Baltimore Orioles: Chris Davis’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season
By David Hill
Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is on pace to make history, but not in the way anyone would want to.
There really are not enough words to truly illustrate how awful Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been this season. Essentially a black hole in the lineup, Davis has posted a horrific .152/.232/.232 batting line through Friday, striking out 81 times in his 220 plate appearances. Even his usual power is missing, as Davis has just four homers and four doubles on the season. Those woes are also a part of his performance in the field, as Davis has cost the Orioles seven runs at first already this season, in just 463.1 innings.
As of this point in the year, Davis has posted a -1.9 WAR, which is already tied for the 70th worst mark in baseball history over a full season. Given that lack of production, as well as the Orioles insistence of trotting him out almost daily, Davis has a chance to make baseball history, albeit not in the way he would desire.
It's pretty frightening to be on an "on-pace-for" the worst season of all-time by a large margin when you're nearing mid-June. Chris Davis's on-pace-for in fWAR would rank him 81892 out of 81892 player-seasons since 1901. By NEARLY A FULL WIN.
— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) June 7, 2018
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It is not just 1901. Per BaseballReference.com, the two worst seasons, according to WAR, in baseball history belong to Jim Levey and Jim Lillie. Both players posted a -3.9 WAR in those seasons, the worst mark by 0.6 runs over third place. Levey was also pretty bad for more than just that one year, as his 1931 campaign, worth -3.1 WAR, ranks as the sixth worst performance of all time.
As bad as that was, Levey’s 1933 campaign is worth noting. In posting his -3.9 WAR, the shortstop produced a meager .195/.237/.240 batting line with just 16 extra base hits in 567 plate appearances. While he had above average range at short, his offensive shortcomings were not enough to compensate in what would prove to be his final major league campaign. Interestingly, in 1932, Level finished 19th in the MVP vote, when his OPS+ of 75 proved to be his career best.
In the case of Jim Lillie, we need to go all the way back to the 1886 Kansas City Cowboys in the National League. That season, the 24 year old outfielder posted a .175/.197/.197 batting line with just nine extra base hits, all of which were doubles. In an era of high contact, Lillie struck out 80 times in 4247 plate appearances. While he played two more seasons in the minors following his 1886 campaign, Lillie never returned to the majors.
Although both Levey and Lillie had seasons horrible enough to end their major league careers, the same fate likely does not await Davis. Even though he is on pace for a -5.0 WAR this season, which would annihilate the mark set by the terrible twosome, Davis is still owed $92 million over the next four years. That may well be far more than the Orioles want to swallow, despite the obvious struggles that Davis has had.
Next: Orioles need to stay away from Hanley Ramirez
Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is on pace to make history this year. It just is not the type of history that anyone wants to make.