Khris Davis is at ease at the plate. His mind is clear and his confidence is sky high. And it shows.
Davis, 29, has hit 31 home runs this season in 111 games played. Since the A's acquired him before the 2016 season, he's bashed 73 balls over the wall.
In left field when he goes to throw the ball back to the infield or to a base, his mindset couldn't be any more different. Davis becomes overwhelmed with stress as his mind races to not make a mistake.
On Wednesday, the Cal State Fullerton alum opened up on his throwing issues in an article he penned for The Players' Tribune, titled "The Creature."
For some reason, when it comes to throwing a baseball, my mindset is completely different. I find the entire process stressful. And sometimes when I need to make a throw from the outfield … The Creature emerges.
The Creature is what I call the doubts inside yourself that bubble up, right to the surface of your consciousness, when you're performing a certain action. It's that tiny voice inside you that somehow takes over at times, whether you like it or not. It's a million negative thoughts - not even necessarily fully formed, but just present - that appear at the worst possible moment. It saps all of your confidence when you're about to do something that you know you're fully capable of doing well.
I think a lot of people probably have their own version of The Creature for different things.
Maybe it comes out when you have to speak in front of a large group of people. Maybe it's there when you're taking a big test and can't remember any of the stuff you studied. Or maybe it's present any time you're simply put in a high-pressure situation.
For me, it'll sometimes appear as I wind up my arm to throw a baseball.
Davis has a solid .994 fielding percentage this season for A's. The league average for left fielders is .987. But, he only has one outfield assist in 86 games.
Over his five-year big league career between the A's and Brewers, Davis has thrown out nine runners.
