Orioles’ Chris Davis sets MLB record for consecutive hitless at-bats
The weather is warming up but no one is colder than Chris Davis.
Chris Davis lined out in his third at-bat of Monday night’s Orioles game to set an MLB record with his 47th consecutive at-bat without a hit.
The Orioles first baseman went 0-for-21 to end last season and is still without a hit in his first 26 at-bats to start the year.
Davis’ remarkable run of futility breaks the record set by former Giants and Dodgers infielder Eugenio Velez who went 46 straight without collecting a hit in the 2011 season.
0-for-47...
— Stadium (@Stadium) April 9, 2019
Chris Davis now holds the record for the longest hitless streak by a position player in MLB history. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/33N4virHF0
Davis last reached base via hit when he hit a double off James Shields during a Sept. 14 game vs. the Chicago White Sox last year.
This dubious record is the latest for Davis who set a new record low with his .168 average in 128 games and 522 player appearances last year.
Naturally, Orioles fans are upset that the high-priced Davis can’t get on base and have showered him with a chorus of boos every time he comes to the dish and, for the 47 last at-bats, recording an out.
It’s hard to justify playing a player mired in such a cold streak on a routine basis, but he is owed more than $90 million on the seven-year, $161 million extension he signed after posting a .923 OPS and leading MLB with 47 home runs and racking up 117 RBI.
Davis won’t be a free agent until 2023 so there’s no escaping him. He’ll continue to get at-bats so this record could be extended, albeit with much less fanfare than Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak.