Chris Davis 2019 and beyond

[Can_of_corn]

Remember these?

 

[higgybaby]

12 hours ago, interloper said:

Agree. The thing with #4, though, is that we can't really know unless he tries different things. Maybe his decline can be slowed with a different approach at the plate. Maybe the swing path can be changed. His hands. Something that helps speed up his bat. Maybe he can be given information to make him a better guess hitter (since he's basically just a guess hitter). 

If he gets up there with the same batting stance, and some quotes about "it was good to get a break from the game and reset and we talked about/tweaked some things that should help" and that's it? Then I'm sorry, he's not trying hard enough. I want to hear, "we completely changed the way I approach at-bats and here's precisely how". Anything less I'm not buying. Because that's where he's at in his career right now - he's at a place where he owes it to himself and his organization to change everything about the way he tries to hit a baseball and convince people that he's committed to doing that in specific ways.

I'm sorry but If he's completely changed his approach at the plate he's not going to put it out there for the public and the opposing pitchers to know what those changes are. 

[tntoriole]

6 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Actually putting in work is the key.  Davis talked a good game about his off season workout schedule last year and that turned out to be a lie.

Davis can hit .150 again for all I care, I just want evidence he worked on his swing for real this year.  

 

4 hours ago, interloper said:

Yeah I want specifics. Don't care if it works really.

The problem is there is no leverage.  Why should Davis put in all this new work?  If he didn’t care enough to do it the last two offseasons, why would he do it now? Elias is going to do what?  Tell him he has to change?  Or what? 

He gets paid no matter if he eats pizza and drinks beer all offseason or the rest of his life.   All I care about is a fan is whether he performs on the field.  I could care less about how he goes about it.  If he doesn’t perform on the field, then I hold ownership responsible for not correcting their stupid mistake and getting him off the field and out of an Oriole uniform. 

[24fps]

1 hour ago, higgybaby said:

I'm sorry but If he's completely changed his approach at the plate he's not going to put it out there for the public and the opposing pitchers to know what those changes are. 

Most people aren't looking for details, just confirmation that he's working as hard as he can to fix what's wrong.  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

5 hours ago, tntoriole said:

 

The problem is there is no leverage.  Why should Davis put in all this new work?  If he didn’t care enough to do it the last two offseasons, why would he do it now? Elias is going to do what?  Tell him he has to change?  Or what? 

He gets paid no matter if he eats pizza and drinks beer all offseason or the rest of his life.   All I care about is a fan is whether he performs on the field.  I could care less about how he goes about it.  If he doesn’t perform on the field, then I hold ownership responsible for not correcting their stupid mistake and getting him off the field and out of an Oriole uniform. 

You're exactly right, it's a matter of personal pride at this point. If it was me I would be motivated as hell coming off the all time worst season for a full time player. 

[sportsfan8703]

51 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

You're exactly right, it's a matter of personal pride at this point. If it was me I would be motivated as hell coming off the all time worst season for a full time player. 

I’m pretty sure Davis is working his ass off and probably driving himself crazy. We’re not going to see the guy change batting stances all the time like Cal. Cal was a HOF and a natural baseball player. Davis is a big strong athlete that had a lot of flaws but managed to overcome them for a 3-4 year stretch. 

Dacis’ defense at first has always been underrated. Watch him throw the ball around the bases as compared to Mancini. The problem is when you’re paying a guy a $100 million you don’t want to hear about his defense at first base. 

Hopefullu the new coaching if anything will give him a “fresh start”. He will get a fresh voice. New coaching and dropping some hunts down could make him be passable at the plate. 

I don’t think we have to worry about the guy’s work ethic. I think he’s just not a natural at the game. 

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I’m pretty sure Davis is working his ass off and probably driving himself crazy. We’re not going to see the guy change batting stances all the time like Cal. Cal was a HOF and a natural baseball player. Davis is a big strong athlete that had a lot of flaws but managed to overcome them for a 3-4 year stretch. 

Dacis’ defense at first has always been underrated. Watch him throw the ball around the bases as compared to Mancini. The problem is when you’re paying a guy a $100 million you don’t want to hear about his defense at first base. 

Hopefullu the new coaching if anything will give him a “fresh start”. He will get a fresh voice. New coaching and dropping some hunts down could make him be passable at the plate. 

I don’t think we have to worry about the guy’s work ethic. I think he’s just not a natural at the game. 

So we were underrating his defense when he first got here and he was dropping throws?

If anything I think folks here have overrated his athleticism.

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

So we were underrating his defense when he first got here and he was dropping throws?

If anything I think folks here have overrated his athleticism.

I do appreciate his throws around the infield. Davis is a beast at hitting the angles. I think athleticism is a tough word to describe Davis. Does atleticsm mean anything though when you’re in the batter’s box?

I just think the dude is not a natural at hitting. A combination of scouting, shifting, and age, got him. He obviously likes to let the ball travel, so you would think the easy solution is to move off the plate like Harold Baines. 

[baltfan]

I want Davis to say screw it and start taking swings like Ohtani.  Why not try a different approach?   Nothing standard is working. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

7 hours ago, tntoriole said:

 

The problem is there is no leverage.  Why should Davis put in all this new work?  If he didn’t care enough to do it the last two offseasons, why would he do it now? Elias is going to do what?  Tell him he has to change?  Or what? 

He gets paid no matter if he eats pizza and drinks beer all offseason or the rest of his life.   All I care about is a fan is whether he performs on the field.  I could care less about how he goes about it.  If he doesn’t perform on the field, then I hold ownership responsible for not correcting their stupid mistake and getting him off the field and out of an Oriole uniform. 

Pride is a big thing to people in the spotlight. Tell him he will not see the field as a starter all season unless he does certain things, whatever you deem those to be that he needs to do. Personally, I would tell him he is only working on bunting against the shift and hitting against the shift all offseason and spring training. When he can do that, then he can start a spring training game.

[tntoriole]

18 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

Pride is a big thing to people in the spotlight. Tell him he will not see the field as a starter all season unless he does certain things, whatever you deem those to be that he needs to do. Personally, I would tell him he is only working on bunting against the shift and hitting against the shift all offseason and spring training. When he can do that, then he can start a spring training game.

I hear you.  Pride is fine. Skill is not pride.  Bunting is fine, but teams will soon figure his deal out, play the bunt  and challenge him to actually hit the ball which he has yet to recently demonstrate he can do at an acceptable level.  We shall see, but the idea of Davis becoming some variant of a spray contact hitter is absurd, imho.  If he doesn’t get some boost in bat speed and strike zone management, he will remain an ineffective offensive player, 

[wildcard]

4 hours ago, scOtt said:

And I have to add... Trumbo could get traded in July, IF he has a decent start. Not even a lock to start the season on the roster.

CD is untradable. We'll eat that frickin' contract...

I don't see the O's eating CD's contract any time soon.

[mdbdotcom]

8 hours ago, wildcard said:

I don't see the O's eating CD's contract any time soon.

I think they will if they perceive his presence to be a negative influence on the young players.

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, wildcard said:

I don't see the O's eating CD's contract any time soon.

Let’s say Davis repeats his 2018 performance in 2019.    Do you think the O’s hold onto him for 2020?

I think that would be indefensible.  

[wildcard]

56 minutes ago, mdbdotcom said:

I think they will if they perceive his presence to be a negative influence on the young players.

Davis is not a negative influence in the clubhouse.  His offense has been disappointing but that only affecting those on the team that he is blocking like Mancini or in the future possibly Mountcastle.    Mancini is in line to take over DH if Trumbo leaves.   Mountcastle has a year in the minors to see if he can play 1B and hit AAA pitching.

It will be interesting to see what Elias does to try to turn Davis' offense around.