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Chris Davis’ Suspension WILL Hurt the Baltimore Orioles

By Rocky Friedman

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Baltimore Orioles starting first baseman Chris Davis got suspended a few days ago after getting caught using adderall without being prescribed. It was his second offense, which means he will suffer a 25-game suspension, in affect starting September 12th. His medical condition does require him to take adderall, but in this particular case, he was not prescribed to use it by his doctor.

A number of things were spoken about this suspension as it pertains to the Orioles’ lineup. Fans were saying “It won’t hurt them that much, he was only hitting to a .196 average either way.” This is true, but he also hit 26 home runs and 72 RBIs. Don’t tell me that losing those types of numbers won’t hurt a team.

Did he have a bad average? Yes. Was he having a far less productive season than last year? Yes. But is he still hitting a good amount of home runs and is he a threat to hit one out every time he steps up the plate? Absolutely, which is exactly the reason that the team will miss him during these 25 games.

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    • On top of that, the Orioles were already missing two starters before the Davis suspension and were missing a third (J.J. Hardy) for a majority of the year. Davis, along with Manny Machado and Matt Wieters, will form the team of absent Orioles all-stars. Those three players were probably three of the O’s four best players from 2013. Machado led the league in doubles, Wieters’ defense was huge all season long, and Davis became the 54th player in MLB history to hit 50+ home runs in a single season. The Orioles will be without all of those players for at least the entire first round of the playoffs.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that they’re not going anywhere without Davis. In fact, I still have a ton of confidence in the Orioles’ ability and I believe that they can still make a deep playoff run and contend for a Championship without him. You do have to acknowledge the fact that the O’s are 16-5 this year without him, which is a terrific record.

    However, once October comes around, and you get into these short series’, one hit could make all the difference. Chris Davis is a threat to hit the ball out of the park every time he comes up to the plate and that is huge in the postseason. If the O’s lose game five of the ALDS by a final score of 2-1, maybe Davis would have hit a big home run in that game to lead them to victory. That’s the problem, you just don’t know.

    The Orioles will be fine, and I truly believe that. But don’t tell me that they wont miss Davis or it won’t hurt the lineup, because they will and it will, and Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter will be the first one to tell you that.

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