Their names are separated by just a single letter, and yet Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles and Khris Davis of the Oakland Athletics are miles apart.
Chris recently made MLB history by going hitless in 54 consecutive at-bats dating back to last September. Meanwhile, Khris–or “Khrush,” as he is becoming known as–has already hit 10 homers this season, including back-to-back multi-homer games against the Orioles on Apr. 10 and Apr. 11; as of Sunday, Davis has five homers in his last three games.
The two Davis' represent a fascinating role-reversal that has transpired over the course of the last few years.
It was not so long ago that Chris–a left-handed, free-swinging behemoth–was one of the most productive sluggers in the league. And though he has had prodigious power since breaking into the bigs in 2019, “Khrush” is finally developing into a star.
Just how did this happen?
In Baltimore, Chris becomes a pariah
The Orioles may be a likely favorite to finish last in the American League East in 2019, but it was not so long ago that Baltimore was a perennial contender. And Chris Davis was at the forefront.
Davis had been traded to Baltimore in 2011 after showing some decent promise for a Rangers team that really had no spot to play him on a regular basis. Over the next five seasons, Davis hit a league-high 197 homers (Davis averaged nearly 40 homers per season) and slugged .518, while his .269 isolated power average was fourth-best in the majors.
This five-year power surge was defined by a 2013 season in which Davis led the majors in homers (53), RBIs (138) and total bases (370) while finishing third in the American League MVP voting.
However, as Davis continued to hit for power, his strikeout totals grew. He led the league in punch-outs in both 2015 and 2016, but has actually posted the worst strikeout rates of his career in the last two seasons, according to FanGraphs.
The 2017 season seemed to mark the beginning of the end for Davis, but he really hit rock-bottom last year. Davis hit .168 and posted -3.1 WAR, by far the worst in the majors. The 13.5 fWAR differential between Davis and Mookie (who led the MLB in that same category) was one of the largest in history.
Davis has almost become a celebrated symbol of tragic failures. A bar in Baltimore even celebrated his first hit of 2019 with an open bar for all paying customers. It is as if Davis is one of baseball's favorite meme personas.
But while Chris has suffered a spectacular fall from grace, Khris keeps on ascending.
The Khrusher keeps crushing
Despite hitting over 20 homers in consecutive seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014 and 2015, Khris Davis was a relative unknown when he came to Oakland prior to the 2016 season. That certainly is not the case anymore.
Davis has posted three straight campaigns with at least 42 homers, 102 RBIs and a .524 slugging percentage, forcing his way into the MVP voting in the last two seasons. Davis' 133 homers are the most in that three-year stretch, and his 335 RBIs rank third.
Last season was the finest yet for “Krush.” He posted led the bigs in homers (48) while also posting career highs in RBIs (123), runs (98), hits (142) and slugging (.549) as the Athletics surprised the baseball world by winning 97 games and earning a Wild Card berth.
But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Khris has been his consistency, and not just in terms of power. Aside from hitting at least 40 homers and driving in at least 100 runs in each of the last three seasons, Davis has hit exactly .247 in four consecutive seasons, making him the first qualified batter in MLB history to accomplish that kind of feat.
And in 2019, the hits have kept on coming for Khris Davis. His 10 homers are the best in baseball, and 40 percent of his fly balls are leaving the yard.
The A's can only hope that their Davis continues to “Krush,” rather than turning into Chris.
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