Chris Davis: "This is very abnormal, very unusual"

Chris Davis is safe at home, feeling blessed that the coronavirus hasn't touched his family. His wife and three young daughters, including 2-year-old twins, are fine. His friends are healthy.

He's making many of the same adjustments as everyone else in his everyday life while unsure when he's going to be able to go back to work.

Or if he'll be working in 2020.

As the player representative with the Orioles, Davis has been gathering information on every conference call and sharing it with his teammates. He's passed along some of the possible scenarios if the shutdown is lifted, but can't offer definitive answers with so much uncertainty in sports and in life.

"Basically, you kind of go back into your offseason routine and that's something that, although it was short and I would have liked to have continued playing and continued to get an opportunity to go out there and just have game at-bats, it was nice to see that the work I put in this past offseason was producing some results, so for me that was a positive, I guess just confirmation to know that I can come back home and continue what I was doing and not have to worry about making any adjustments," Davis said earlier today on a conference call.

"As far as being a dad and having all the girls home and not being able to go to school or anything like that, it's been actually fun. It's forced us to kind of be creative and use our imagination as far as spending time together and doing things to keep the girls entertained. Jill's done a great job of setting up Ella's online class and working through her school work with her. You've got to make do. Right now, we have a lot of time with each other, so it's a good thing, I think."

If only Davis knew for sure that he'd also be able to play baseball again and could pass it along to fans who are starved for updates and any sliver of good news.

"I've had so many conversations with people over the last couple of weeks about how important and how special baseball is to them, and how much people look forward to opening day and how it's been marked on their calendar for months, and sharing in that same emotion," Davis said.

"I don't know how to describe it. It's just a very odd feeling having opening day come and go and not having a chance to go through your routine, having a chance to do the things that you really look forward to all offseason. But it's been extremely uplifting to hear the amount of people who are just in love with the game of baseball. They're infatuated with it and they're ready to see guys out on the field again. And I just know that once we do get everything squared away and we kind of get a handle on everything that there's going to be a bunch of smiling faces at the ballpark and I look forward to that day."

The importance of finding ways to stay ready was discussed among players prior to the team's spring training facility closing.

"That was something we talked about the last day we were together, that Thursday afternoon when we were supposed to play in Fort Myers that night and they ended up calling the game," Davis said. "There was some talk at that point. We didn't know everything was going to get suspended or canceled, but just as far as our mindset was concerned, we talked about just staying ready, even for just the next few days, and just always making sure that we're checking in with each other, keeping tabs on one another and doing everything we can to help one another stay ready.

"I've had several conversations with Hyder (manager Brandon Hyde), Brian Ebel, our trainer, other guys, other players, our coaching staff. Just kind of keeping in touch and making sure that everybody's all right and that everybody is staying focused on the task at hand. So I feel like we're in a good place as far as the circumstances that we've been presented. I feel like we're in as good of a place as we can be. I'm looking forward to getting things rolling, but right now we're just in kind of that idle waiting period."

Davis said he's been hitting at home to maintain the feel at the plate that enabled him to go 7-for-15 with three home runs, nine RBIs and nine walks in the Grapefruit League.

"I feel like, honestly, I'm still swinging the bat just as well as I was when the games ended, and I look forward to the chance whenever we can start back up," he said.

"I feel like everybody has the ability to stay in shape. Unless you're just doing nothing, I feel like there are things you can do outside, even if you don't have a weight room. I'll be the first one to say I have a very modest setup here. I definitely have everything I need, but it's nothing special. But I think it's important to check in with guys, check in with my teammates and make sure everybody has something that they can turn to. And most guys have.

"I haven't really heard of guys having an issue with the training part. Most of it is just the live ABs and stuff like that. They're just going to be on hold. As far as how long do I think it's going to take me to get ready, I honestly feel like I'm still ready to roll right now. That's my mindset and I'm hoping that's the mindset of my teammates - whenever we get the call to fire things up again, we're ready to roll."

Davis has been the most available Orioles player, meeting with the media outside the workroom in Sarasota to talk about Trey Mancini leaving the team to undergo a medical procedure and most recently the pandemic's impact on spring training.

His outlook on the season and the virus isn't the same since he headed back to his residence in Dallas.

"It's definitely changed since we last spoke in Sarasota given everything that's unfolded with the social distancing and all the restrictions and bans placed on going out in public and in large gathering and all that stuff," he said.

"It's definitely a different world than it was two weeks ago, but the most important thing as far as I'm concerned is for everyone to stay healthy, stay safe. For those that are ill to get healthy and get whatever treatment they can and get whatever help they can, and baseball will be back whenever we get all this behind us.

"I think baseball, obviously, is a huge part of my life and a huge part of a lot of people's lives, but right now the most important thing is to deal with this virus and kind of put it past us."

Davis doesn't know if games could be played without fans, which happened at Camden Yards on April 29, 2015 due to civil unrest following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.

"I think that's something that I've prepared myself for, hoping that we wouldn't necessarily have to do that," he said. "I think at this point, there are a lot of possibilities, a lot of different scenarios that are on the table just as far as a logistic standpoint is concerned. Obviously, I'd love to play as many games as possible, but I also want people to be safe, I want people to feel comfortable being around other people, being around other fans at the ballpark. And I want the guys to feel safe on the field.

"Honestly, I don't look forward to doing that, but I feel like we're going to have to do some things that are a little unfamiliar, at least for the foreseeable future. I don't know. It's still relatively early, we still have a lot of unknowns, a lot of things that are up in the air. But we've talked about it. It's definitely a possibility."

The depth of cuts into the season also is unknown. Davis can't pinpoint an ideal number of games that need to be played in order to make it credible.

"I'm hopeful and optimistic that we can play as many games as possible," he said. "Whether that's with scheduled doubleheaders, I don't know what it's going to look like. I think any season at this point ... it's a little too early to tell because there are so many things that have to happen before we can even consider or start to discuss what a schedule looks like. I'm just trying to be patient. I'm trying to stay positive and stay in a good mindset and prepare myself to play as many games as possible.

"I don't think there's a number that I could put on it that would really make me feel like ... Any number of games for me, honestly, is worth it."

Davis just wants some normalcy back in his life. He'll take an abbreviated season and restrictions that might come with it. And he'll keep searching for silver linings while the sports world goes dark that might lift his spirits.

"This is very abnormal, very unusual," he said. "It's something that we've never been through before. But I feel like, especially in our situation with the guys we have in camp and the guys I've been talking to, I feel like it's kind of brought us together. It's forced us to lean on one another and really rely on one another to keep each other motivated, to keep each other focused and positive. And I've been extremely impressed with just the response that I've gotten overall from the guys.

"I expect it from some of the guys that are a little bit older. The Alex Cobbs, the guys that have been around, but when you start talking about some of these younger guys and how impressive they've been to me, just communicating and wanting to know what's going on, wanting to be involved and up to speed with everything that's going on, I've been extremely pleased with our guys."