Every player wants to be compared to somebody as iconic as Joe DiMaggio; nobody wants to be the exact opposite of the Yankee Clipper. Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is getting perilously close to that point.
Davis, who is in the fourth year of a seven-year, $161 million contract, went hitless in the final five games of the 2018 season and has gone without a hit through six games thus far in 2019. His last time getting into the box score with a hit was Sept. 14, 2018, in a game that meant nothing against the Chicago White Sox.
That means Davis, 33, is in the midst of an 0-for-38 streak with 29 strikeouts. Besides the .000 average over the last 11 games, Davis has only put the ball into play in fair territory nine times over that span, less than once per game. Thanks to that 0-for-38 streak, Davis is approaching the longest hitless streak in MLB history ever for a non-pitcher. That streak, 0-for-46, was set by Eugenio Vélez from Sept. 14, 2010, until Sept. 28, 2011.
“It’s not something I was really expecting,” Davis said after striking out three times during Baltimore’s home opener on Thursday. “It was tough. At the same time, I heard it a lot last year, and rightfully so.”
Chris Davis strikes out for the third time today and the boos continue in Baltimore. Really tough scene. #Orioles pic.twitter.com/hDE5l79E0I
— Kyle J. Andrews (@KyleJAndrews_) April 4, 2019
It’s a far fall from grace for the former all-star who led the major leagues in home runs in 2015 during a campaign that saw him hit .262 with 47 dingers and 117 RBI. His average has dipped steadily since then from .221 in 2016 to .215 to 2017 to .168 in 2018 to .000 this year (as of this writing).
“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I understand the frustration,” Davis said Thursday. “Nobody’s more frustrated than I am. Especially a day like today.”
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