Khris Davis keeps khrushing in Vegas … next stop, Oakland?
LAS VEGAS — Khris Davis is absolutely khrushing the ball in Sin City.
Over the past three nights, Davis has knocked out four homers, including an extra-inning walk-off, and was about 10 feet away from a three-dinger game on Tuesday but settled for two homers and a triple. In 10 contests with the Triple-A Aviators, Davis is slashing .357/.386/.929 with two doubles, two triples, six homers and 16 RBIs. Look at that slugging — yeesh.
Davis said he’s simply locked in at the plate right now.
“I got my swing back,” Davis said. “I’m just having fun.”
Khris Davis just hit a home run for the third straight game and his fifth in 39 at-bats with the Aviators pic.twitter.com/Mvtaxacm76
— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) August 25, 2021
If Davis ever suits up for the green and gold again and hits a dinger for the A’s, fans would have Matt Chapman to thank.
Oakland shipped Davis to the Texas Rangers as part of the Elvis Andrus deal this past offseason. Davis never got things going after injuring his quad trying to leg out a bunt as a cleanup hitter in a March 23 Cactus League game. Davis slashed .157/.262/.333 with two homers and five RBIs in 22 games with the Rangers, before they designated him for assignment on June 8.
Davis was unemployed for nearly two months but said he stayed in shape by working out at home and hitting with former big league outfielder Jaff Decker, who played in 17 games with the A’s and Davis in 2017.
One day, Davis’ phone lit up with a call from Chapman.
“He’s a big reason why I’m here right now,” Davis said. “He called me up and told me to get off the couch and come play.”
The A’s signed Davis to a minor-league deal on Aug. 4 and he worked out briefly at the Arizona Complex League before being assigned to the Aviators. He has been khrushin’ ever since.
Oakland’s offense is a big concern, but it’s hard to see Davis getting called up before rosters expand to 28 men on Sept. 1, as he’s not even on the 40-man. But a couple of dominoes have fallen in Davis’ favor in terms of employment opportunities with the A’s: Ramon Laureano’s 80-game suspension and Stephen Piscotty’s wrist injury, which may require season-ending surgery.
The A’s don’t have much power beyond Matt Chapman (19 homers) and Sean Murphy (14 homers) from the right side of the plate. I think Davis would instantly be the team’s biggest home run threat as a righty if he was called up to Oakland tomorrow.
For what it’s worth — this was before Davis’ monster night on Tuesday — A’s manager Bob Melvin implicitly cast some doubt on the chances of Davis rejoining Oakland.
“He knew when he came here, it was a longshot,” Melvin said, via MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos. “I wish we could expand more than two players in September. But he’s doing what he’s set his mind to do and showing everybody that he still has a lot of baseball left.”
Davis slugged 156 homers for the A’s from 2016-19 and led MLB with 48 dingers in 2018 before struggling during the regular season in 2020. He said he has no doubts he can translate his Triple-A success to big-league success.
“I’ve done it before,” Davis said.
So, is he back, back?
“I was back last year in the playoffs,” Davis said.
Las Vegas manager Fran Riordan said Davis has been a great addition to the squad in the clubhouse and, obviously, in the field. Riordan said Davis has been spraying the ball to all fields since joining the Aviators and that KD is eager to get back to the bigs.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Riordan said. “From not having very many live at-bats in the layoff that he had to coming here and really becoming an impact guy in the middle of our order, and trying to get back to the point where he can go up and help the A’s in a playoff push.
“Physically, he’s kind of still in the prime of his career. The power is obviously still there, we’ve seen for the last week, week and a half. And he’s hungry. He wants to get back playing at a premium Major League level. He still has that physical ability and he still has that drive.”
When Davis is going good, he often destroys balls to right-center field. That’s exactly what happened for his second dinger on Tuesday.
Brah Khris Davis just went deep again — this time to right center pic.twitter.com/tLhY0Ka6b3
— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) August 25, 2021
Top A’s shortstop prospect Nick Allen was promoted to the Aviators around the same time Davis joined the squad. The 22-year-old Allen said Davis has been a huge resource for him in the short amount of time they’ve been teammates.
“KD is awesome,” Allen said. “You can just tell he’s a big leaguer. He does everything the right way. If you need to talk to him about anything, he’s always there to listen and give feedback. … He’s obviously really talented. I just hope he keeps doing his thing, because he’s doing it here, for sure.”
Davis won’t hit two dingers and a triple every night, but if he keeps performing at this level, I think the A’s would be hard-pressed to keep him in the minors.
Sure, the bullpen could use an arm and a third catcher might be prudent. But it’s not often you can add a player with Davis’ resume to a fluttering and sputtering offense like Oakland’s, which has averaged just 2.3 runs per game while going 2-8 the past 10 contests. He’s knocking on the door and the knocks are getting louder.
Davis said he feels home being back in the A’s organization.
“I’m well-liked here and I feel supported by the organization,” Davis said. “I’m just happy that they’re giving me another shot.”
KD looks like he’s having fun in Vegas pic.twitter.com/TBfj4T5kvc
— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) August 25, 2021
