Matt Davidson

[godfrey127]

I don't know if there was a hidden negativity in this post or if you are a big fan just hopeful he'll have more three-hit games. I for one am amazed that there's not a thread praising the bleep out of Davidson. The man just hit 3 home runs on opening day for gawd sakes. This is a monumental feat. Sox fans should be rejoicing about this feat and Anderson's two home runs and Abreu's dinger (he's a slow starter sometimes) instead I'm reading more about how Moncada SHOULDA COULDA had four hits if he had any luck at all.

I guess my love of Davidson, Abreu and Avi is gonna continue to get me in trouble with posters. I could watch replays forever of those home runs. My gosh they were all blasted.

 

 

Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 opening day homeruns too!! And that was off freaking Doc Gooden. He finished the year with 8, and got banished to Japan. Point being, Gooz Fraba!!!!!!!!!

 

 

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 opening day homeruns too!! And that was off freaking Doc Gooden. He finished the year with 8, and got banished to Japan. Point being, Gooz Fraba!!!!!!!!!

 

Why does everyone reference Tuffy Rhodes, but not Dmitri Young, which was the most recent? Because Rhodes did it for the Cubs?

Edited March 31, 2018 by ChiliIrishHammock24

[greg775]

Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 opening day homeruns too!! And that was off freaking Doc Gooden. He finished the year with 8, and got banished to Japan. Point being, Gooz Fraba!!!!!!!!!

George Bell did it too. It's still an amazing day. I'm just surprised there's no glee for anybody on here besides Moncada and all the guys who were acquired the last year or so for the rebuild. I guess Davidson is a little too old for anybody but a few of us to get excited. I was happy with all the bombs. Timmy appears to be ready for a superstar season now that he's dealt with the loss of a cherished friend. And Abreu remains great and Davidson just continues to hit homers (I understand he Ks a lot, but...)

[Leonard Zelig]

George Bell did it too. It's still an amazing day. I'm just surprised there's no glee for anybody on here besides Moncada and all the guys who were acquired the last year or so for the rebuild. I guess Davidson is a little too old for anybody but a few of us to get excited. I was happy with all the bombs. Timmy appears to be ready for a superstar season now that he's dealt with the loss of a cherished friend. And Abreu remains great and Davidson just continues to hit homers (I understand he Ks a lot, but...)

What do you want Greg? It was one game. Phil Humber threw a perfect game once.

[iWiN4PreP]

How... many... leagues... are you in?

 

Also, I've heard it is exceptionally shrewd fantasy baseball management to get excited over a single game's performance from an otherwise mediocre player.

I play too many, but I love it. It's the thing that makes baseball interesting to me. Without Fantasy sports, I probably would have moved on from sports a while back. I play in something like (8 teams) x (6 accounts) = 48 teams.

 

Yes, you are right about the excitement over one game, however Davidson gets preferential treatment from me as he is a white sox player. I made sure to have Abreu+Moncada on about 90% of my teams. If Davidson plays up this year, he's going to blow up on my roster. I see no reason why he can't hit 30+ HRs with decent Runs/RBI and a decent AVG a la a Chris Davis type or Matt Olson type of player which is valuable in fantasy. Although, admitedly, Olson and Davis have more HR potential (talking 40+ HR's), I think Davidson can really put it together.

 

I am on board with the Davidson hype as a previous top prospect figuring it out with the playing time guaranteed.

 

[Y2Jimmy0]

I'm proud of SoxTalk! I was expecting to see something like "do you think we can lock him up for 4 years at $40mm?" and drinking the Kool-Aid. I picked him as my surprise for the year, so I definitely am not harping on him. Hey look, if Joey Gallo can be considered an asset and if people like Chris Davis can take home nice paychecks, why can't Davidson?

 

The problem is that he needs to walk more. Can he? Does something click? Cause if it does, he certainly can have a role on a playoff team. He has serious 40HR type power which doesn't just grow on trees.

 

He's got an opportunity that he wouldn't be afforded on most MLB teams, so he needs to take advantage of it this year. It'll be fun to watch on games like yesterday, but frustrating when he goes 0-4 with 3k's and leaves bases loaded .... which we all know is coming.

 

 

My hope is he can turn into a VERY nice bench piece on a World Series competing team. My ceiling is a 100 game, LF, 3B, DH, 1B.

 

 

You can't compare Davidson to Joey Gallo though. Matt Davidson isn't Joey Gallo in his most wonderful dreams. Joey Gallo last year was a 3 WAR player. 123 wRC+, .364 wOBA, with 41 bombs. He had 196 strikeouts and 75 walks.

 

Matt Davidson on the other hand was a negative WAR player last year. 83wRC+, .297 wOBA and 26 homers. Davidson struck out 165 times and walked 19 times.

 

Davidson could be a bench option that faces LHP only at some point I think. Gallo is considered an asset because he's actually kind of good at baseball.

[Dick Allen]

You can't compare Davidson to Joey Gallo though. Matt Davidson isn't Joey Gallo in his most wonderful dreams. Joey Gallo last year was a 3 WAR player. 123 wRC+, .364 wOBA, with 41 bombs. He had 196 strikeouts and 75 walks.

 

Matt Davidson on the other hand was a negative WAR player last year. 83wRC+, .297 wOBA and 26 homers. Davidson struck out 165 times and walked 19 times.

 

Davidson could be a bench option that faces LHP only at some point I think. Gallo is considered an asset because he's actually kind of good at baseball.

Gallo had 32 singles last year. That is the fewest for anyone who ever had enough ABs to qualify for a batting title. Pretty amazing if you think about it.

[hi8is]

Gallo had 32 singles last year. That is the fewest for anyone who ever had enough ABs to qualify for a batting title. Pretty amazing if you think about it.

Wow! I hadn’t heard that stat myself... kucking futs!!

[wrathofhahn]

Problem with Davidson is he always has had difficulty making contact even in the minors his K rate was extremely high. So a change in approach is needed.

 

He claims to made changes to his approach in the offseason. The very, very, early results are promising we will see if it holds. 8.3 OSWING. If he can keep it in 20 range compared to the 31 percent in his career he'll be in good shape.

[kwolf68]

Problem with Davidson is he always has had difficulty making contact even in the minors his K rate was extremely high. So a change in approach is needed.

 

He claims to made changes to his approach in the offseason. The very, very, early results are promising we will see if it holds. 8.3 OSWING. If he can keep it in 20 range compared to the 31 percent in his career he'll be in good shape.

 

I like his approach through 2 games. Hasn't swung at junk and the one K they got on him tonight was a bad call by blue. Small sample size, but encouraging.

[hi8is]

I like his approach through 2 games. Hasn't swung at junk and the one K they got on him tonight was a bad call by blue. Small sample size, but encouraging.

Totally. Across the board I like the approach of our team as a whole that’s been on display since the spring and here in the first couple of games.

[greg775]

What do you want Greg? It was one game. Phil Humber threw a perfect game once.

I'm not sure what I want. I'm just surprised a guy bangs three homers and there's little more than a yawn. What if he woulda hit four? Would he have gotten some unrequited love on here or still a lot of ... he can't keep it up. He's at best a 100 game a year guy on our next WS contending team?

[ron883]

I'm not sure what I want. I'm just surprised a guy bangs three homers and there's little more than a yawn. What if he woulda hit four? Would he have gotten some unrequited love on here or still a lot of ... he can't keep it up. He's at best a 100 game a year guy on our next WS contending team?

If his value gets high enough I hope they trade him for prospects

[wrathofhahn]

If his value gets high enough I hope they trade him for prospects

 

Thats a no for me he's until control til 2023 if the change is real (big if) then he's a guy you keep.

[hogan873]

I'm not sure what I want. I'm just surprised a guy bangs three homers and there's little more than a yawn. What if he woulda hit four? Would he have gotten some unrequited love on here or still a lot of ... he can't keep it up. He's at best a 100 game a year guy on our next WS contending team?

Of course he can't keep up a 3-HR per game pace. I think the lack of excitement that you seem to think there is is everyone who has watched Davidson play for the past year+ saying, "Great game, love the home runs, let's just hope it's a sign of things to come." I believe what we'd all like to see is better plate discipline, fewer Ks, more walks, and continued power. There's no doubt the guy has huge power. If he can maintain that while doing the other stuff to make him a better hitter, he'll be a potentially valuable part of this team moving forward. One game does not a superstar make.

 

This season is going to be a great opportunity for both Davidson and the Sox. He can continue to work on improving his batting and the Sox can watch his development. There's not a ton of pressure on the Sox, so they can afford to give him the at-bats he needs. He'll need to really improve his plate discipline and increase his OBP to be considered improved.

[Dam8610]

I'm not sure what I want. I'm just surprised a guy bangs three homers and there's little more than a yawn. What if he woulda hit four? Would he have gotten some unrequited love on here or still a lot of ... he can't keep it up. He's at best a 100 game a year guy on our next WS contending team?

 

Greg, I'd love to see Davidson develop into a .900 OPS bat and become the type of asset we thought the Sox were getting when he was traded here for Reed, but if I'm being realistic, I look at all the time he spent struggling at Charlotte and wonder if he can consistently make the kind of contact that will allow him to capitalize on that fantastic power he has. I think the eye will come and that's just a matter of level adjustment, so it's really about proving he can consistently make contact over 500-600 PAs. Players like he, Avi, Sanchez, etc. are the hidden benefit of a rebuild. Contending teams would never have kept these guys around (except Sanchez), but now they could all be part of the next playoff team for the Sox.