The Chris Davis leadoff man experiment may be over
Chris Davis does not profile as an ideal leadoff hitter, and Buck Showalter may be ready to consider other options.
Speed is no longer a prerequisite to hit leadoff, as Moneyball showed the value of someone who simply gets on base often, even if they aren’t a threat to steal second regularly. First baseman Chris Davis has been hitting leadoff for the Baltimore Orioles to start the season, but according to Pressbox Online manager Buck Showalter is considering moving Davis out of that spot in the lineup.
Davis is 0-for-12 with two walks and a strikeout through three games this season. For a slugger who has struck out in close to 32 percent of his career plate appearances, one strike out in 14 plate appearances qualifies as a small sample of progress.
The Orioles are hardly knocking the cover off the ball thus far, with a team batting average of .117 entering Monday night’s series opener against the Houston Astros. Jonathan Schoop (.077), Adam Jones (.083), Tim Beckham (.091) and Trey Mancini (.111) have joined Davis in struggles at the plate.
Showalter knows it’s early, and being open to all options will be necessary regarding Davis or someone else hitting leadoff.
"I’m not married to it, but we certainly are looking for something to try and get him going a little bit early in the season,” Showalter said.“It hasn’t been the case so far. But like I said, when we first started talking about it, we’ll look at it, step back and see cause and effect or whatever you want to call it. We’re always looking for ways to get better. But Chris is not the only one right now three games into the season with 159 left that’s not doing exactly what we know they’re going to do."
Showalter having to turn to Davis and his career on-base percentage of .327 to hit leadoff points to a hole in the roster which Orioles’ general manager Dan Duquette has not filled. With two right-handed starters scheduled for Houston on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against left-hander Dallas Keuchel could be a day off for Davis and necessarily bring a new No. 1 hitter for the Orioles.
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Davis might be the best of few options to hit leadoff for Baltimore. There’s an argument that a regression back to striking out close to one-third of the time won’t hurt the Orioles’ offense as much atop the batting order. But the early returns show Davis belongs somewhere in the middle of Showalter’s lineup.