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The Swing

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The SwingThree years after batting .192 with one home run and receiving two demotions to the minors for the Texas Rangers, Chris Davis has developed into an All-Star first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles and one of baseball’s most devastating power hitters. In this week’s Sports Illustrated, senior writer Tom Verducci takes a look at the struggles Davis faced as a member of the Rangers’ organization and how advice from Yankees star Robinson Cano would change his hitting style all together. Verducci also breaks down the stages of Davis’ rebuilt swing.  Davis is featured on a regional cover of this week’s SI.

After torturous 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Rangers that included advice from coaches, instructors and teammates, Davis finally said, “I’m going to have to figure this out for myself.” (PAGE 28) While playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, Davis ran into Cano who had only one thought for the struggling first baseman. “For you to handicap your power the way you’ve done it the past two years, that’s just wrong,” Cano told Davis. “Here in the Dominican people talk about your power and how they don’t see that kind of power very often. You’re a power hitter, not a contact hitter.” (PAGE 29)

It was at that point that Davis began to ignore all of the old-school training he had become accustomed to hearing from the Rangers’ staff and made his swing his own. He began to pump his hands lower while pulling them inside of the ball and what resulted is a swing that embodies MLB elite caliber power. “What [Cano] said,” recalls Davis, “was like a revelation in my life.” (PAGE 29)

After being traded to the Orioles and working with hitting coach Jim Presley, Davis hit 33 home runs last season and leads the majors this year with 45. “Learning my swing last year was a huge foundation,” Davis says. “Last year set up this year. I found something that I could repeat on a daily basis and have success and relax and play the game.” (PAGE 33)


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