A lonestar in california

I decided to create a whole new post for this, simply because I didn’t think it would be fair to try and contain the awesomeness of this announcement within the awesomeness of Max Ramirez’ game last night, or vice-versa. It wouldn’t be fair to either one to steal their thunder – they both deserve their own headline today.

As you may have heard by now, multiple sources are reporting that Chris Davis, the Rangers slugging first base prospect,  has been called up from AAA Oklahoma, including Smoaky.com, Davis’ hometown paper, and the DMN’s Evan Grant. In the words of Chris himself:

“I was just so excited with a bunch of different emotions and feelings,” said Davis, who called his parents first upon receiving the news. “It’s unbelievably exciting to get something you’ve worked for your whole life. Since I’ve started playing professional baseball, this was the goal. It is so awesome to actually see it happen.”

“It feels good and I’m real excited, but I don’t think it will sink in until I hit the field tomorrow in uniform…This is real.”

The move comes as a result of Hank Blalock’s latest setback, as he has now developed pain and swelling in his right hand (which he bruised on Sunday during a rehab game in OKC) and is now expected to be out till the all-star break. 

With Blalock out for a little while longer, the Rangers apparently felt it was time to have a look at the left-handed masher Davis, who has an overall line of .333/.402/.685, with 10 homers and 31 RBI in his 31 games with Oklahoma this season. He had also hit another 13 homers and drove in 42 in AA Frisco earlier this year before his promotion to AAA. Although he was currently in an 0-12 mini-slump in OKC, he seems to be right on the cusp, if not already at the point of being ready for The Show.

Even so, this might not be a permanent move for Davis because as Jon Daniels explains it, the Rangers (for some reason) still plan on moving Blalock to first base, and playing him there once he gets back:

“We’ve been patient up to this point expecting Hank to be back for the Houston series,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, he had his latest setback. I don’t expect it to be long-term and we expect to send him on a rehab assignment in the near future. But we felt this was an opportunity to give Chris a chance to see what he can do and see if we can’t get more production out of that position.” 

“More than likely, I would expect Hank to play [if he comes back by the all-star break],” Daniels said. “We’ve had discussions about Chris some time ago, but we hoped Hank would be back by now. Rather than continuing to wait, this is a chance to look at Chris. I said before the season that the key to our season would be the health of our veterans and the continued development of our young players. 

I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether this is going to be a cameo appearance for Davis until Blalock gets back, or if it will indeed be permanent – of course, the final determination will probably rest with Chris Davis himself, and how well he plays. If he comes out of the gates swinging, I don’t see how the Rangers could send him back down – it would be pretty stupid to send down one of your top prospects in favor or a guy whose 2009 option you might not even be picking up anyway.  

As far as roster ramifacations go, Chris Shelton is likely the player the Rangers will drop to make room on both the 40 and the 25 man roster for Davis – Shelton has hit .216/.333/.330 in 97 AB’s as a Ranger, a pretty worthless line for a first baseman. I don’t think anyone will be sorry to see him go, save for maybe Ron Washington, who liked to use him as a late-innings defensive replacement/pinch hitter.

The guy who’s really going to feel the squeeze as far as playing time goes though is Frank Catalanotto, whose his left-handed bat will now likely be reduced to pinch-hitting since he really can’t play the outfield anymore, and the DH spot is going to be taken by Milton Bradley and Max Ramirez. Of course, it’s not like Cat has any real value as anything but a pinch-hitter anyway, so that’s not really too much of a loss, not when you look at the raw power Chris Davis will offer the lineup – in fact, I’d be fine with it if the Rangers just traded Catalanotto to some NL team for a a bag of peanuts, and where done with it. I still say his contract is the worst signing Jon Daniels has ever made.

Davis should join the team tonight in Houston, although Max Ramirez was originally scheduled to start at first base tonight against lefty Wandy Rodriguez – we’ll see if the Rangers want Davis to make his debut against a left-hander, or if they wait until Friday when Brett Myers goes for the Phillies.

No matter what they do though, just remember this: expect some strikeouts, especially the first few games. Davis is a guy who will probably strike out 150 times in the Majors – he projects to be kind of like an Adam Dunn, only with less walks and a (hopefully) higher batting average. His main tool is his raw power, which is expected to make up for his K’s and lack of walks, so if he comes up and just starts slugging homers, even if he’s hitting .250 he’ll be in fairly good shape.

Anyway, congrats to you, Chris Davis – I wish you many happy home run trots, buddy, and I hope you kick some serious ass so you don’t have to go back to AAA.