Zach Wilt: So far, Chis Davis seems to be handling the pressure

Chris Davis hadn't even dotted the i's on his seven-year, $161 million contract this winter before the deal was criticized by the baseball world. The Orioles appeared in many columnists' "worst deals of the offseason" articles and were scrutinized for overspending on a guy that would surely never repeat the production of his 2013 and 2015 seasons. Comparisons were made to Ryan Howard and Josh Hamilton, two power hitters who cashed in on their successes only to disappoint in their older, more expensive years. Of course, I'm sure the O's would have been criticized even worse had they let Davis walk in free agency.

There's a lot of pressure when you sign the biggest contract in franchise history. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Davis try to do too much in the first week of the season. It would have been understandable to see him at the plate trying to drive every pitch 500 feet to justify the money. I would have understood that pressure and the desire to show the critics, the fans, his teammates and the franchise that he's worth this type of lengthy commitment.

In Baltimore, we've been fortunate enough to see Davis' career blossom as he's become one of the game's premier power hitters, but his three and a half seasons in Texas were full of ups and downs. Before being traded to the O's, Davis had become a part-time player whose swing had been constantly tweaked by the Rangers coaching staff. They saw the potential, but didn't think it would ever click for him at the big league level and were willing to part with him in favor of starting Mitch Moreland in his place. During Davis' cold streaks in Baltimore over the past couple of seasons, many wondered if he would revert back to that player that Texas gave up on. History has always loomed over Davis, despite the accolades with the Birds.

Thankfully, Davis seems to be handling the pressure that a $161 million deal brings about as well as anyone could hope. In Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to Boston, he belted his fourth homer of the season, giving the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the top of third. I'm not good at math, but I believe that four home runs in eight games is a pace of 81 homers in 2016. That would definitely break his 2013 career-high of 53. It would also break the all-time single season leader, Barry Bonds in 2001 (73). I'm not expecting Davis to keep up with that pace, just like I'm not expecting the Orioles to win 142 games this season after starting the season 7-1. But you've got to be impressed with both the pace of the wins and the homers.

Even more impressive than the four homers, has been Davis' approach at the plate in 2016. Last night's homer came on a 3-0 94 mph low fastball that he drove the opposite way. He waited for his pitch and he crushed it. In an at-bat where he could have easily drawn a walk, Davis instead opted to swing at a 3-0 fastball in the heart of the plate with a runner on and put his team on top. Understanding those moments has been a key for him this season.

I wrote last week about his impressive plate appearance in the Orioles' walk-off win on opening day. With two outs and a chance to be the hero, Davis instead drew a clutch walk and allowed Mark Trumbo, who had three hits on the day, to step into the box again. Trumbo delivered with his fourth single and moved Davis to third. Davis would eventually came around to score the game-winning run on Matt Wieters' single as the O's walked away victorious.

Davis isn't going to go looking for walks in key situations all season, just like he's not going to hit 81 homers, but being aware of when to drive the ball and when to get on base is important. Despite the pressure of a big new contract, he's shown early signs of a great approach at the plate. Who knows what the next six-plus years of the contract holds for Davis and the Orioles? But how we've seen him respond to the pressure so far has been incredibly encouraging.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zach_wilt. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. 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.