Chris Davis
From BR Bullpen
Christopher Lyn Davis
(Chip)
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 4", Weight 235 lb.
- School Navarro Junior College
- High School Longview High School
- Debut June 26, 2008
- Born March 17, 1986 in Longview, TX, USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Chris Davis was signed by the Texas Rangers and scout Randy Taylor as the 5th round pick in the 2006 amateur draft.
Davis hit a single as a pinch hitter in his major league debut for the Texas Rangers against the Houston Astros on June 26, 2008. He had been called up earlier in the day when Chris Shelton was designated for assignment. A fifth round choice in the 2006 amateur draft, Davis was tied for 4th in all of minor league baseball with 23 home runs at the time of his call-up; he trailed Dallas McPherson, Brad Eldred and Mike Hessman. He was hitting .333 with 77 RBI between the AA Frisco Rough Riders and AAA Oklahoma RedHawks and was expected to become the Rangers' regular first baseman against right-handed pitchers. In his first season, he played 80 games, hitting .285 with 23 doubles and 17n homers while splitting his time between first and third base. However, he had trouble controling the strike zone, striking out 88 times while walking only 20.
His trouble with plate discipline continued the next year, as he struck out in 100 of his first 219 AB in 2009, the fastest player in MLB history to that point to 100 strikeouts; he was sent down on July 5th, keeping him from setting a strikeout record. He did manage to top 20 homers that season, however, ending up with 150 strikeouts and a .238 batting average in 113 games. He went into a power slump in 2010 however, and only played 45 games for the Rangers, hitting .192 with a single homer. He lost his job as a part-time starter at first to rookie Mitch Moreland and was left off the Rangers' postseason roster. In 2011, he got into 28 games for Texas before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles on July 30th along with Tommy Hunter in return for reliever Koji Uehara. He got more playing time with the O's, ending the year with a .266 batting average, 12 doubles and 5 homers in 59 games.
In 2012, Davis was playing regularly and hitting well at the start of the season, when he was called in to pitch in an emergency situation on May 6th. The O's had run out of pitchers in a game against the Boston Red Sox, and manager Buck Showalter asked Davis, who was the DH, to take the mound in the bottom of the 16th with the score tied, 6-6. He escaped without giving up a run when Marlon Byrd was thrown out at home, throwing a few pitches over 90 mph. In the top of the 17th, it was the Red Sox's turn to be out of pitchers, and manager Bobby Valentine asked OF Darnell McDonald to pitch. He gave up a three-run homer to Adam Jones, then Davis came back to pitch the bottom of the 17th, and managed to keep a clean sheet again, striking out Adrian Gonzalez and forcing McDonald to hit into a game-ending double play. Thus, Davis was credited with the win and McDonald with the loss; it was the first time that both teams had used positon players on the mound in a game since October 4, 1925, when future Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and George Sisler had both pitched in the last game of the season. It was a good thing that Davis's work as a pitcher was successful that day, because with the bat, he went 0 for 8 with 5 strikeouts.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2009)
