Checking in on Mr. Davis
Posted by D.J. Short on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 10:10 am
Chris Davis was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City by the Rangers on July 6 after hitting just .202/.256/.414, but he recieved the most attention for striking out an incredible 114 times in 258 at-bats (44.2% of time) while making contact just 58.2% of the time — by far the lowest rate in the majors. Davis was clearly lost at the plate, but the move was done as much to avoid embarrassment for the 23-year-old slugger, who was easily on pace to shatter the all-time mark for strikeouts ( 204) set by Arizona’s Mark Reynolds last season.
So how’s Davis doing down on the farm? Well, through 18 games for the RedHawks, he’s been a whole new man, batting .347/.400/.627 with four homers and 20 RBI. He has nine-multi hit games and seven multi-RBI games to his credit. He hit in six straight games before sitting out Monday with a hip injury suffered over the weekend. Don’t worry, he’s day-to-day. Oh, and the best news of all — that pesky strikeout rate. It’s down to 18.7% (just 14 times in 75 at-bats).
While Davis has thrived, top prospect Justin Smoak, believed to be on the fast track to the majors, has struggled, batting just .171/.266/.244 with 21 strikeouts in 81 at-bats (25.9%) since his promotion from Double-A Frisco. If and when the Rangers reach down to Oklahoma City for a bat, it’s pretty clear who they’ll look towards. Remember that Davis hit .271/.325/.473 with seven homers, 35 RBI and a .798 OPS from August 1 on last season. Even though he scuffled big time in his sophomore campaign, Davis will return to the majors with an elite 21.6% career HR/FB rate — top 10 among active players. Talk about an impact bat.
I’m not convinced that Texas should bother with either of these guys for the rest of this season, but these samples are too small to pretend that they’re menaingful, so I’m not convinced otherwise either. Being sent to AAA is not magic and I don’t see any reason to think that Chris Davis is suddenly able to hit major league pitchers. He’s doing what he’s always done at the minor league level. It’s really silly to pretend like 18 games has fixed a guy with the problems that Davis had. Smoak’s AAA performance is a disappointment for Texas fans, but reaching AAA in his first professional season is a pretty nice accomplishment.
I think we’re all guilty at looking at small sample sizes, but you can’t help but call Davis’ success encouraging, especially given the depths of his performance at the major league level this season. Davis’ return and subsequent playing time will depend on how the Rangers do in the coming days. Either way, he will be on the roster in September. Bank on it. Lastly, I don’t mean to take away from Smoak’s accomplishments, only to temper the drumbeat of fans who would rather reach for Smoak over Davis. I fear that Smoak will look even more over-matched right now.