In a season of full of embarrassing achievements, from a 1-for-30 streak to setting the club’s all-time record for strikeouts, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis will now cap off his season with the worst batting average ever.
The 32-year-old’s season comes to an end with a .168 batting average in 522 plate appearances, the worst batting line by a qualified player in the history of baseball.
Chris Davis finishes with a -3.2 WAR and a .168 batting average.
That's the lowest BA among qualifying players in Major League baseball history.
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) September 28, 2018
Keep in mind, this is a sport with records that date back to the 1800s. The game has made adjustments to help hitters in recent decades and Davis still found a way to post the worst batting average ever for a hitter with 500-plus plate appearances.
Even worse, the former All-Star slugger recorded the ninth-highest strikeout rate (36.8 percent) in MLB history among qualified hitters.
It’s hard to imagine, but it does get worse for Baltimore. Davis is owed nearly $22 million per season over each of the next four years and is the sixth-highest paid first baseman in MLB in average salary.
This is a player and contract that the Orioles will be stuck with for a long time. In fact, the contract might be even worse than the batting average.