Davis eager to show resurgent spring not fluke

Weeks before baseball reconvened for Summer Camp, MLB players began congregating in little pockets at different points across the country with a collective eye toward preparing for a season they hoped would soon arrive. In Palm Beach, Fla., Orioles reliever Richard Bleier joined a decorated group of All-Stars -- featuring Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Giancarlo Stanton and others -- for what were essentially elite-level sandlot games. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, long a baseball hotbed, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis felt a similar itch.

Early in the shutdown, Davis behaved much like he would during a standard offseason, lifting in his home gym and hitting at a local cage with a lone instructor. He resumed this routine upon returning home from the abrupt halt of Spring Training, adjusting it to respect social-distancing guidelines. But by mid-May, Davis longed to see live pitching. Luckily, he was in an area where many were eager to provide it.

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“There are a ton of big league guys in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and we got together and playing pickup sandlot games, throwing live bullpens, and things like that,” Davis said. “I’ve had a lot of baseball activity over the past few months even though we haven’t been able to have full-on games.”

Among those who participated: Astros All-Star reliever Ryan Pressly, Brewers lefty Alex Claudio, veteran southpaw Derek Holland, Brandon Workman, Hoby Milner, Kevin McCarthy and others. Davis said the players were diligent in staying safe during the sessions, and as the Orioles' union rep, he said it bonded them as the pandemic and labor negotiations unfolded simultaneously.

“It was awesome to see how the players stuck together during a tough time, and how we kind of helped each other out, getting swings in, getting bullpens in and getting at-bats in,” Davis said. “I was definitely proud of being a part of the union and part of the players grouped together.”

The other motive for Davis was to make the 3 1/2-month transition from Spring Training to Summer Camp as smooth as possible. The former All-Star slugger was in the midst of a resurgent spring when camp shut down, having added 25 pounds of muscle over the winter and then hitting .467 with three homers in his first nine Grapefruit League games. After three years of below replacement-level production, speculation ran amok at Orioles camp. Was a Davis comeback in the works, or was this a mirage of spring?

He wants to find out as much as anybody.

“For me, unless I was going to be high-risk, there was no thought of opting out,” Davis said. “I thought I was off to a good start in Spring Training and thought it was heading in the right direction and wanted to see how that played out. Then with how things went down with negotiations, I was ready to get back on the field and start playing again. I was tired of hitting in the cage, tired of working out in the garage. Ready to start the season."

The only thing the sessions could not simulate, Davis said, were full-on games. The Orioles are slated to begin them in short order, progressing to intrasquad contests by the middle of next week. They are also tossing around the idea of playing exhibitions against other teams by the end of camp, with Opening Day slated for July 23 or 24.

Then comes the 60-game sprint, which could be boom or bust for someone like Davis. No one in recent years has been more prone to protracted slumps. But even then, he's maintained the ability to catch fire in short spurts, often experiencing the hot and cold turns in succession.

Take last April for example, when Davis broke his MLB-record hitless streak of 54 at-bats in Boston. He followed that up by slashing .264/.350/.509 (14-for-53) over his next 19 games. This year, 19 games amounts to nearly a third of the schedule.

“He took a great batting practice yesterday, and from that standpoint, it looks like he picked up right where he left off,” said O’s manager Brandon Hyde. “I know he put a ton of work in and was facing a lot of pitchers back home leading up into this and was really preparing before the season started. He was raring to go. He’s excited. We were texting and calling each other constantly. He just wants to play. I know he was excited about the at-bats he took in Spring Training and put the work in these last few months, and he looks great.”