Oakland Athletics: Khris Davis Continues to Display Underrated Power

Oakland Athletics’ outfielder Khris Davis launched two solo home runs on opening night and continued to show off his underrated power.

Hitting home runs isn’t anything new for Khris Davis. With his two home runs Monday night, the right-handed hitter now has 104 career homers. But Davis isn’t a household name for many people outside of Oakland and Milwaukee.

Davis’ power continues to fly under the radar because of his team’s unsuccessful seasons. He started his career with the Brewers. Davis displayed his power right away in his rookie season back in 2013, playing in 56 games and hitting 11 home runs.

The following two seasons in Milwaukee, Davis hit a combined 49 home runs. All three seasons that Davis played there, the Brewers were never in contention for the playoffs.

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The A’s acquired Davis from the Brewers in a trade before the 2016 season. This meant a transition for the 29-year-old to playing in a more pitcher-friendly ballpark. Playing in Oakland didn’t affect Davis’ power numbers at all.

In his first season with the A’s, Davis hit 42 home runs, setting a career-best for him (previous was 27 in 2015) and finishing with the third-most dingers around baseball for the 2016 season. Once again though, he put up big home run numbers for a non-contending team.

The Athletics don’t look like a team that’ll make the playoffs in 2017. So yet again, Davis won’t play for a contender. He started 2017 right where he left off in 2016. With two home runs against the Los Angeles Angels en route to a 4-2 Athletics victory on opening night in Oakland.

In today’s game, a player who hits a lot of home runs doesn’t provide as much value as in year’s past. With analytics playing a huge role in today’s game, other categories play more of a factor in value.

For instance, Chris Carter, who tied for the NL lead in home runs last season with 41. He didn’t receive much attention in the offseason and almost had to take an offer in Japan because of it. The New York Yankees finally signed him in February to a one-year deal. That shows the lowered value in today’s home run leaders.

Now a player becomes valuable not only by hitting home runs but also hitting for average, reaching base more, run producing and striking out less. Although Davis hits home runs, he doesn’t hit for a high average or reach base at a high rate. His strikeout rate continues to climb, as well.

Next: Expect the Home Run Surge to Continue in 2017

Entering the 2017 season, Davis owned a slash line of .249/.312/.504 with 102 home runs, 264 RBI and 444 strikeouts.

Maybe a 50 home run season can get some national attention for the slugger out in Oakland. He certainly possesses the power to do so.