Frustrations for the Baltimore Orioles continue to mount after the team lost another game to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. The O's now have a 15-34 record for the 2018 season, the most losses and worst winning percentage of any team in the MLB.
Not helping the matters is first baseman Chris Davis, who has been dreadful on offense for the Orioles. Davis is batting .154, tied for worst in the majors for qualified batters and on pace for the worst batting average in history by a long shot. He is tied for second in the league in strikeouts, and his power is severely diminished with only 4 home runs, good for 153rd place right now. His numbers at the plate are terrible. But they're even worse considering how much the Orioles are paying Davis who signed a 7-year $161M deal in 2016 that's being called one of the worst contracts ever.
Jim Palmer, the Orioles Hall of Famer and TV broadcaster, ripped Davis following Wednesday's 11-1 loss. During Davis' strikeout in the second inning, Palmer noticed he wasn't even looking at the ball coming to the plate. A slow-motion replay confirmed what Palmer saw, leading him to question Davis' work ethic. Palmer says,
They say he works hard, ehhh, you know, he told everyone in Spring Training that he worked with [Orioles hitting coach] Scott Coolbaugh. So I asked Scott in Spring Training, I said, 'Hey you must have both put in a lot of work?' and he goes, 'We didn't work.' So, you know, I don't believe anything and I can just look at what's going on, he's slumping, he's killing this club... He's gotta get back on track, gotta make some adjustments.
Davis' .154 is tied for worst in the majors among qualified hitters. He's tied for second most strikeouts with 65 in 162 at bats. And his power is all but gone, with 4 home runs this season that puts him in 154th place.
He's in a slump that has lasted two years. No other team would dare take Davis in a trade, and due to the structure of his contract, the Orioles can't send him down to the minor leagues. The Orioles put themselves in a difficult spot. The only real solution is to hope that Davis somehow gets it together.
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