 

[weams]

Quote

Finally, in late August, things came to a head. Ella watched Peppa Pig and his eight-month-old twins slept. Chris slumped at the kitchen table, pleading with Jill, a registered nurse who left her job to support him, to diagnose whatever moral disease had brought him here. "Am I blind to something that I'm habitually doing?" he asked. “Do you see anything in me that needs to be brought to light?"

"You're right where God needs you to be," she assured him.

 

[weams]

Quote

In June, as Davis’s average dove to .150, a bar in Baltimore began offering free shots every time he got a hit. Fans called for Davis to be benched, released, shot into the sun. But in the end, the moment that Davis calls “the worst point in my career” came from inside the house. On the postgame show after an 0–4 in May, Baltimore legend Jim Palmer weighed in. He had heard that Davis was either overwhelmed by or complacent because of his deal.

“He’s not the only guy in the major leagues who got a big contract,” Palmer said on air. “You’ve got to make some adjustments. I don’t see anything.”

Some people in the organization privately wondered if Palmer had a point. Davis had refused to switch to a lighter bat, had given up after only a few games on the idea of bunting toward third as an antidote to the infielders who clustered on the right side against him. He had only worked with Coolbaugh a handful of times that offseason. Davis once channeled his energy into earning the big contract. Now he focuses on living up to it. Was he too stubborn? Had he lost his edge?

 

[Chromehill]

5 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

That's been a big problem from the start of his decline IMO. He got this idea that the shift is the boogeyman that is causing all of his problems and people around him are encouraging that idea or at least not telling him otherwise.

It has nothing to do with the shift, bat speed is poor now and he's slower like you said. He's always had a long swing with holes to exploit, that's why even when he was good he struck out 30% of the time. It's possible he could still be an all or nothing slugger (not a good one but maybe a replacement level one instead of a historically bad one) if he would just get out of his own way and go up there in attack mode rather than this feeling sorry for himself theater in the box.

Davis does need to approach his AB's in attack mode.  Davis slash line:

with 0 strikes 299/386/532/919

with 1 strike  299/343/546/889

with 2 strikes 091/172/152/324

63% of his AB's get to 2 strikes.  Quite obvious he needs to be more aggressive early in the count.  If Davis gets to 2 strikes in the count, they should consider using a pitcher to pinch hit for him, it could not be any worse. 

[Going Underground]

41 minutes ago, weams said:

 

So I guess God hates Chris Davis and the Orioles. But God loves the shift.What  if God was an Oriole pitcher? Just a stranger on the Oriole bus.All the runs go on home.Hit homers to heaven and Oriole pitchers feel all alone 

[Frobby]

55 minutes ago, Chromehill said:

Davis does need to approach his AB's in attack mode.  Davis slash line:

with 0 strikes 299/386/532/919

with 1 strike  299/343/546/889

with 2 strikes 091/172/152/324

63% of his AB's get to 2 strikes.  Quite obvious he needs to be more aggressive early in the count.  If Davis gets to 2 strikes in the count, they should consider using a pitcher to pinch hit for him, it could not be any worse. 

While I don’t disagree with you, I think these stats are misleading.   Remember, if Davis swings and misses on a zero- or one-strike count, it’s not an out, he’s merely prolonging the at bat.    So for sake of argument, let’s say Davis got up 400 times with one strike and swung and missed 390 times, got 3 hits and made 7 outs.     That would indicate he batted .300 with one strike.    It would also lead to him having more than 97% of his at bats resolved with two strikes.  Obviously, you couldn’t say in that situation that he needs to be more aggressive with one strike.     You’d need to know how often he’s swinging and missing vs. taking pitches in the strike zone in a one-strike count.

[Frobby]

Keep in mind, when Chris Davis swings, he only puts the ball in play 28.5% of the time.    So, 71.5% of his one-strike swings are going to lead to a two-strike at bat.

[theocean]

8 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

That's been a big problem from the start of his decline IMO. He got this idea that the shift is the boogeyman that is causing all of his problems and people around him are encouraging that idea or at least not telling him otherwise.

It has nothing to do with the shift, bat speed is poor now and he's slower like you said. He's always had a long swing with holes to exploit, that's why even when he was good he struck out 30% of the time. It's possible he could still be an all or nothing slugger (not a good one but maybe a replacement level one instead of a historically bad one) if he would just get out of his own way and go up there in attack mode rather than this feeling sorry for himself theater in the box.

I agree. The shift didn't come out of no where. Teams were shifting against him when he was good. Just now he goes up there already expecting to get out.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, theocean said:

I agree. The shift didn't come out of no where. Teams were shifting against him when he was good. Just now he goes up there already expecting to get out.

The shift certainly doesn’t explain why his homer totals have gone from 47 to 38 to 26 to 16.   He is in denial.   

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The shift certainly doesn’t explain why his homer totals have gone from 47 to 38 to 26 to 16.   He is in denial.   

Bat speed has declined and he has no confidence.

[weams]

51 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The shift certainly doesn’t explain why his homer totals have gone from 47 to 38 to 26 to 16.   He is in denial.   

Also, he is not good. I had an issue with him bringing up the ADHD in the piece also. He should not lean on that. 

[mdbdotcom]

I hope Davis retires. My biggest fear is that he pulls a Donnie Moore and ends it all.

[Tony-OH]

On 6/16/2018 at 7:52 PM, higgybaby said:

Actually Brady is pretty good regarding a short powerful rotational swing. 

Which Davis has gradually gotten more and more linear by not “staying connected” throughout his swing.

Look up Mike Epstein  and his teachings on rotational vs linear swing and then watch footage of Davis during his good years vs now. 

Long story short, his swing has become much more arms(Long) and less rotational(body/power/short). This accounts for his bat speed issues. 

In the 293 PAs since Brady was seen throwing BP to Davis, he's slashed 183/.256/.350/.606. Brady might be good, but Davis is unfixable. He doesn't have the eye-hand coordination or bat speed to be good any more.

[Tony-OH]

16 minutes ago, mdbdotcom said:

I hope Davis retires. My biggest fear is that he pulls a Donnie Moore and ends it all.

Well that took a dark turn. Regardless of how his baseball carer has gone, Davis is a very rich man with a beautiful family. I highly doubt he's going to do something awful over his skills deteriorating. 

[weams]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

In the 293 PAs since Brady was seen throwing BP to Davis, he's slashed 183/.256/.350/.606. Brady might be good, but Davis is unfixable. He doesn't have the eye-hand coordination or bat speed to be good any more.

Davis wants to preach.