BALTIMORE _ For the second straight day at Camden Yards, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis did early hitting work with hitting coach Don Long before the rest of the team took the field for batting practice in an effort to get him back on track this season.
Davis, who set a major league record with 49 straight at-bats without a hit with an 0-for-5 performance Monday against the Oakland Athletics, was left out of the lineup by manager Brandon Hyde for a second straight day Wednesday. Hyde doesn't expect it to be a long absence.
"He had another good workday on the field today, him and Don out there the last couple days doing some drills," Hyde said. "I watched the one today. I thought it was really, really good. Giving CD another day off, and probably back in there tomorrow."
On Wednesday, Davis was hitting off a tee with a net encroaching on the plate from the right-handed batter's box to work on "trying to stay short to the ball, staying inside the baseball," Hyde said.
Tuesday's work was similar, with the proceedings recorded on an iPad by the team's video staff, though Hyde said it'd be on Davis or Long to elaborate further on the work done.
Even if the circumstances are different, some of Davis' best stretches came after multiple days off last season. After taking over a week to work on his swing with executive vice president Brady Anderson last June, Davis homered upon his return to the lineup.
After sitting out the series finale in Toronto last Aug. 22, Davis had his hottest stretch of the season, batting .319 (15 for 47) in 15 games before cooling again.
