Brad Mills – USA Today Sports
A torrid start to the season for Baltimore Orioles 1B Chris Davis has continued all the way through May, and there is no end in sight for his fantasy baseball owners.
Davis crushed his league-leading 18th and 19th home runs during a 4-for-4 night in Wednesday’s 9-6 win over the Washington Nationals Wednesday night. After hitting nine home runs with 28 RBI and a ridiculous 1.171 OPS (on base plus slugging) in April, Davis incredibly hasn’t lost a step and has eight home runs, 19 RBI and a 1.159 OPS in May.
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The career .267 hitter is currently second in the American League to only Miguel Cabrera with a .359 average on the year. Along with his league lead in home runs he is also first in slugging percentage (.766) and OPS (1.214), second in RBI with 50, third in OBP (.447) and fourth in the AL with a 2.7 WAR (wins above replacement).
In his sixth year in the league, the former Texas Rangers prospect has finally taken the step into superstardom and is one of the most dangerous hitters in the league. It’s difficult to see him hitting .344 all season, but a closer look at his hitting leads one to believe that a significant regression probably won’t happen.
Davis’ ground ball percentage is down to a career-low 32.6 percent and his swinging strike percentage is down four points from his career average. He has been extremely disciplined at the plate, swinging at just 33 percent of outside pitches with a fantastic contact rate of 74.7.
As long as he remains disciplined, there’s no reason Davis won’t continue dominating. Drafted in most standard 10-team leagues in Round 13 or later, Davis has provided fantasy baseball owners with enormous value. Don’t sell high and continue to ride the big man through the season.
Rich Arleo is a fantasy sports expert with Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Rarleo, ‘Like’ him on Facebook and add him to your networks on Google.
