Chris Davis, 2019

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Melewski recaps yesterday's show. Apparently he is trying to "add bulk".

But honestly, that's something a lot of folks seem to thing matters for him to be a decent hitter. Me? I kind of doubt it. Bulk won't help whatever mental hiccup is causing his uncertainty at the plate. 

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, atomic said:

Probably Boras told him "You got your big contract now Chris, so do us both a favor and lay off the juice".  

Probably right.   But Davis did say last offseason that he was trying to slim down and add flexibility.    

he tweaked his exercise regimen to add extra emphasis on conditioning and flexibility ("I can't go in the gym and crush arms all the time anymore," Davis said. "Everybody tells me I look skinny."). 

https://www.mlb.com/news/chris-davis-eyes-2019-as-redemption-season-c303225758

Honestly, I’m done caring exactly what Davis has done in the offseason.    Just show up an produce some respectable results.     If he can’t, the team should cut him.    Period, end of story.   
 

 

[atomic]

10 minutes ago, interloper said:

But honestly, that's something a lot of folks seem to thing matters for him to be a decent hitter. Me? I kind of doubt it. Bulk won't help whatever mental hiccup is causing his uncertainty at the plate. 

If you swing at balls in the dirt and take pitches right down the middle , then this has to be one of the few cases where size does not in fact matter. 

[24fps]

3 hours ago, mdbdotcom said:

He lied previously (saying he'd worked with the ass't hitting coach) and got called out for it during the season.

Sorry, but the 2020 coping strategy I signed up for requires copious amounts of willful delusion on my part.  All I'm asking for is a little cooperation.

[HowAboutThat]

Meh. He has a problem and has no incentive at all to address it. It is human nature that extremely hard and dedicated work so you can get a reward becomes less important after you get the reward.

for the-probably literally, considering how many people in baseball have said it- millionth time, cut him loose and promise to never make such stupid contract decisions again.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, MurphDogg said:

Melewski recaps yesterday's show. Apparently he is trying to "add bulk".

  

[interloper]

I guess we should change the thread title to 2020?

[interloper]

Quote

During the show last night I asked him if he is guessing too much at the plate and/or having issues with pitch recognition?

“Honestly, I try to play the game the right way, I really do,” Davis said. “What I mean by that is - there are certain things and real baseball fans will appreciate this. If you’re leading off an inning after you’ve been on defense for a while, I’m not going up and hack at the first pitch. Even if it’s a fastball right down the middle. Even if I hit a home run, yeah, that’s a run on the board, but it’s a quick result and the chances are after a long inning your pitcher is going to need a little bit of a blow. Not to mention the guys that were on defense.

“I try to understand and embrace my role in the lineup. Over the years, as I kind of moved down in the lineup - and a lot of times it’s being the only lefty or vet in the lineup - I want to do whatever I can to make that pitcher throw as many pitches as possible. To give as much information up as he possibly can.

“Do I take a lot of called third strikes? More than I would like to, absolutely. And that’s something that I’m going to have to remedy and kind of understand and adjust as we go through the season. Because I love being aggressive, and over my career I’ve been more productive when I’m aggressive.

“I’ve got to find a way to really let my ability take over in unison and in harmony with what our lineup is constructed to do. I feel like I’ve done a lot of work this offseason. I feel like, mentally, I’m just in a much better place and I’ve got my confidence back. I’ll be the first one to tell you, the last few years there were days when I would go to the field and I didn’t feel like I was myself. But I’m excited about this season and excited about some of the younger guys that are going to be around camp.”

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2020/01/chris-davis-adds-strength-but-no-swing-overhaul-heading-into-season.html

In these quotes, Davis manages to both acknowledge that he's more successful being aggressive, but also plans to take a lot of pitches. Well, which is it? You can't do both, bud.

I like the guy and hope for the best, but he's basically hopeless. 

[Sir_Loin]

Here is Davis in 2019 vs 2013 (Markakis in back of picture on bottom). He definitely has lost muscle mass!

 

2019

 

2013 (aka season of the CRUSHER)

 

One more from 2013

[mdbdotcom]

14 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

  

The Incredible Bulk

[Aristotelian]

I would be more excited if he said he worked on bunting.

[mdbdotcom]

9 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I would be more excited if he said he worked on bunting.

Or quilting.

[wildbillhiccup]

53 minutes ago, Sir_Loin said:

2013 (aka season of the CRUSHER)

 

One m

Unfortunately in the 2020 version of this pic the monkey has been replaced by an elephant. 

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

Melewski recaps yesterday's show. Apparently he is trying to "add bulk".

As I mentioned in this post above, Davis actually had a couple stretches of productivity last year. Unfortunately he had other stretches where he hit worse than a pitcher. That makes me think that at least some of the issue is mental.

Reading the interview highlights, I really think Davis is whistling in the dark.    I would have released him partway through last season.    Unless he shows this spring that he’s looking better for whatever reason, I’d just cut bait.    

[interloper]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Reading the interview highlights, I really think Davis is whistling in the dark.    I would have released him partway through last season.    Unless he shows this spring that he’s looking better for whatever reason, I’d just cut bait.    

Yeah. He's also just kind of vacillating between stuff at this point. "I'll try slimming down. That didn't work, I'll try bulking back up. I was too patient, I'll try to be aggressive now. But it's good to be patient." It's really just a mess.