Welcome to another edition of the Orioles Beat newsletter. The O’s have two more games to play against the A’s in West Sacramento before returning home for three-game series against the Tigers and Angels.
Former Orioles slugger Chris Davis is back in baseball. However, the 39-year-old is now dabbling in the coaching side of the sport, as he helped out at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas -- his home state -- during the 2025 high school season. Davis will also be among 12 coaches at USA Baseball’s 2025 16U/17U National Team Development Program from July 23-27 at USA Baseball’s training complex in Cary, N.C. He’ll be joined by other former big leaguers such as Troy Glaus, Luke Gregorson, Jonathan Lucroy and more. This wasn’t in Davis’ initial five-year plan after his 13-year MLB playing career ended following the 2020 season. "Man, to be honest with you, it really wasn't even on my radar. Honestly, I didn't think I had enough patience to be a coach,” Davis said in a recent phone interview with MLB.com. “I think you probably know me well enough to know that I was a very aggressive, very intense player, and I didn't think that went over well in the coaching world. “But after coaching my [three daughters] in youth sports and then just being around our local high school baseball team ... I really enjoyed it. What I came to find out was, obviously, I still have a lot of passion and love for the game, but I just really enjoyed being around baseball players that want to learn, that want to grow and work and get better.”
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It has always, however, been a goal for Davis to represent the United States in a baseball capacity. In 2008, he was selected for the national team for the Olympics in Beijing, but he was called up to the big leagues for the first time that June by the Rangers, so he couldn’t head to the Summer Games. While recently talking to his friend Lucroy -- who played 12 big league seasons from 2010-21 -- Davis learned of the possibility of helping out youth players with USA Baseball. "He said, ‘Why don't you help coach one of the junior teams?’ And I said, ‘That sounds awesome,’” Davis said. “And so, he told me about the rundown of what goes on in North Carolina and just the availability that I would need to go out there. That's kind of the journey I'm on right now, because I just want to get back to the game. “I want to continue to help guys grow in the game and give them every opportunity to succeed, whether that's at the high school level, the Minor League level or even at the big league level. And so, it was just an opportunity for me to get involved and I jumped at it, and I'm excited to get out there.” |
The USA NTDP will split its 72 players for the upcoming event among four teams. Davis is the assistant coach for the Navy squad, which will participate in three round-robin games, workouts, skill development sessions and educational seminars. There’s a lot of knowledge Davis can impart on young players he assists, considering he experienced extreme highs and lows during his career. He set an O’s franchise record with 53 home runs in 2013 -- and slugged 197 homers from 2012-16, helping Baltimore reach the postseason three times in that span -- but he hit .169 in 249 games over his final three seasons. Davis worked with a lot of coaches and managers during his time. He named Ron Washington, Dave Anderson, Scott Coolbaugh, Brent Brown, Bobby Dickerson, Jose Flores and Buck Showalter as those he’s drawing inspiration from early in his own coaching career. "I had so many great teachers in the game that really understood the game and understood how to teach it,” Davis said. “So I think that a lot of that rubbed off on me, and they’re guys that are still resources that I can use now.” It also was beneficial that Davis was a veteran voice in a younger clubhouse late in his 10-year tenure with the Orioles. “One of the things that really helped me late in my career was kind of being the old man on the team and there being such a big gap between me and the core group of our players,” Davis said. “They were so young, but it really gave me an opportunity to learn how to communicate with those guys, to really learn how to encourage and how to coach them, and I think that's really spilled over in my coaching career.” Most importantly, Davis feels it’s his job to take this next step in the baseball world. “I feel like that's just my responsibility now as a retired Major League Baseball veteran player,” Davis said. “I think that that's kind of my responsibility is to, one, impart that knowledge and give back to that younger generation and just continue to be a source of light in the game if I can.” |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Voting has started for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game at MLB.com/vote. Fans can vote five times a day until the end of Phase 1, which concludes June 26 at noon ET. Phase 2 (June 30-July 2) will then determine the starters for the Midsummer Classic, which is set for July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta. Designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn and second baseman Jackson Holliday have emerged as leading candidates for the Orioles, who have a player listed at every position. |
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The Orioles are hosting Pride Night at Camden Yards on June 25 vs. the Rangers (6:35 p.m. ET). The first 15,000 fans will receive an O’s pride jersey.
Tickets for the game can be purchased here. Festivities will include immersive pride decorations, pregame music, crafts, face painting, pride merchandise and more.
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