Davis still struggling - but still Texas Rangers' best option at 1B http://tinyurl.com/leeclo 09:50 AM CDT on Friday, June 19, 2009 By JEFF WILSON / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News The hot-button topic once again this week in the Rangers Mailbag was what to do with first baseman Chris Davis. One e-mailer, John from Grand Prairie, said it hurts to watch Davis, and he can't put up with the major league-leading 95 strikeouts entering Thursday much longer. Two Joes, one from Weatherford and another from Amarillo, wonder if Davis will even be around next season. Just about every Davis e-mail, at last count they had reached double-digits, wondered if he needs to go to the minor leagues to sort out his batting woes. A few things to consider: The only American League team with worse production than the Rangers from first basemen entering Thursday was Oakland, which sat eight games below .500. The Rangers entered Thursday 10 days above .500 with Davis hitting .200 with 12 homers. With just about everyone who swings a bat in some kind of skid/slump/funk, pitching and defense has been keeping the Rangers in first place in the AL West. Davis provides terrific defense (one error) and is noticeably missed when he isn't at first base. Hank Blalock might have a higher average and a little more pop, but the difference isn't significant enough to unseat Davis. As manager Ron Washington said the other day, he doesn't have any better options than Davis. That includes Justin Smoak (see below). If a quick trip to the minors is deemed necessary, here's how to do it: Send Davis out by Monday, give him the minimum 10 days to work on his timing and get his head straightened out, and recall him for the final home series and final road trip before the All-Star break. That way, he might be able to enter the second half with some good vibes in his bat. Replace him on the roster with Royce Huffman, the former TCU player who is still looking for his big league debut but is good defensively and gives a quality at-bat. There is plenty of hope for Davis internally. John, the reader from Grand Prairie, asked, "Are there examples out there of guys like Davis who turned it around, or is he destined to be a no-walk, strikeout machine for his career?" Mickey Mantle was sent down in 1951 because he was striking out too much and couldn't hit for power. He turned out OK. A more fair comparison might be drawn to Blalock, who was sent to Triple-A in 2002 after hitting .200 after the first 32 games, didn't return until September, and was an All-Star the next two years. -- ◢▂▂◣ φ 戰國大名都很NICE的，這當中一定有什麼誤會◢ ◢◣︿◢◣ ψno ◢ ‧ω‧ ◣ ●●☆ 國家研究院 政治,文學,學術 ☆◤◣ ◤︺◥ ◢lies ◢▄▃▂▃▄◣●● HistoryRes 研究 Σ歷史研究院 ▁▁ ◤◣μ◢◥ ◥ ◥ ︼︼ ◤◤ζ▏ WarringState 歷史 ●日本戰國風雲錄 ※ ◣◢︸◣◢◤◣ --

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