Late-Night Moves: Hamilton Activated, Davis Sent To Oklahoma

Posted on July 5th, 2009 10:41pm by Jeff Miller
Filed under Baseball, Texas Rangers

ARLINGTON - Josh Hamilton has been activated off his minor league rehab and will join the Rangers for Monday night’s series opener in Anaheim. To make room for Hamilton, Chris Davis was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma.

“Chris needs to get down there and get things together a little bit,” manager Ron Washington said after Sunday night’s 5-2 win over Tampa Bay. “More than anything else, it was Chris’ interest that we were thinking about. He needs to get into a less-pressure environment, get it back together to what he’s capable of doing. As soon as he gets things together, we’ll get him back here.”

Hank Blalock will get most of the starts at first base in Davis’ absence.

“We’re giving up a lot of defense,” Washington said, “but Hank is a pro. I’m more than certain he’ll handle it well enough.”

Washington said Julio Borbon was kept up because “he gives us some speed off the bench. I have another guy on this team that can go up and bunt if I need.”

Davis is leading the majors in strikeouts with 114, hitting .202 with 15 home runs and 33 RBIs. He said the move didn’t surprise him.

“It was only a matter of time,” he said. “Obviously, I wasn’t making adjustments. You can’t expect them to keep sticking me out there every day, not really being any kind of a threat at the plate. I’m not down about it. You don’t ever want to be sent down, but at the same time it’s kind of a relief to know I can just go get my head straight and kind of take out all the outside influences and just go get back to baseball. Give myself a chance to get back to where I need to be.

“I really appreciate how long they’ve stuck with me, more than they really had to. I think the fact that I was playing really good defense helped a little bit. We’ll go back to square one tomorrow and see what we need to do.”

Hamilton went 2-for-7 in Sunday’s Oklahoma doubleheader, 2-for-4 in the opener with a double, a triple and a run scored while playing centerfield.

In the Rangers’ recent hitting surge, David Murphy and Marlon Byrd have hit third and fourth. With Hamilton’s return, Washington said they will hit “between fifth and sixth, seventh, somewhere like that … they’ll be right there where the ribbies are.”

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34 Comments to “Late-Night Moves: Hamilton Activated, Davis Sent To Oklahoma”
  • Greg @ July 5th, 2009 at 10:48 pm

    Also, does Davis going down instead of Borbon mean Hamilton is going to DH more? Seems to be the case with Blalock playing first on a full time basis.

  • Brett in SD @ July 5th, 2009 at 10:57 pm

    If only Byrd, Murphy or Hamilton could play 1B. I’d even prefer Andruw Jones at 1B over Hank.

  • Chris Davis sent to AAA, Josh Hamilton activated @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    [...] Davis wasn’t surprised, as he told Jeff Miller of Inside Corner’s D Magazine: [...]

  • john in clearwater @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:14 pm

    There were many 1B listed on the stats in OKC: Smoak, Thorman, Gold, another guy, now Davis, too. Surely they will have (or already have) to release some of the other guys already down there? Maybe someone can clear this up for me.

  • becca @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:16 pm

    i was at the game and blalock looked not great out there. but i’m sure these guys know what they’re doing.

  • Fred @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    1) God save us on D at 1st.
    2) I hope Hamilton out hits Davis.
    3) Not sure keeping Borbon up is best for his development.
    4) Hope Davis can get it back together at OKC–and maybe help Smoak out, too. Be nice to have them both humming in August.

  • john in clearwater @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    Judging by Washington’s comments, I wonder if he really buys into sending him down.

  • Fred @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    I assume this is to show case Jones and Blalock, going into the trade deadline.
    I hope they are sincere about Davis getting it back together.
    I fervently hope that this isn’t a step toward “veterening up” for a run this year (and trading prospects for rent-a players) and abandoning the pitching/defense/youth development model for .240 hitters who hit the occasional bomb and are sorely lacking in the field.

  • Ryan @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:53 pm

    I’m ok with sending Davis down, he needs to clear his head and iron out the kinks. I don’t like giving up his defense but something had to be done. The only problem we have now is, who is the back up 1st baseman. Hank doesn’t have a stellar reputation of staying healthy the last couple of years. Andruw would be a zoo over there, so we are in a bit of a bind. I guess salty or murph could play there in a pinch, but let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.

  • Jack Daddy @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:53 pm

    1. Davis HAD to go down. For his own sake. We were approaching the point (if we haven’t crossed it already) of ruining the kid.

    2. Blalock isn’t going to give too much more on offense and I’m afraid he is going to give away more on defense (he darn near booted the ball in the 1st yesterday – who knows how that game would have ended differently). But we had no choice, unless

    3. If this thing had any sort of $$ available, a rental for 1B would be idea. I don’t know much about the prospects given for DeRosa, but I don’t think they were THAT high. I know we aren’t taking on salary, but would still love to bring in a 1B rental. But I am pretty convinced that won’t happen. They need to ride Hank for a month and get to the deadline and re-assess.

  • Jack Daddy @ July 5th, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    @Fred – no good answer here. I share your sentiments on Blalock/Jones completely. I actually think this move is being made for Davis’ benefit and not so much the team, because I do think the D will suffer and offset any gain in offense. But we were killing that kid. Just listen to his words tonight.

  • ernie @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:00 am

    the guys the cards gave up for davis were big time prospects. the perez guy is their version of feliz

  • ernie @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:04 am

    i mean the guys they gave up for derosa. sorry.

  • Rangers Fan @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:09 am

    oh dear…as I said on the other post…this will hurt. We can only hope Davis figures it out quick so we can get Hank back to the bench where he belongs. He’s not an everyday player (even if MY says so). He gets hurt. He doesn’t contribute, aside for the once in a blue moon big hit…he’s terrible in the field. I guess something had to be done but I hope CD gets it back fast. He has 2 weeks that it might not really affect us with the all-star break coming.

  • Ryans Dad @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:20 am

    I think we are looking at the worst case scenario. Defense from a first baseman is secondary. It is one of the few positions in baseball that is. Run production is key and anything over .200 and less than 115 strikeouts in the second half is an improvment.

  • C.J. @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:21 am

    Had to happen… never want to see such a talented defensive fielder sent down, especially considering our limited options at his position, but his struggles at the plate were reaching the point of no return, i.e. completely losing confidence. Here’s to a quick “recovery” in AAA.

  • Rangers Fan @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:34 am

    Is it bad I want put an over/under on the Hank Blalock error count? I guess so but…I really do think there are going to be times in every game where we say “Wow, wish Davis would have been there. He would have made the play” and it will hurt. Here’s to hoping this swing recovery is fast!

  • badspellr @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:36 am

    Get creative Daniels, there are other first basemen in this world beside Blalock, Davis, and Smoak. You can do better for minimal money and prospects.

    For example, the Braves have a 29 year old player named Barbaro Canizares

    http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=498568

    making his thrid swim though AAA. He is hitting 322/388/485 with 9 HR in 295 AB. Those numbers translate in to much better big league production than you can expect out of Blalock, not to mention defense. He isn’t in the Braves long term plans, it will cost nothing to get him or pay him.

    There are probably 5-10 other guys just like Canizares, guys who are a little too good for AAA ball, but don’t have enough upside to push anybody decent out of a job. Well guess what? We don’t have an adequate big league first baseman. Marginal would be a big upgrade around here.

  • Ryans Dad @ July 6th, 2009 at 12:39 am

    Maybe it’s time to call back Incy?

  • obagain @ July 6th, 2009 at 6:58 am

    Hank will be fine for 3-4 weeks until davis figures it out or smoak forces his way onto the lineup.
    Just think, with the production at 1b so bad all year and the offense as a whole being in a slump for june we are still tied for 1st heading into a series with the angels.
    If we take 2-3 we are in sole possession of first.
    My plan from the start was to play 500 ball against everyone else and beat up on the west.
    If they continue to do that we will make the playoffs, leys not get side tracked.

  • Chris Davis sent to AAA, Josh Hamilton activated « Lewp’s Weblog @ July 6th, 2009 at 7:01 am

    [...] “This gives Chris a chance to get himself right in an enviroment where he can work on things without the same daily pressures,” GM Jon Daniels said. Davis wasn’t surprised, as he told Jeff Miller of Inside Corner’s D Magazine: [...]

  • bhudson @ July 6th, 2009 at 7:38 am

    Guys, it wasn’t so long ago that Blalock was a good 3rd baseman, better than MY could dream of being, defensively. Sure injuries forced him off the position, but where the hell is this ‘Blalock is a terrible defender’ crap coming from? He’s played but a handful of games at 1st. If you have injury concerns, fine, I won’t argue. But there’s nothing in his history to make you think he can’t be at least an average 1st baseman. It’s not like they’re trying to install him as a long-term fixture there anyway. He’s nearly guaranteed to be gone after the season, if not earlier. Chill.

  • Jon @ July 6th, 2009 at 8:26 am

    With Davis at 1B you get excellent defense, but poor hitting. At least that’ sumthin’.

    With Blalcok at 1B you get nuthin’.

    Somthin’ beats nuthin’

    Poor move in a very tight race for the division. Better to have just waited on Smoak.

  • Jon @ July 6th, 2009 at 8:30 am

    bhudson writes, “where the hell is this ‘Blalock is a terrible defender’ crap coming from?”

    In response to your question Wash himself states, “We’re giving up a lot of defense,” Washington said, “but Hank is a pro. I’m more than certain he’ll handle it well enough.” The part about Hank is a pro sounds like someone is whistling past the graveyard.

  • Jed E. @ July 6th, 2009 at 8:33 am

    @Ryan’s Dad. I think you underestimate the value of solid defensive first baseman. Ballas dug out of the dirt, an extra stretch to get an out. Those types of plays can dramatically affect the outcome of a game.

  • Bob Brower @ July 6th, 2009 at 8:45 am

    Yeah, that’s it– Barbaro Canizares is the answer for sure!

  • Tom B @ July 6th, 2009 at 9:22 am

    There has to be more to this than meets theeye right now. There is a piece missing in the logic of all of this move. “Is this all there is?”

  • Tom B @ July 6th, 2009 at 9:35 am

    Remember Smoak has not had the rapid rise through the ranks that CD did last year. Smoak did enjoy a good college background and some time to reflect on things w/o the pressure of demanding fans and scenarios.
    I hope they have not left Davis spinning ever so slowly in the wind here in the Bigs.
    The Rangers need to stop populating teams with 1st basemen and let one learn in the shadows of the Minors. Both need to experience some long dry spells and how to adjust to it. Hank will do but he is not Tops.

  • Fred @ July 6th, 2009 at 10:09 am

    1st and 3rd are very different positions. The grounders at 1st (which, surprisingly, Blalock is also having trouble with) are secondary. 1st is all about foot work, stretching digging the ball out of the dirt, knowing when to come off the base for a throw. Being an average 3B (which is all Blalock ever was) doesn’t necessarily translate.

  • cameron @ July 6th, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Boy, CD sounds like he’s handling it extremely well. That is some great makeup for someone getting sent down. Here’s hoping he’ll be back real soon.

  • dude in Afghanistan @ July 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am

    No doubt, Crush has been real bad, and I gather from his reaction that he has been putting way too much pressure on himself to help this team win a pennant. He says he’s relieved to be able to “just go get back to baseball” at OKC.

    Chris needs to take things less seriously for awhile and see if the game can get back to being fun for him. I think it will pay dividends for him pretty quickly. He certainly had a lot less to worry about last yr with Kins, Ham, and Milton blasting the ball all over the yard. He was in quite a groove for most of ’08.

    I do agree Hank isn’t the answer needed for this team to actually win a division title and maybe a few playoff games, but he’ll improve the offense somewhat. People worry we’re going too “veteran”, but with Ham-bone coming back, the choice to go down was between the two youngsters, Borbon and Davis. Besides, we really don’t want to go looking elsewhere for a 1B, especially if it might cost us some talent we’ll wish we still had during these next couple of yrs.

    I choose to look at this as a potentially great roster addition and a superb opportunity to get an extended look at Julio; maybe we’ll actually see him get a lot of innings in CF, which would be exciting despite how well Byrd has been playing out there.

  • VegasbB @ July 6th, 2009 at 10:52 am

    Even Davis sees he is not doing the job. 1st has to be a productive position.

  • P1 Pierce @ July 6th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    I wonder if Omar owns a first basemans glove… He has to be a better defender at first that Hank and Andruw are.

    Chris Davis will be back after the All Star break, of that I am sure.

  • Longhorn Matt @ July 7th, 2009 at 10:39 am

    I hate to see Chris sent down, but it sounds like he has the right attitude about it. Hopefully a few weeks in the minors will be enough for Chris to get his head straight so that he can come back up before first base becomes a defensive black hole. One positive note is that now I may get to see Chris play since I have tickets to the Redhawks-Express game on July 18th. With Justin Smoak also getting called up to the Redhawks, I have a chance to get two great autographs.