Baltimore Orioles' 1B Chris Davis Off to Torrid Start

By Corey Righter
Chris Davis
Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports

In the Baltimore Orioles‘ first two games, first baseman Chris Davis is ahead of the crowd after smashing two three-run homers in back-to-back games against the Tampa Bay Rays. After two games, Davis already has as many RBI as he did in the teams first 17 games in 2012.

Strike outs have always been the 27-year-old’s downfall. The free swinger has struck out 232 times in the last two seasons and that was just from a total of 198 games. Last season he struck out 169 times in just 139 games. It’s tough to wrap your mind around the numbers that would be posted if he were to put together a full season. There may be some unwanted records next to Davis’ name if he keeps up his impatience at the plate in the future.

So far Davis has struck out just once in nine plate appearances which may be more surprising than the 7 RBI. It is no secret that the guy can crush the ball. Last season he knocked 33 pitches out of the park, breaking his previous career high of 21 HR in a season.

The most impressive and encouraging aspect of the 1B early performance, is that all of his production has come when there has been two outs with runners on base. The Orioles and Rays meet for the rubber match this afternoon at 3:10 p.m. to see who will take the first series of the 2013 season. The Rays are sending Roberto Hernandez to the mound on Thursday. Davis has little experience vs. Hernandez as he has just 11 at-bats vs. the right-hander. In those 11 at-bats Davis has zero strike outs and carries a decent average of .273. Of the 12 hitters that have faced Hernandez before, Davis is one of three Orioles that have yet to strike out vs. Hernandez.

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