More opposite-field homers could make Chris Davis more productive

During a 17-minute interview Thursday night on 105.7 The Fan's "Orioles Hot Stove Show," Chris Davis talked about ways he is trying to get his bat productive again.

During that interview, Davis told us he has not overhauled his swing, but has gotten bigger and stronger over the winter in an attempt to improve his game and drive the ball better.

In 2019, over 352 plate appearances (his fewest since 2011), Davis hit .179/.276/.326 with nine doubles, 12 homers, 36 RBIs and 139 strikeouts. He produced an OPS of .601.

Davis has talked about letting the ball travel farther and working on getting back to using the whole field more. When he had a huge season in 2013 (53 homers, 1.004 OPS), he hit 32.1 percent of his homers to left or left-center, according to STATS research; last season, that was down to 25 percent. He did produce 41.8 percent of his hits to left and left-center in 2019, but fewer homers left the park in that direction than when he was at his best.

"I think a lot of it is reaction," Davis said. "It's no secret. I've been around the game long enough to know what I can and can't do. And I think the competition has enough information on me right now to know I can do a lot of damage to the opposite field.

"For me, really the point of emphasis going into this offseason was getting back to that approach and really letting the ball travel. I think back to the years when I've had the most success, I was really driving the ball well the other way. In order to do that, you have to let the ball travel. You have to let the ball get deep and come to you. Any contact I make out in front of the plate, with the exception of a pitch that is way inside or kind of boring in on me, it's not going to be beneficial for me or a productive out if it is an out."

Davis has also hit fewer fly balls in recent years, meaning fewer chances for homers. He hit the ball in the air 45.7 percent of the time in 2013, 43.5 percent in 2015, 39.3 percent in 2018 and 38.6 percent last season.

"I want to try and keep the ball off the ground on the right side for a number of reasons," he said. "But really letting the ball travel, it plays right into my game. And I think a lot of that had to do with the strength factor. Not feeling like I could drive the ball the other way, but knowing I had to put a perfect swing on it. And put myself into a position where I had little room for error. I think having that strength and my body back to a position that where, even if I miss a ball, it lands in the seats, I think it will play right into my game."

When executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and the new Orioles front office brought more data and analytics to the Orioles clubhouse last year, many wondered how that would help Davis. Has that helped him and what might it mean for him going forward?

"There is no doubt. You would be foolish to say there is not value in that information," Davis said. "But it goes hand in hand. You can't neglect one side or the other. You still need guys to be baseball players. I think if any organization can appreciate that, it's the Baltimore Orioles. You need guys that understand how the game is played and understand your natural instincts and the feel of a Major League Baseball game.

"Along side of that, there are people that can help with the analytics and information side. But you can get heavy in one side or the other. It all needs to work together. There is a lot of information out there nowadays. A lot of it is useful, but a lot of too can be overkill. It can be a little much too much. You have to know where to draw the line.

"I think Hyder (manager Brandon Hyde) and Mike and Sig (Mejdal) have a good feel on that. They've been really good about being open with guys with , 'Hey, this is what we expect, this is what we know. But we understand at the end of the day you still have a job to do.' So I think there are a lot of things in place to help the organization be productive for the next several years."