Chris Davis was everyone's sweetheart in fantasy baseball draft season, and rightfully so. As a 22 year-old last year, the slugger burst onto the scene with 17 home runs and 55 RBI in only a half season. His power numbers in the minors provided us with plenty of evidence that this wasn't a fluke. Instead, through six games and 25 plate appearances, Davis has reached base only three times. He's only accrued 1 hit in 22 at-bats. So with that paltry .045 batting average, his owners have been rewarded with 0 home runs and 0 RBI.Is this a bad omen? Does Davis really suck, or is he simply in an early season swoon?
C'mon. We're going to write him off after just six games? This is actually a perfect example of why I like fantasy baseball a smidgen more than fantasy football. Knee-jerk reactions are much more likely to work when you play 16 games in a season. In baseball, more often than not, they really harm your team in the long run. For every Cliff Lee and Carlos Quentin, you have a lot more Chris Sheltons and Kosuke Fukudomes. Fantasy baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to win with some proactive foresight, not a reactionary waiver-wire fodder system.
The only problem with Davis is that he could begin to lose at-bats. With Hank Blalock showing power, the Rangers could play him at first base, bench Davis, and use one of their outfielders as the DH if they wish. Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton won't be sitting much, and Marlon Byrd is swinging the bat well. That leaves Andruw Jones -- who went 3-5 with a double in his first game action -- and David Murphy out in the cold. If this futility continues from Davis, there is reason for fear. I believe the Rangers will stick with Davis for at least another two weeks, though, because he has mammoth potential.
As I alluded to in the opening paragraph, Davis' track record in the minors and his first 80 career major league games suggests he's gonna be just fine. In 2007, he hit .297 with 36 home runs and 118 RBI between two different minor league stops and 129 total games. Last season, he hit .333 with 23 home runs and 73 RBI in only 77 minor league games. Team that with his major league totals, and Davis hit 40 bombs last year.
At 6'4", 235, Davis has the size to generate power without fully maximizing his strength. Playing in Texas, he has a notorious home run park for half of his games. He's only 23 years old, so he'll get stronger as the year progresses. Six bad games aren't a huge reason to panic. He had a similar slump last season, but the game isn't as magnified in mid-August when the team isn't in the race. In five games from August 13-17, Davis went 1-18 with no home runs or RBI. He followed that with a 9-game stretch where he hit .371 with 3 home runs and 7 RBI. This is good news because there's a precedent in place of Davis shaking himself out of a slump.
Verdict: That's right, Chris Davis is in a slump. He most certainly does not suck. Let those lemmings in your league rush to replace him with Emilio Bonifacio. They'll be sorry.
