Domenic Vadala: Is it time for O's to get creative at first base?

I was a bit shocked when I saw the lineup hours prior to Monday's game against Houston. Aside from the time when he was suspended, when's the last time the Orioles' starting lineup didn't include Chris Davis? Sitting Davis on the bench is something that was lauded by many fans, and understandably so. Hovering around the Mendoza line isn't exactly what one would have expected going into this year.

But my question is whether or not it's time to get creative with first base. And by creative, I don't mean sliding Steve Pearce into that slot. On that note, how ironic can baseball be at times? Buck Showalter decides to sit Chris Davis and replace him with Steve Pearce. In that same game, Pearce hits the winning home run!

Before going forward with the whole "getting creative" bit at first base, it's worth looking at both players' defensive statistics. Though Pearce has only played a few games at first base this year, he's fielding 1.000. Davis is fielding at a .997 clip, which is fairly consistent with where he's been over the course of his career. Pearce is a career .995 fielder at first base. So we're talking about first basemen that are very good in the field. And there can be no doubt that one thing that's great about a sport like baseball - and even basketball - is that if you aren't playing well offensively, you can still play defense.

Down at Triple-A Norfolk, the Orioles have Christian Walker, who is hitting .247. Walker, of course, had a cup of coffee with the Birds last year after they clinched the American League East, recording his first big league home run. His fielding percentage is also .997, which is pretty much in lockstep with Davis and Pearce.

Is it really worth bringing up a player from Norfolk that might not be ready? I would say no - especially when Walker hit only .167 when he was with the big league team last year. But again, do the Orioles need to get more creative with first base?

Philadelphia looks to be in a rebuilding mode, and one of the players that's consistently looked to as a potential guy to be traded is Ryan Howard. At 35, he's on the back end of his career. However he's also seemingly rejuvenated himself a bit this year, hitting .270 thus far. In 2014, he finished the season at .223. Could the Orioles swing a trade for someone like that?

I would submit that's a bit of a stretch given what the Birds have to offer in return. Teams such as Philadelphia are going to be looking for prospects, and decent ones at that, for someone like Howard. We're talking about a guy who's been a career Phillie, dating to 2004. As the Orioles know with Nick Markakis, that type of longevity should mean something.

Having said that, here's how the Orioles could potentially swing a deal: Get another team involved. If you find a team that's willing to take perhaps a guy like Davis and perhaps a few minor leaguers and can give Philadelphia some decent prospects, might they then consider sending Ryan Howard to the O's?

The fact is that anything is possible. I'm not sure how likely or even smart something like that would be. We all know what Davis is capable of. And while it was somewhat sad to see him reduced to sitting on the bench the other day, don't think that Buck Showalter didn't like the idea of having a potential big bat as a pinch-hitter on the bench.

It's also possible that Davis has turned into one of those change-of-scenery guys. However, my personal opinion is that before any decisions are hastily made, we should give him the benefit of the doubt and see how he reacts to having had a day off. Sometimes that type of re-charge is all players need.

It's also worth seeing how his bat reacts or how the pitching he sees reacts to having Matt Wieters back in the lineup - presumably next week. While Davis had a down year in 2014, it certainly wasn't as down as 2015 is shaping up to be. But might another potential bat in the lineup such as Wieters streamline things a bit?

In the end, I think Davis will be fine. That's not to say that the Howard idea isn't interesting. But time will tell.

Domenic Vadala blogs about the Orioles at Birds Watcher, and his opinions appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. Follow him on Twitter: @DomenicVadala. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.