The Rangers first base situation looks pretty good for the next several years. They have two extremely talented players capable of manning the position: Chris Davis and Justin Smoak (the Rangers 2008 first round draft pick).

While Smoak is proving his worth in the minors, Davis will stake his claim as the present and future first baseman. Who knows what will happen down the road?

In the meantime, I think Davis will emerge as one of the top offensive first baseman in the league.  As a mid-season call-up in 2008, Davis had 295 at bats in 80 games. His numbers speak for themselves: .285/.331/.549 with 17 HRs and 55 RBI. Stat geeks (Read: Sabremetric gurus) predict Chris will hit 40 HRs and be one of the top RBI men in the game in 2009.

While I think Davis will have a great 2009, I’m not so sure he will achieve the stats everyone is predicting. And it will not necessarily be his fault. It appears Ron Washington will  start Davis at 1B mainly against RH pitching. Hank Blalock will get  starts against LH pitching. Washington has also said that Davis may be inserted into games after the starting LH pitcher leaves the game.  Personally, I don’t agree with this logic. Davis is a young player who, with the help of Rudy Jaramillo, can gain experience and improve his approach against lefties. And it’s not like he was horrible against them in 2008: .279/.323/.593 in only 86 at bats (he had 209 ABs vs. RH pitchers) with 5 HRs and  17 RBI. In my opinion, he would have improved in all categories if he had more ABs vs. lefties.

After a slow start this Spring, Davis has started to get things going in the last couple weeks. He has raised his average to .292 with 4 HRs and 10 RBI in 65 at bats. My biggest concern is the 21 strike outs this spring. Maybe he was feeling the pressure from Smoak early in ST. His approach seemed to improve after Smoak was sent down to the minor league camp. But he better get used to having Smoak on his heels. The kid is going to be very good. But that’s a discussion for another day….

I’m anxious to see Chris in Arlington in April. If he gets off to a quick start (like he did when he was called up last year), I think his improved confidence will allow him to have a big year.

Heads-up in the Home Run Porch!

Wouldn’t it be something if he managed to put together a season comparable to the money-hungry Yankee, Mark Teixeira?