Why are the Texas Rangers still pitching to Khris Davis?

Khris Davis continued his traditional domination over the Texas Rangers Friday evening. Why does Texas continue to pitch to him?

Khris Davis has owned the Texas Rangers since his arrival in Oakland back in 2016. According to Jared Sandler, Davis had hit .305 with 28 home runs in 56 career games vs. the Rangers entering Friday night’s game. He hit another home run Friday, giving him 29 in 57 games against Texas.

It has become puzzling as to why the Rangers still pitch to him in big situations. It seems like at least once every series, Davis does enough damage to cause them to lose a game.

There’s certainly sense to pitching to Davis in a 0-0 game in the top of the first, but when there’s an opportunity for him to do something game-changing, giving him a free pass to first base would be wise. Friday, for example, it was 6-6 in the top of the eighth when the slugger hit a home run to give Oakland the lead. The Rangers of course ended up losing that matchup.

There are times when you pitch to guys like Khris Davis and Mike Trout, and those times should be early in the game when a hit will be less impactful, or back-breaking.

There are also situations in which the Rangers must pitch to those guys (like bases loaded scenarios) and pray that they do as little damage as possible. Hopefully Texas can work to figure out Davis and Trout, and find a way to stop them so they won’t constantly give the team fits. The next 12 years would be a lot nicer if the Rangers could find a way to stop, or at least contain Mike Trout.

It happens all over baseball with players dominating their opponents. For every Khris Davis, Mike Trout, and Kyle Seager, the Texas Rangers have guys like Elvis Andrus, who destroys the Indians, Angels and Astros, as well as Shin-Soo Choo, who lights up the Royals and White Sox.

It is a tough decision to walk guys like Davis and Trout, but sometimes walking them is better than giving them the chance to drive in a game-altering run.