Baltimore Orioles Waste Pair of Chris Davis Home Runs
Jun 30, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis (19) hits a two run home run in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Davis drove a pair of two-run homers into the same section of the right field seats on Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers, but the Baltimore Orioles allowed eight runs for the second consecutive evening, losing 8-6. Manny Machado continued his hot-hitting ways by also contributing a solo shot.
But Davis was not the only player to drive a pair of two-run bombs, as Texas first baseman Mitch Moreland did the same … hitting two home runs two nights in a row. Maybe the Orioles should just walk him the rest of the series.
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Moreland is a nice player to be sure, but he’s no All-Star. The homers were his 13th and 14th of the season, and the 29-year-old has totaled 79 in his career.
It would appear that Moreland likes hitting at OPACY. Looking up the numbers, he has homered five times now in 14 games. Beyond that, his batting average in Baltimore is .319.
Since the Orioles have a sort of trade partner relationship especially with the Rangers, and since Chris Davis is most assuredly heading out of town next year, maybe Moreland would be someone to pursue. It will be his final arbitration year next season before becoming a free agent in 2017.
The Moreland homers were hit off Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez who was uncharacteristically missing his spots all night. It was not a good evening for him. As discussed also of Bud Norris yesterday, Gonzalez too is a pitcher whose “stuff” is not overpowering or lights out. To be successful he has to live wisely and well of the margins of the strike zone. Essentially, he has to truly be a pitcher. He has learned this skill; but this he did not do Tuesday night, as too many balls went bleeding over the middle of the plate.
Considering the wasted Chris Davis home runs, it set my mind to thinking about how Davis really does hit most round-trippers in critical situations. As much as there is a great deal of frustration with Davis’ exceptionally high strike-out ratio, he does hit home runs most often (it certainly seems) in times and situations that are valuable. This likely illustrates the nature by which a team like the Orioles to a great measure does indeed rely on their best power hitter to carry them a long way.
The home runs against the Rangers were #17 and #18 of the season. Prior to this, Davis hit 13 of his 16 home runs is games won by the Orioles. Looking back over his tenure with the team, here are his numbers in other years…
| Year | HRs | In Wins | In Losses |
| 2011 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2012 | 33 | 24 | 9 |
| 2013 | 53 | 34 | 19 |
| 2014 | 26 | 21 | 5 |
| 2015 | 18 | 13 | 5 |
It would be an interesting study to attempt to detail how this compares to other sluggers in the game in recent years. Obviously, if a player hits 40 home runs, but hits them mostly in blowout losses, they were not of much value.
Just one comparison for the sake of interest is to look back at Nelson Cruz’ 40 home runs in 2014. He hit 28 in wins and 12 in losses. But breaking that down a bit more, for his first 20 it was 10-10; but for his final 20 (mostly in the final four months of the season where his average was rather poor), he hit 18 in wins and only 2 in losses. So there was bang for the buck in those numbers.