The Baltimore Orioles front office has the biggest albatross in the history of baseball hanging around their necks.
That Baltimore Orioles albatross is none other than Chris Davis who is so bad at baseball that he hasn’t had a hit since September 14, 2018.
At the close of the Monday night home game against the Athletics (the team that has the Khris Davis who can hit a baseball), Chris Davis reached a record-setting 0-49, going 0-5 on the night. The original record was 0-46, set by Eugenio Velez of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011. That streak also marked the end of Velez’s time in the majors.
A hitless streak of this fashion is notable, but Velez’s wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Davis’s. The reason? Velez was paid league minimum, which was under $500,000 in 2011.
On the other hand, Davis has a contract this season and three more seasons after that. Each season, the Orioles are paying Davis $23 million per year. That’s nearly $100 million. For carrying a batting average of .000.
Here’s how bad Davis is: Jose Canseco is offering hitting lessons!
Chris Davis from the Baltimore Orioles let me help you with your swing and get back to that 50 Home Run play I told you where at also need to help you with the psychology of the game the psychology of a power hitter
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) April 9, 2019
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It is no surprise that Orioles fans are booing him as he approaches the plate. If it weren’t for Davis, the Orioles might have been able to hang on to Manny Machado and Adam Jones. But, it wasn’t Davis who gave him that monster of a contract. It was the ownership.
Still, Davis seems to be floundering up there, and he is offering nothing of value to the team. Since baseball money is guaranteed, he gets his $23 million no matter what. So, it might be time for him to ask the team to send him down to Triple-A. There, he can work with the hitting coaches and try to get something back at the plate.
It really would have been a fine display of sportsmanship if the A's had offered to let Chris Davis hit off a tee or, failing that, put his dad in the game to underhand him a few pitches.
— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) April 9, 2019
It’s got to be incredibly embarrassing to be the worst baseball player in the MLB. In 2018, he was literally the worst, finishing last (141/141) among qualifying players. His slash in 2018 was .168/.243/.296 with 16 home runs. For comparison, Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers was 140/141 and hit .206/.312/.498, but he had 40 home runs.
In 2019, Davis hasn’t even registered on the sortable MLB stats yet, and he’s had enough at-bats to qualify. He is batting .000/.148/.000 with four walks. He actually has two RBI. One for walking in a run and the other for a fielder’s choice that scored a run.
There was a time when Davis was the home run leader in the AL. He hit over 50 home runs in 2013 and nearly 50 in 2015. The Orioles thought he was the best thing since sliced bread and signed him to a contract that has proven to be the worst contract in baseball. Now, they’re stuck with him.
If Davis can’t bring himself to get to Triple-A and work on his hitting, it might be time to hang up the cleats. He doesn’t seem to be doing much to get better and his lack of ability at the plate has become bad for baseball.