Oakland Athletics: It's Time to Pay Attention to A's Khris Davis

To repeat myself: It’s time to pay attention to Oakland Athletics slugger Khris Davis.

There’s a good chance you are wondering why. He’s on the Oakland Athletics who have finished at the bottom of the American League West for the past two seasons.

With injuries to their two top pitchers Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman, along with power-hitting shortstop Marcus Semien things are already not looking up for the A’s in 2017. So why should you be paying attention to anything going on in Oakland?

You should be paying attention to their left fielder Khris Davis. It was apparent that Davis had some pop in his bat when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers. Then he was traded to the Athletics in the 2015-2016 offseason and came to play in the very pitcher-friendly confines of the Oakland Coliseum.

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The Coliseum is larger than most stadiums, as it also is home to the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. It has more foul territory than any other MLB stadium and they’ve never moved the fences in, like other teams around the league have.

Add to that the marine layer that settles in the evenings, making the air extra heavy so that it keeps the ball from traveling as far as it would during the day or at a ballpark in the midwest, and you would’ve expected Davis’ power numbers to suffer.

Instead Davis has thrived with the Athletics. He finished the 2016 season tied for third in the American League with then-Toronto Blue Jay Edwin Encarnacion with 42 home runs.

Yes, you heard that correctly. Forty-two long balls, it’s a number, which had he remained with the Brewers in the National League would have had him as the NL’s home run champion.

After what was essentially his breakout season at age 28, naturally everyone was wondering if Davis could repeat his performance and keep his status as one of the league’s elite power hitters.

So far so good for Davis, who started the 2016 season in a horrible slump and didn’t seem to hit his stride until mid-May. On May 17, 2016 Davis had a three-homer game against the Texas Rangers with his third and final home run being a walk-off grand slam. After that the rest is history.

As of Sunday, Davis was tied with Milwaukee’s Eric Thames with six. Now that it is Wednesday he’s tied for second alongside George Springer of the Houston Astros and well-known slugger and former-Athletic Yoenis Cespedes now of the New York Mets.

Apr 10, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; Oakland Athletics left fielder Khris Davis (2) hits a two run home run against the Kansas City Royals during the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

Either way Davis is way ahead of where he was at this point in 2016. He’s leading the A’s with a .320 batting average, .352 on-base percentage and a .720 slugging percentage in 13 games entering play Tuesday night.

In his first 13 games of 2016, Davis had hit a grand total of ZERO home runs. He had compiled the following slash line as well: .174/.224/.196.

Going into the May 17th game vs Texas he had hit a total of 10 home runs. He already, as noted, has hit six home runs and has driven in eight.

Davis is currently on pace to hit approximately 18 home runs by mid-May this season.

Of course there is always the chance of an injury and he may have a severe slump but the law of averages indicates that he won’t be this hot all season long but you never know.

The fact that it is a possibility that Davis could remain this hot or even close all-season is in itself a reason to watch the 29-year-old left fielder.

The fact that it appears that last season’s success for Davis was no fluke and he could easily hit another 40-plus home runs in 2017 means that it is definitely time to be paying attention to Khris Davis.

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