Chris Davis: Ready, Willing And Trying Hard To Wait While Playing For Triple-A Oklahoma

Posted on August 3rd, 2009 1:33pm by Jeff Miller
Filed under Baseball, Rangers notes, Rangers prospects, Texas Rangers

The highlights of my visit with Chris Davis in Oklahoma City on Saturday:

• He believes he’s ready to return to the Rangers but is trying not to wait every day for the call.

• Said the biggest changes that he has made are to his bat path and being more patient.

• Said he has never really gotten a chance to develop rapport with Rudy Jaramillo, who was out for about six weeks because of knee surgery during Davis’ time in Arlington last season.

Chris Davis would end another encouraging outing with the Oklahoma RedHawks with an eye on the manager’s office, expecting to be summoned to the Rangers. But the call didn’t come, and Davis would allow the disappointment to overshadow a three-hit night or a two-homer day.

That was early in 2008, when Davis spent about a month with the RedHawks and hit 10 home runs in 31 games.

This time around, Davis, 23, said he’s trying hard not to play that game. Even hitting .320 with other numbers that show the expected improvement of a batting rehab stint at Triple-A.

“The club [Texas] is going great. I talk to Mike and Ian and those guys,” Davis said. “I’ve got things rolling. I’m ready to make that move, but that’s just me being anxious.”

Davis’ most glaring problem when he was sent to Oklahoma City on July 5 was his strikeouts – a major league high 114 in 258 at-bats or one every 2.2 official trips to the plate. As a Rangers rookie who hit 17 homers in about half a season, he struck out once every 3.35 at-bats. Through Sunday’s game at Oklahoma City, it’s once every 4.62.

In looking at films, it was determined Davis had narrowed his stance from previously standing about shoulder width and standing too upright. The conclusion was those factors made him almost fall back when swinging and swing up.

“I remember sitting in the [Rangers'] clubhouse thinking, ‘I’m missing fastballs.’ There was a lot of talk: is his bat slow? I’ve always been a great fastball hitter, and I always will be. And the reason why I was missing those fastballs was not because I was late or behind. It was because I was swinging underneath it.”

When Davis arrived, RedHawks manager Bobby Jones said, he was lost.

“The first thing was to clear his mind, just start playing baseball,” said Jones, a longtime Rangers employee in his ninth season as Oklahoma manager. “He doesn’t have to worry about striking out three times and here come 10 reporters. Down here, he’s with a bunch of guys that he’s played with. It’s like a new beginning for him, more relaxed.

“We’ve basically told him, ‘It’s not so much your swing. It’s your pitch selection. You swing at pitches out of the strike zone.’ When we watched him on television [as a Ranger], almost all of his strikeouts are pitches that are down. They’re balls. So he’s a little more disciplined at the plate, a little more patient.”

Davis laughed: “I’ve actually hit better behind in the count.”

He has been reunited with batting coach Scott Coolbaugh, who came to Oklahoma this season from Double-A Frisco. Davis said he’s more comfortable working with Coolbaugh than with longtime Rangers batting coach Rudy Jaramillo because of the time that he has spent with each.

“Rudy and I haven’t had a chance to work together as much as guys like Mike or Hank or Ian, guys that he’s been around for several years,” Davis said. “This was really our first year to work together. We had a tough time staying on the same page because neither one of us really knew how to go about it. He would suggest certain things that would work for a few games, and then it wouldn’t work. It’s not Rudy’s fault. We worked as much as we could. He did everything that he could to help me.”

Coolbaugh said the first priority was to improve Davis’ contact, even if that meant temporarily sacrificing power.

“Once he got his mind right, he cleaned up his bat path,” Coolbaugh said. “That allowed him to make better contact. And once he started making contact, we felt like we could turn him loose a little bit and he started driving the ball. At the beginning, he was slapping some balls the other way. Then all of a sudden, the power started coming around. It’s easier said than done to go out there and say, ‘Look, I’m just going to come out here and hit for power and get my swing right all at the same time.’

“Chris is always going to be a guy – the strikeouts are always going to be there. It’s a matter of limiting them to an excessive amount.”

Davis has four homers and 14 extra-base hits with the RedHawks. His on base percentage is .382 compared to .331 as a Rangers rookie and .256 this season in Texas. Slugging is .557 compared to .549 as a rookie and .415 this year in Arlington.

And he has mostly played third base with first base prospect Justin Smoak coming to Oklahoma from Frisco the day before Davis was assigned. He said switching between first and third is no problem.

Now, is he prepared to make it all work again in the majors?

“A week ago, I hadn’t even thought about going back up there,” he said. “I wanted to focus and concentrate on what I had to do here, and it kind of crossed my mind. I saw Jon Lester pitch; he almost no-hit us [in June]. I watched him on TV. You know what? I felt good when I was in Boston.”

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44 Comments to “Chris Davis: Ready, Willing And Trying Hard To Wait While Playing For Triple-A Oklahoma”
  • JustSaying @ August 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    doesn’t sound like rudy has been much value to davis and his swing……

  • JohnnyMel @ August 3rd, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    So we have to send people down to the minors to get their swing fixed when the greatest hitting coach ever is in Arlington?

  • Da Blade @ August 3rd, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    I’ve been hard on the kid this year, but I’m also rooting for him. If Davis truly fixes himself, there’s a place for him as the part-time DH and backup 1B/3B next year. Imagine this line-up next year hitting on all cylinders:

    CF – Borbon
    3B – Young
    2B – Kinsler
    RF – Hamilton
    LF – Cruz
    DH – Davis
    1B – Smoak
    C – Salty
    SS – Andrus

    with a loaded bench of Murphy (fourth outfielder/part-time DH), Vizquel (utility), Teagarden (backup catcher) and Max Ramirez (another DH/catcher option). A dangerous line-up if everyone hits like they’d be expected to.

  • Brad @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    Wish Josh could spend a week or 2 with Coolbaugh…

    This reminds me of past years when the pitchers would spend time in AAA and all of a sudden fix their problems… then once back up, they were not good again. McCarthey comes to mind. Now we have Maddux and that is no longer the case.

    Hmmmm.

  • Patrick A. @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    Great news, hope he gets it worked out. Good thing about having a deep system is that if one guy struggles, there’s another one to take his place. If both guys are ready, then one can be moved for another piece. There’s probably not room for Smoak and Davis on the same team, not with Young playing 3B. Both of those guys are too good in the field to DH. There’s also probably not room for Murphy, Cruz, Borbon, Hamilton and Boggs. It’s hard to see the Rangers trading any of those guys, but I can see a couple of them getting packaged this offseason for pitching.

  • Jesse @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:19 pm

    Whatever – just hit it, Chris.

  • leftybp @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm

    Imagine this line-up next year hitting on all cylinders:

    CF – Borbon
    3B – Davis
    2B – Kinsler
    RF – Hamilton
    LF – Cruz
    DH – Young
    1B – Smoak
    C – Salty
    SS – Andrus

    I thimk this one looks better. Davis and his glove at third, MY just hitting

    much improved defence

  • john in clearwater @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    I would love to see Chris Davis succeed here in Texas. With his defense, he will give us a huge lift if his bat comes around.

  • Da Blade @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm

    I like it, although I bet MY would not be pleased to DH. But let’s pretend anyway. Davis at 2nd is a bit high for a power guy who strikes out a lot. How about:

    CF – Borbon
    2B – Kinsler
    RF – Hamilton
    LF – Cruz
    DH – Young
    3B – Davis
    1B – Smoak
    C – Salty
    SS – Andrus

  • The Beer Guy @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:31 pm

    And this is why this was a good move, and in all honesty should have been done before it actually was. I know CD will be back to TBIA with a vengeance sooner or later.

  • Joseph @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    Anyone who puts Chris Davis in the 2 hole needs to be fired immediately

  • Joel @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    You guys are assuming Hamilton finds his stroke, which looks iffy at this point.

    CF – Borbon
    3B – Young
    LF – Hamilton
    RF – Cruz
    DH – Smoak
    2B – Kinsler
    1B – Davis
    C – Saltalmacchia
    SS – Andrus

  • leftybp @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    hay joseph, I wasnt putting him in the 2 hole, just swapping positions, besides I cant be fired…. nobody pays me anything.. not even attention..
    good one da blade.

    nope MY would complain, but it would improve defence a ton, seeing MY’s range.

  • Joel @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    I should say WE are assuming Hamilton finds his stroke again.

  • jayahre @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    what? davis batting second in a lineup with kinsler, andrus and borbon? lame.

    davis plays first (he’s gold glove calibur) smoak splits time at dh and first.

  • Da Blade @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    Wouldn’t it be horrible yet poetic justice – if Hamilton never regains his stroke and Volquez never regains his form (he had Tommy John surgery today)?

    Forget I said that…

  • Bob @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    I hate all of you

  • albtead @ August 3rd, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    You guys are crazy!!! Davis would not make a wart on MY’s butt when it comes to defense. Everyone is quick to get rid of MYwhen he is far and away the best player on this team. The guy complained one time about moving from SS, and that is the only bad thing that he has done in 7 years. I don’t understand all the negativity. Geesh!!! Batting title, gold glove, All-Star at three different positions, career .300 hitter. What more do you guys want?

  • Jack Daddy @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    i can’t for the life of me understand how Rudy has kept his job this season. The struggles of Ian, Josh, Davis and Salty alone should have cost him his job. He IS NOT GETTING THROUGH TO THEM AND HELPING THEM. He tried to change what was working with Josh, for goodness sake. I don’t get it. Never will. Whatever.

    Love what Davis is doing. My sense is he will be back when they go back to a 4 man bench (when Ian comes back and Millwood and Padilla are back to full strength).

    My hunch? Next year’s hitting coach is Coolbaugh.

  • Da Blade @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    Good call, Jack Daddy. If the offense is what sinks the Rangers this year, somebody will have to take the fall. And it will be Rudy.

  • B. Money @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    Smoak won’t be ready next year.

  • Chad @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    You people keep wanting to get rid of Rudy. The man has done remarkable things with some marginal hitters. I don’t like hearing Chris Davis throw him under the bus. Don’t make excuses, Chris. Just fix what is wrong. Let’s take a poll of the players in Arlington, and ask them if they would rather have Rudy or someone else. I bet you Rudy would win in a LANDSLIDE……One bad offensive season shouldn’t cost a succesful coach his job when he’s been the one shining star in this organization for 15 years.

  • Rangers Fan @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    @JackDaddy- completely agree…what a Rudy done that’s positive this year? Who has he helped? (I don’t give him credit for Murphy. Murphy has a completely different plate approach than anyone else on the team…aside from maybe Andrus, who hasn’t been around Rudy much. Therefore, I think Murhpy learned a lot in the Boston system.) Who has he hurt? Well I think he should take heat for messing with Josh’s swing when clearly it worked. He basically gave up on Davis. He hasn’t helped Salty or Ian. How can you keep your job when you aren’t getting it done?

  • Rangers Fan @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    @Chad…no coach in baseball has benefited more than the prevalent use of steroids than Rudy. His offenses hit a ton of homeruns, so they are deemed explosive and great. But are they? I’d much rather see a team that has a consistent offense than one that hits bombs every night. Also, I don’t think Davis blamed him. He gave credit where it’s due, to the coach who is helping him.

  • john in clearwater @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:44 pm

    Money -

    Rangers will bring Smoak up at some point next year unless something crazy happens. Count on it.

  • Dave H @ August 3rd, 2009 at 3:53 pm

    I’m not sure that Rudy’s to blame for this season’s struggles or deserves that much of the credit when they’re bashing. Davis seemed to indicate that they hadn’t developed a rapport not that Rudy screwed up his swing. Rudy’s star pupil (Young) is having a great season at the plate now that he’s healthy again. He’s brought about some career years for relative unknowns. Derosa has managed to hold onto his offensive turnaround, GMJ lost it when he moved on and got off the juice, and last year Ramon did a pretty good job. Personally I think we’ll see a much better offense through the rest of the year that will bring our numbers back to the norm (still high strikeout numbers though).

  • Jon @ August 3rd, 2009 at 4:12 pm

    Jack Daddy

    Agree.

    Anyone else notice how many times Cruz bounced back and forth?

    The Rangers may or may not bring up Davis, but I suggest they should immediaely bring up Coolbaugh and help save the playoff chances.

    Just a Thought.

  • RealDeal2009 @ August 3rd, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    Its extremely hard for me to be negative about any part of this team when they are sitting FIFTEEN games over .500, Salty is looking like he is finding his stroke again (he’s still way young), and Michael Young continues to give it everything he’s got night in and night out. And i can’t wait to see CD back, although my boy Blalock is looking as good as he has in a loong time.

  • Quick Roundup « ashleypaul @ August 3rd, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    [...] http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/2009/08/03/chris-davis-ready-willing-and-trying-hard-to-wait-while…Then all of a sudden, the power started coming around. It’s easier said than done to go out there and say, ‘Look, I’m just going to come out here and hit for power and get my swing right all at the same time.’ … [...]

  • ‘power rangers’ on the web « nadiapaul @ August 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 pm

    [...] http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/2009/08/03/chris-davis-ready-willing-and-trying-hard-to-wait-while…Then all of a sudden, the power started coming around. It’s easier said than done to go out there and say, ‘Look, I’m just going to come out here and hit for power and get my swing right all at the same time.’ … [...]

  • Chad @ August 3rd, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    Rangers Fan,
    Don’t give me that whole no coach has benefitted more crap. Rudy has turned some average players into pretty good hitters (i.e. DeRosa, Lee Stevens, McLemore, GMJ, Delucci, etc). It was obvious that a lot of players were taking steroids, so let’s not pin all this on the Rangers. Pudge has never been on any steroid list and neither was Dean Palmer, Rusty Greer and a lot of other players that came thru. Plus, if you’re going to blame him for everything that is wrong with the offense, then you have to give him some credit for Murphy, Andruw Jones rediscovering it, Blalock rediscovering it, Young’s MVP type year, etc…..Maybe it is time for a change. I don’t know, but the guy deserves to get the benefit of the doubt a little bit for the loyalty he’s shown and the things he’s done with this team…..Just my opinion….

  • Chad @ August 3rd, 2009 at 5:25 pm

    Does anybody on these blogs ever focus on the positives? Who would’ve thought that at the beginning of August, the Rangers would be 15 games over .500, their best record in 5 years. Obviously, something is working right. So, let’s get rid of all this negativity in these blogs, and be thrilled that we’ve got meaningful baseball going on right now.

  • Rangers Fan @ August 3rd, 2009 at 5:36 pm

    I bet everyone would say they are more than thrilled about our place in the standings. But there’s no denying offense has been a problem this year. They have to improve. So how do you do that? You can’t overlook the role of a coach when the entire team struggles. That’s not circumstance. Sure, Rudy is the best at teaching finding your pitch and “driving it” leading to lots of homeruns. I think the issue most have with Rudy is approach and theory. He doesn’t teach patience, working the count, etc. He also clearly has a disconnect with some players.

  • Good piece on Chris Davis @ August 3rd, 2009 at 5:50 pm

    [...] Jeff Miller visited with Chris Davis over the weekend and had a revealing conversation. He provides this summary: • He believes he’s ready to return to the Rangers but is trying not to wait every day for the call. [...]

  • Jon @ August 3rd, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    Chad,

    The hitting is driving people who follow the Rangers crazy. For years the problem has been very, very poor defense and pitching.

    The defense has gone from a “C” to an “A” while the pitching has gone from a “C” to a “B”.

    Yet hitting has gone from a “B” down to a “C”

    Those who study the issue focus on the Rangers (Rudy) All-or-None hitting. As you may recall even Wash had some negative comments about Ranger’s hitting when he first started. Poor plate discipline or something to that effect.

    Poor OBS, but lots and lots of HRs. The players love Rudy because of all the HRs – everyone still loves the Babe; right? A lot us would rather someone start teaching Ted williams hitting. Less fun, but far more effective.

    For a classic example see Ian Kinsler. twenty-three HRs, but dead last in OBP as a lead off hitter.

  • Tom B @ August 3rd, 2009 at 6:57 pm

    Looking at Rangers batting Stats compared to opponents reveals a startling comparsion.
    The Rangers Strikeout 821 time compared to all opponents are 602. That is 219 times more than the other guys. What does that say? We are going for the fences and not contact hitters. You knock a hundred off of that and put the ball in play and some good things are going to happen like Sac Flies, gappers and moving runners over. Guys other than that glaring stat we are looking pretty good against an accumulative opponent.

  • The Beer Guy @ August 3rd, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    Hmmm, while I like to think that I’m open minded, I find myself wondering who to believe: a bunch of anonymous folks on a blog, or MLB players. Sorry, I like a lot of you, but I’m going with the players on this one.

  • Jon @ August 3rd, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    If said MLB players had won anything as a team in the last ten years I might agree with you.

  • Fred @ August 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    1) Getting rid of Rudy is silly.
    2) Davis was the best fielding 1B we’ve seen since Tex, and probably better. And you want to make him a “part time DH, part time !B and part time 3B” (where he is pretty crude).
    Lord save us from these folks.

  • jaxon @ August 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 pm

    Are you all smoking crack? we lead the AL in home runs!!!!! It will all work out on the W-L over time. Rudy is the man. The Angels have been on fire and we are keeping somewhat pace. they will cool off and we have head to head games left. It’s OK for now. We are in the hunt. Be happy.

  • jaxon @ August 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 pm

    BTW we have a bunch of slap hitters already. It’s the law of averages that the leading AL home run hitting team will strike out more. signed a fan from 1975- original season ticket holder at the Ballpark. I live in Massachusetts now for God’s sake. I’ve had to take a lot of cra*

  • Dan @ August 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    Let’s see, Ian…Josh…Davis…Salty…what do these 4 guys have in common?

    How many non-Latin players sing Rudy’s praises constantly?

  • Stacy @ August 4th, 2009 at 6:03 am

    Maybe Rudy’s “attack the ball” and Warsh’s “small ball” philosophy differences have something to do with it . . .?

  • Teddy Ballgame @ August 4th, 2009 at 8:02 am

    You folks do realize that, all the minor league hitting instructors, including the roving minor league instructor are essentially disciples of Jaramillo. That is, that the organizational hitting philosophy comes top down, so that when a prospect gets to the big leagues the basics are in place. It’s called development people, it’s not a perfect science, it’s not one size fits all, and given that hitting a round sphere traveling 90 miles an hour with a cylindrical object is the toughest thing to do in sports, there are just going to be failures. That’s unfortunately part of the deal. It’s also part of the deal that some are going to criticize and finger-point even when they have no earthly idea what they’re talking about.