Davis makes Coliseum look small with 2 HRs

OAKLAND -- When J.D. Davis signed with the A’s this spring following his unexpected release from the Giants, he did not shy away from publicizing his list of goals for this season, which include an MVP Award and a Silver Slugger.

Those are certainly lofty targets, but it also speaks to Davis' confidence in his abilities as a hitter. Two games into the season, he is showing why.

In Friday’s 6-4 loss to the Guardians at the Coliseum, Davis bashed a pair of home runs, first getting the A’s on the board in the fourth with a solo shot and later shrinking the deficit to two runs with a solo blast in the sixth. The multihomer game was the third for Davis in his career and first since July 17, 2021, as a member of the Mets against the Pirates.

“He put a charge into both of those balls,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said of Davis. “This park plays big to center. We know he’s got that type of power, so it’s nice to see it. We’re hopeful to keep him locked in right where he is.”

The Coliseum can be an intimidating place for hitters, especially at night, when the Bay Area marine layer tends to cause fly balls to die out. The conditions were only exacerbated on Friday, with scattered rain and gusty winds throughout the evening.

Having played most of his home games over the past two seasons across the Bay at Oracle Park, another ballpark that is notoriously tough on right-handers, Davis is plenty familiar with the challenge. So when he sent both of his homers off Cleveland starter Logan Allen -- which combined to travel a Statcast-projected 824 feet -- to straightaway center, Davis was not too surprised to see them leave the yard.

“I tell you what,” Davis said. “[Those] are not going out in Oracle, that’s for sure. I think it just speaks volume to the work I’m putting in with [the hitting coaches] just working on getting flatter through the zone and catching balls more out in front. The results showed today.”

Davis might be selling himself short. According to Statcast, both of Davis’ homers would have gone out at Oracle Park. His 414-foot blast in the sixth would have been a homer in 25 of 30 Major League stadiums.

The impressive display of power is nothing new for Ross Stripling, who saw it up close throughout last season as a teammate in San Francisco, where Davis hit 18 homers in 144 games.

“J.D. hits the ball hard,” said Stripling, who took the loss on Friday after allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in five innings. “I think he’s consistently one of the top exit-velocity guys in the big leagues. It’s fun to see him showing what he can do early in the season. I think we should come to expect that a lot.”

Davis registered exit velocities of 104.9 mph and 100.6 mph on his two home runs. He also tagged a single at 111.4 mph off the bat in Thursday’s Opening Day loss to Cleveland.

For Davis, the high exit velocity is a sign that he is going well at the plate. At his best, he consistently drives the ball to center and right field, and Davis can pounce on a fastball, as he did on the 1-2 heater left up in the zone from Allen in the fourth.

Fine-tuning that approach is something Davis focused on entering Spring Training with San Francisco, continued in the days following his release while working with former hitting coach Chili Davis in Arizona and picked up with Oakland’s hitting staff once he signed a one-year deal with the A’s earlier this month.

“Getting my legs a little bit wider and staying through the ball,” Davis said. “I’ve been working off the fastball machine. … Getting back on the fastball has been the key so far and has cleaned up a lot of stuff.”

After getting shut down by Shane Bieber the night before, the A’s could at least view Friday as a step forward in what was a much more competitive contest that saw them bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth before Lawrence Butler grounded into a game-ending double play.

“Last night, we didn’t score a run,” Davis said. “Putting some runs together tonight and making some adjustments throughout the entire lineup was a big thing.”