Davis on limited playing time and Roberto Clemente Award

DETROIT - Chris Davis wasn't in the Orioles lineup last night against right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, a favorable matchup on paper failing to influence his manager on the field.

Being a left-handed hitter and owning six hits in 11 career at-bats, including four home runs, didn't get Davis off the bench.

Davis figured to sit again tonight versus left-hander Daniel Norris, which is how it played out. He's appeared in only three games this month.

Brandon Hyde indicated that Davis' at-bats would decrease because he'd need to give certain guys on the expanded roster more opportunities as part of the evaluation process.

"It's a different role, but it's something that I've embraced and he's been good about being up front with me and being honest. And that's all that I've asked," Davis said this afternoon.

"Mike (Elias, Orioles executive vice president/general manager) and I sat down several weeks ago and kind of went over a program that we both thought was going to be beneficial not only for me, but the Orioles and my teammates as well. I've enjoyed being around the guys and getting a chance to kind of coach and teach. Something that I didn't really expect to do at this point in my career. But just like last night, we had a chance to maybe get a backdoor out with two outs and a guy at second base.

"Being able to sit on the bench and watch that and see some of the changes that we're making, some of the growth that's going on, it's encouraging."

Davis isn't in full shutdown mode. He's just accepting of the situation.

"Would I like to be on the field? Absolutely. But I want to be in a position where I can be productive and be the player that I know I'm capable of being and my teammates deserve to have on the field," he said.

"So I'll continue to work and get back to the things I know, the things that I have seen results from, and hopefully, finish up the year, whether it's on the bench or on the field, in a positive and on a strong note."

Davis met with the media in the visiting dugout at Comerica Park to discuss how he's the Orioles' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, the third year in a row that he's been so honored.

Elias will present Davis with the award before Wednesday night's game, and also will present a ceremonial check for $7,500 to the LUNGevity Foundation.

"It means a lot," Davis said. "Jill and I do a lot in and around the city, and to be recognized for it, it means a lot to us. Obviously, we don't do it for that. We have a lot of relationships that we've built over the years, a lot of people that we've come to know, come to love. And that's the real reason that we do this stuff."

The press release issued by the Orioles detailed the many charities impacted by the Davis family in and around the Baltimore community, including the LUNGevity Foundation, the University of Maryland Children's Hospital, Casey Cares Foundation, Helping Up Mission, Compassion International, Maryland Food Bank, International Justice Mission, Water Missions International and Feed My Starving Children.

"They were a little more detailed this year than they have been in the past, which is OK, but like I said, that's not the reason that we do all this stuff," Davis said. "We do it because we enjoy giving back and doing whatever we can to help people in stress."

LUNGevity might be the closest to Davis' heart because it honors former Orioles public relations director Monica Barlow, who died in 2014 after a lengthy battle with Stage 4 lung cancer. But there are so many others.

"Casey Cares, we've been working with Casey (Baynes, the organization's founder) for so many years," Davis said. "University of Maryland Hospital, IJM, Helping Up. The organizations and the charities that we worked with for a number of years that, we've developed a relationship with these people and we love them. We enjoy working with them and we're always looking for opportunities to expand and continue to reach out to whoever we can help.

"It's huge, and that was one of the determining factors when we were trying to figure out going through free agency if we wanted to go back to Baltimore, if we wanted to go somewhere else. Ultimately, obviously, we decided to come back to Baltimore because we had a lot of those relationships already built. The foundation was already set. And we knew that we could just cultivate them over the years.

"As much as I would like to see more of a return on the baseball field, I understand that the platform that I have and the spot that I'm in, it's so much more than baseball. Jill and I are going to continue doing whatever we can to serve the community of Baltimore and the people of Baltimore."

Davis hasn't been able to produce as he did prior to free agency. Before managing partner Peter G. Angelos negotiated a seven-year, $161 million contract with agent Scott Boras.

Doing the charitable work takes away a little bit of the pain that Davis experiences. That's born this year from his .172/.265/.305 slash line with eight doubles, 10 home runs, 34 RBIs and 129 strikeouts in 325 plate appearances.

"I think it just makes you step back and have a little bit of perspective and really understand that we're so much more than baseball players," he said.

"Yeah, this is our job. We have to work hard at it, we have to spend a lot of time, a lot of energy, to be at this level. But there's so much more that is involved and so much more that is really asked of us on and off the field. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my time off the field than doing what we do in the past few years, and I'm going to continue doing that."

Davis began to gain his perspective back in 2011 while playing for the Rangers. It was the launching point for where he's ultimately gone with the charitable causes.

"Honestly, in 2011, before I was even traded over here, my wife was working at a children's hospital in Dallas for kids that were born with spinal deficiencies," he said. "I saw really her part, for not only the community of Dallas, but specifically for the kids. I had always wanted to get more involved, but I didn't really have any direction and I think that's really when we kind of said, 'All right, we're going to tackle it in whatever way we can and just kind of get our hands dirty and see what happens.'

"I've enjoyed working with her. I don't really think of it as work. But like I said, she's got such a great heart, and she's really been impressive over the years to just follow around and kind of see what she does and try to mimic that as best as I can."

For the Tigers
Victor Reyes CF
Harold Castro 2B
Miguel Cabrera DH
Christin Stewart LF
Dawel Lugo 3B
Brandon Dixon RF
John Hicks 1B
Jake Rogers C
Willi Castro SS

Daniel Norris LHP