Chris Davis is finally retiring… Stigma of ‘worst eat-and-go’

Chris Davis (35, Baltimore Orioles), who used to be the home run king, eventually retired without being able to recover, writing the stigma of ‘the worst eat-and-go’.

On the 13th (Korean time), the American MLB Baltimore club officially announced that “Davis has decided to retire.” “I haven’t played for a long time due to injuries and hip surgery,” Davis told the club. I would like to thank those who have helped me along the way,” he said.

Davis made his big league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2008 and was active after moving to Baltimore in 2011. With 53 home runs in 2013 and 47 in 2015, he became the AL home run champion. He finished eighth in the AL home run division in 2012 and 2016, respectively. For this reason, in 2016, he signed a seven-year, $161 million (187.3 billion won) large free agent contract with Baltimore.

Davis, however, went downhill completely. In 2018, the batting average was 0.168, and he did not break out of the 10% batting average in 2019. In particular, in 2019, he set a new MLB record in this category with 62 at-bats and no hits in 52 consecutive at-bats. In 2020, when the season was shortened to 60 games in the aftermath of the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), he batted a batting average of 0.115 without a home run in 52 at-bats and did not play a single game this year. After playing two at-bats in the demonstration game, he underwent surgery on his left hip and hip and was out of the season.

Davis is retired, but receives all of his remaining salary. According to the MLB Network and MLB trade rumors, Davis put a payment deferral condition at the time of his free agent contract with Baltimore. So, from 2023 to 2032, they will receive 3.5 million dollars (4 billion won) each year, and from 2033 to 2037, they will receive 1.4 million dollars (1.6 billion won) annually. At the time of his free agent contract, Davis’ agent was Scott Boras.

Kang Joo-hyung reporter cubie@hankookilbo.com