Khrush heats up! Davis swats 1st 2 Texas HRs
Kennedi Landry
@kennlandrySURPRISE, Ariz. -- Spring Training has been a slow progression for Khris Davis, but his bat heated up in the Rangers' 12-9 win over the Reds at Surprise Stadium on Thursday night.
Davis had more hits than he had in his previous nine Cactus League games combined, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. Breaking out of a 2-for-22 slump, Davis put Texas ahead with his second home run, a three-run shot that was part of a six-run sixth inning.
It was the second multi-homer game by a Rangers hitter this spring, as Jason Martin homered twice on March 10 against the Mariners.
Manager Chris Woodward said Davis had put a little pressure on himself to get better in-game results.
¡°It's been a slow progression of looking better, I think,¡± Woodward said. ¡°I've been raving about this guy's work. The hitting coach [Luis Ortiz] has been raving about this guy's work every day. We know what this guy's done in the past, and if we can get somewhere near that, we¡¯ve got a pretty big impact bat. It's been fun to watch, and hopefully, the trend continues.¡±
Davis was acquired by the Rangers in the trade that sent shortstop Elvis Andrus to the A's on Feb. 6. Although Davis got off to a slow start this spring, he hit a home run in a "B" game on Wednesday and had a few solid at-bats, according to Woodward.
Woodward said that Davis has been making good decisions at the plate, but he has been slow on a lot of fastballs and was trying to get the rhythm of his swing down, feeling the ball off the bat.
¡°I've seen it before, especially with power guys, once they feel the baseball come off their bat, then their body remembers,¡± Woodward said. "It knows this is the pathway to the ball, and you can see right there, it's a really positive sign for him. Because if we can get that bat going, it provides us a lot of value in the middle.¡±
The Rangers are in need of a power bat in the middle of the lineup, preferably a right-handed one, with David Dahl, Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor all hitting from the left side. With Willie Calhoun out with a groin strain and likely to start the season on the injured list, Texas doesn't have many other options at designated hitter, with Ronald Guzm¨¢n and Nate Lowe competing for the starting job at first base.
¡°I think we all want K.D. to be the solution [for a power hitter in the lineup],¡± Woodward said. ¡°Obviously, there's still a little bit left in Spring Training, and we've still got to see more to solidify it. I don't know what we're going to do at the end. I mean, we've still got to make that decision. But it's trending in the right direction.¡±
Roster moves
On Thursday, the Rangers assigned six non-roster invitees to the Minor League workout group: pitchers Sam Gaviglio and Jimmy Herget, catcher John Hicks, infielders Yonny Hernandez and Curtis Terry and outfielder Adolis Garcia.
The Rangers have 47 players remaining in Major League camp.