Davis’ big bat a bright spot in long season
OAKLAND — In a season of injury, implosion and infighting, the A’s don’t have much to embrace.
They do, however, have Khris Davis. The man some fans call Khrush has 33 home runs, fourth-most in the majors, and some of those homers would be the talk of baseball if more people were paying attention to the A’s.
“He makes this park look small,” teammate Stephen Vogt said, referring to the cavernous Coliseum. “He’s hit some balls
to right-center here that I could only dream of hitting as a left-handed hitter.”
The three major leaguers who rank ahead of Davis in home runs this season — Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo (38), Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion (35) and Colorado’s Nolan Arenado (34) — all play in homer-happy ballparks. Davis plays in one of the stingiest. In a history that spans nearly a half-century, only two right-handed hitters — Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco — have hit 40 home runs at the Coliseum. Davis has 35 games to catch them.
“When he’s in the batter’s box,” said A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman, “he has a presence about him: ‘Here I am and if I hit the barrel, it’s going to be really loud.’ ”
The booming sound coming off Davis’ bat are in contrast to the man himself. Davis describes himself as “quiet” and “a homebody.”
And, soon to be, a yearround Bay Area guy.
Born and reared in Arizona, Davis, 28, has always spent the offseason in the Phoenix area. But after one season in the East Bay, he’s ready to settle in for good.
“I like the Bay Area a lot. It’s a nice soulful place,” he said. “It feels like home.”
Because these are the A’s, there is the question of just how settled Davis should get. Among the many players to be traded by Oakland in recent years, one presents a close comparison — at least on paper. Josh Donaldson was Oakland’s best power hitter and a player with whom the A’s had four years of contract control when he was traded after the 2014 season.
The A’s have four years of contract control with Davis too, and they say he isn’t going anywhere.
“I don’t think there’s a comparison with the Donaldson situation, not at this point,” A’s executive vice president Billy Beane said. “Despite the injuries we’ve had this year, we have a little more depth now. Back then, we had the need; we were desperate to get more depth in the system beyond the pitching.
“I think we still need some position players, but the depth is better here now, especially with the pitching.”
The A’s got four players from Toronto for Donaldson: third baseman Brett Lawrie, left-handed pitcher Sean Nolin, minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto and Graveman. Only the latter two remain in the organization.
The A’s got Davis from Milwaukee in February, just as spring training was about to begin.
Oakland had made a strong offseason push for him, but Milwaukee wanted a multi-player swap that didn’t fit for Oakland. Beane said “we were in on a deal for another outfielder” when the Brewers called back in February and agreed to a deal that cost Oakland two prospects — catcher Jacob Nottingham and pitcher Bubba Derby.
“We’d moved on, but we’d always liked Khris so we were happy to get a second chance,” Beane said. “We gave up a good prospect that we liked ( Nottingham) to get Khris, who was a player we wanted to have for a number of years.”
Davis likely didn’t arrive here with illusions of a championship. But he had to have thought it would be better than last season in Milwaukee. It has been, but not by much. The Brewers went 68-94 last season. The A’s are 55-72.
“It’s been a tough season, yes, but we are here and we need to keep a smile on our faces,” said Coco Crisp, a frequent companion of Davis on the road. “KD does a good job of staying solid. You always want to win, and we haven’t done that this year. But he’s always given 100 percent.”
More than that, he has been rock-solid in a season of fragility.
“He has been this steady constant for us,” Vogt said. “He really has put together an unbelievable season. In a season where we’ve lacked consistency, he’s been consistent. That’s not easy to do.”
The A’s traded lefthanded reliever Marc Rzepczynski to the Washington Nationals, getting minor league infielder Max Schrock in return. The A’s also sent $500,000 to the Nationals.
Rzepczynski, 30, began the season as the A’s leftyon-lefty reliever and had pitched in 56 of the A’s 127 games. He had been on the hottest streak of the season of late, allowing one earned run in his last 15 games covering 8 ⁄ innings.
Schrock, 21, jumped from Class-A to high ClassA this year, hitting a combined .333 with 31 doubles, two triples, nine homers and 58 RBIs in 120 games.
Shortstop Marcus Semien, who is on paternity leave, is expected to rejoin the A’s in St. Louis.