Last night the Baltimore Orioles added another dismal loss to what is quickly becoming one of the most dismal seasons in franchise history, falling 11-1 to the lowly Chicago White Sox.
That itself wasn’t unusual. What was: Hall of Fame pitcher and broadcaster Jim Palmer throwing down the gauntlet on struggling first baseman Chris Davis.
Radio journalist Tim Murray captured Palmer’s truth bombs during the post-game show.
Wow. Jim Palmer did not hold back his thoughts on Chris Davis tonight #Orioles pic.twitter.com/spVKORHw90
— Tim Murray (@1TimMurray) May 24, 2018
There’s a lot to unpack here. But perhaps the biggest thing is Palmer revealing that the offseason narrative of Davis working on his swing with hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh is made up.
According to The Sun, Coolbaugh clarified today that he and Davis discussed some of the mental aspects of hitting during the winter, but he did not see him enough to do any physical or mechanical changes.
Davis was understandably upset by Palmer’s criticism.
“The way things are going right now, the last thing I want to hear about is someone within the organization questioning my work ethic,” he told the paper. “But that’s where we’re at.”
Yikes.
As for the other stuff about him “killing” the team and failing to make adjustments, those are pretty hard to dispute. Bleacher Report noted Tuesday that Davis is tied for fourth place for the worst hitter wins above replacement (WAR) in all of baseball. Among qualifying hitters, Davis has the lowest batting average (tied with Kole Calhoun at .154), third-lowest on-base percentage and second-lowest slugging percentage.
And we’re only in the third year of a seven-year contract.
