The Forgotten Man - Chris Davis On A Tear With The OKC Redhawks

When Rangers' first baseman Chris Davis was first sent down to the AAA Oklahoma City Redhawks after batting a maddening .188 over his first 15 games of the 2010 MLB season, his first intention, he tells OKCRedhawks.com's Bob Hersom, was to find consistent contact again. 

 "I started out just trying to get a feel for putting the ball in play, hitting the ball hard, getting some extra-base hits, driving in some runs, doing the things that a middle of the order guy, a run producer, is supposed to do."

Over his first 29 games back in AAA Davis only managed 2 home runs as he focused more on contact than power.  But a couple of weeks ago Davis made some changes in his approach that are starting to bear powerful fruit.

"The last week or so I've made a few adjustments in my swing," Davis said. "It's paid off the last couple of weeks. I've really been hitting the ball well. I'm pretty happy with my performance so far."

Davis has widened his batting stance and concentrated on staying still until he needs to swing the bat.

"I'm just trying to have as little movement as possible before the pitch gets there," Davis said. "The less your head moves the better you're going to be able to see the ball.

"That's been a really big thing for me, to stay as quiet and calm as I can before the pitch is delivered. It's allowed me to see the ball a lot better."

Davis has cranked 4 long balls in the last 11 games, and over his last 10 games he's put up a .405/.500/.649 line with a 8/6 BB/K ratio.  HIs AAA line currently rests at .333/.401/.522 after the recent surge of production.  Davis characteristically keeps a good attitude as he battles the demons that lie between him and a MLB career.

 "I try not to think about it. I try not to dwell on it. It's not going to help me to sit here and be frustrated or be upset or try to place blame. It's not going to help me grow as a baseball player or as a person." 

There are still a few hurdles yet to overcome, however.  Davis is only batting a .190/.320/190 line against LH pitching in AAA, so I don't know if he's destined for a job as a ML regular anytime soon, but eventually some team, maybe even the Rangers, will need a guy who mashes righties.  Chris Davis could be the answer for that team.  Sounds like he's still trying to become a ML commodity, even by playing third base often for the Redhawks.  Real hard not to pull for the guy.  Go read the whole article.

Coupla additional minors notes - C Jose Felix was selected to rep the Bakersfield Blaze on the Cal League All Star squad.  And RHP Andrew Doyle has been put on the suspended list according BA's prospect blog.  Doyle was a 4th round pick just a year ago out of OU.