Khris Davis has been a remarkably consistent piece of the Athletics’ offense since the team acquired him from the Brewers just a couple months before the 2016 season began. A .247 hitter in his final season with the Brewers, Davis incredibly posted that same average from 2016-18 in Oakland. At the same time, the man known as Khrush slammed 133 home runs – at least 42 in each season – while recording a 128 wRC+ during that three-year, 1,916-plate appearance span.
Durability played an important role in Davis’ counting stats during his first three years as an Athletic. He appeared in no fewer than 150 games in any of those seasons, though hip, oblique and left hand problems have dogged Davis this year, limiting him to 74 of a possible 91 contests. It hasn’t been an ideal outcome for low-budget Oakland, which signed the fan and organizational favorite to a two-year, $33.5MM contract extension entering 2019. Including Davis’ $16.5MM salary this season, he’s under wraps through 2021 for $50MM. That’s a lot for the A’s, who – despite being in the thick of the playoff race for the second straight year – haven’t gotten the optimal version of Davis.
Through 302 plate appearances this season, the 31-year-old Davis has batted a career-worst .236/.305/.433 with a personal-low .196 ISO that sits 91 points below his 2016-18 mark. While Davis does have 16 homers, he’s easily on pace for his fewest in a season as an Athletic, and he hasn’t hit one since June 18. Moreover, his wRC+ (94) comes in 16 points below the league average for a designated hitter.
This past weekend, Davis explained to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the pain in his hand has hampered his power, saying: “It’s just not as strong as it should be. I’ve been choking up a little bit, and that’s been helping a little, but not a lot of power guys choke up.”
Indeed, although a career-high swing percentage (52.7) has led to Davis’ greatest contact rate as an Athletic (70 percent), he’s not denting the ball to the extent he did in prior years. Davis’ average exit velocity has decreased from 92.5 mph to 89.5 since last season, according to Statcast, while his launch angle has plummeted from 18.1 to 12.4. He has also hit 11.7 percent fewer fly balls since then, which helps explain why he’s so far from the major league-leading 48 homers he amassed a season ago.
Davis’ MLB-best HR total in 2018 played a key part in a .365 weighted on-base average/.378 expected wOBA, but those numbers have sunk to .313/.331 this year. His xwOBA ranks in the league’s 48th percentile, while his expected batting average (35th), hard-hit rate (52nd) and expected slugging percentage (65th and down 106 points from 2018) also aren’t befitting of a top-rate slugger. Here’s an interesting bit of trivia, though: Davis’ expected average is – you guessed it – .247.
The right-handed Davis has typically handled both same-handed and lefty pitchers, though not having the platoon advantage has kneecapped him this year. He’s hitting an unimposing .226/.297/.392 (83 wRC+) against righties thus far. Per FanGraphs, Davis destroyed pitches in the middle of the zone against RHPs just a season ago, but his success in that portion of the plate (and in other areas) versus righties has dwindled significantly in 2019.
With two-plus months left in the season, Davis has time to reverse his fortunes this year and help Oakland to the playoffs. Owing in some part to injuries, though, one of the game’s fiercest sluggers has gone backward in a season where power has run rampant. Considering the hefty investment small-budget Oakland made in Davis coming into the season, it’s in obvious need of a turnaround from the typically elite HR hitter going forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Traded for him in fantasy and gave up Juan Soto. Soto ended up getting injured and got dropped but Davis is not showing as much power as I would like.
Soto got dropped? What do you play in a 8 team league?
Very small. Even Trea Turner is a FA.
WTH? You dropped Soto for Davis? Smh
Traded. It was still in the first week tho.
still close to .247, so im not complaining.
If AVG overshadows that he’s down 150 pts in OPS — the very reason they extended him, then let me get a hit if that.
He’s hurt… I love it how you clearly state a guy is hurt, and then go to explain why his production is down… He’s hurt LOL… Simple as that, you can’t grip the bat with a hurt hand, you can’t generate much power with a hurt hip… We don’t need three pages of literature to explain that.
Agreed. This is weak writing, like the Cano article yesterday. No real points being made here.
Seeing how the injury is objectively effecting him is interesting and educated fans on how injuries effect players. So have fun being ignorant
So you need a huge article to figure out how much his hand is effecting him? His numbers are down across the board. Those 7 words is all it takes.
Pwnt
They are busy trying to sound like they are smart and knowledgeable. However they don’t have any stats or analytics that isn’t available to the rest of us.
Summary: He’s hurt, his stats are down and some quotes from people who actually get to interview him.
Davis was a career .248 hitter going into the season.
Thanks to the slump he is down to a .247 lifetime BA. This is clearly just a short-term sacrifice for the greater good of .247.
Lol this.
Agree with the others about article being a bit lame but at least it is shorter and less garbled than some of the other “features” that have been finding their way on here.
With the advances in modern medicine, it’s possible that Davis could live 247 years.
How do you hit .247 four years in a row? That’s a lottery ticket bet in England!
Athletics paid for Home Runs when that commodity is readily available in baseball today and on the cheap. Runs contrary to their money ball ethos in many ways. Look at the deals other DH only types signed this offseason… Nelson Cruz an example. Game is moving towards rotating through DH and paying for young athletic everyday players. Deal does come off the books just when Chapman / Olson enter their 2nd trip through Arbitration fortunately.
I think they know that it wasn’t the best use of money from an analytics perspective, particularly with Canha’s breakout season and no clear outfield spot for him. Still, the A’s were under a lot of pressure from media and fans to extend Khrush and show they’re not as cheap as they have been. Other players were very happy too that the team leader would be around the next two seasons. . With the jury still out on their new stadium, it makes sense that they want to be perceived as competitors. He should be better after his hand is back to normal, but if they keep playing him that may not be this year.
TESTING!
I don’t understand why they keep rushing him back when he’s not 100 percent. Put him on the IL until his physical issues are resolved. Then when he’s ready to return, bat him 5th or 6th until his production is back to normal.
pretty sure that’s what the IL is for
…and fans wonder why the A’s don’t sign players to extensions. It seems every time they do the ghost of “lingering injuries” visits the player. Think; Eric Chavez.
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ poor left field rail configuration is to blame for Davis’s and Pinder’s injuries. I gotta believe these teams’ insurance providers make them pay a penalty for such injurious facility designs – unfortunately, they aren’t held accountable for safety liabilities to visiting players.
sfchronicle.com/athletics/article/A-s-take-lead-in…