One of the hot conversations lately on the talk shows is when are the Rangers going to bench/send down Chris Davis. CD has 97 Ks in only 214 ABs and after hitting a nice home run yesterday, he still struck out twice. Davis is young and letting him break the strikeout record could do a number on his psyche. So what's the answer at first base?
Could be Justin Smoak once he is healthy. He is in AA Frisco right now after being drafted by Texas in the 1st round of the draft last year. He is on the DL at the moment and hopefully will be healthy soon enough because he is a switch-hitting first baseman with power (sounds like someone who is wearing pinstripes that we know). Since joining the organization he has shown why the Rangers like him so much and why all of baseball thinks the Rangers got a steal of a deal last year.
Smoak's stats this season:
.325 avg, 41 games, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 32 BB, 30 Ks
The numbers that should jump out to you is the walks and strikeouts. Anytime a player has more walks than Ks, it shows their patience at the plate (something Davis is lacking right now).
Many experts think that Smoak is not ready and maybe they are right but what is the front office going to do when he is ready? Can Smoak and Davis play on the big league team at the same time? We have had this problem before when he had Tex and Adrian Gonzalez both ready to be the first baseman of the future. We traded Gonzo and now he is among the league leaders in home runs at Petco Park in San Diego!
Management is going to have a tough decision to make: keep Smoak or Davis. Who do you want to keep? It is a good problem to have but one I don't envy deciding.
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