Buck Showalter is very loyal. This is one of many reasons why players love playing for him. However, one of his greatest strengths as a manager is also one of his bigger weaknesses. When Jim Johnson blew three consecutive saves last season in May and again in August, Buck stayed with him. You could make the argument that Showalter staying with an average pitcher as the team’s closer led to the Orioles missing the playoffs.
Showalter has another huge decision to make this year with another former All-Star – Chris Davis. Davis has been beyond horrible for the entire season, but Showalter continues to march him out everyday and bat him 5th in the lineup. I thought Showalter finally had enough when he moved Davis to 7th for two games, but after that trial run, Davis has made his way back to his customary 5th slot.
Every time you think Davis may start to get hot with the bat, he reverts back to his old form of striking out and not having productive at bats. On Sunday, Davis went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and added two more strikeouts to give him 138 on the year, in the process dropping his average to a season-low of .193 (wow).
The drastic move would be to sit Davis, but I can’t see Showalter doing that. Davis’ confidence has to be shot at this point and a move like that might lose Davis for the rest of the year. We know Davis can carry a team, but at this point, he has to be lowered in the lineup. Showalter has done it before and it is time to do it again.
I was never a fan of Mark Reynolds because I felt if he wasn’t hitting a home run, he wasn’t helping the team. Well, Davis is worse than Reynolds at this point. At least Reynolds would draw a walk.
More numbers to pile on the horrific season Davis has had: after batting .250 in April, Davis hit .209 in May, .175 in June, .167 in July, and currently .147 in August.
In the American League alone, 44 hitters have a higher slugging percentage than “Crush” Davis (.395). The player directly higher than Davis is Chicago White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton with a slugging percentage of .401. Eaton has hit ONE home run the entire season.
Brutal.
Will the 2013 version of Chris Davis please stand up? The team needs you down the stretch, but until then, Showalter needs to do the right thing and lower Davis in the lineup for good until he hits well for two consecutive weeks. This is exactly what Showalter did with Manny Machado and it has worked out great. He needs to do this again with Davis and it should start tonight against the New York Yankees.
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