Sometimes hard work pays off. In this case, a trip back to extended spring training helped Todd Davison find a better stroke at the plate and earn him this week’s Shorebird of the Week honors.
Early in the season, Davison struggled with the Frederick Keys, hitting just .212 (7 for 33) in 15 games. So back to the O’s Florida minor league complex he went. Once he worked through his problems at the plate and began “hitting the cover off the ball” down there, he was reassigned to Delmarva and has played here since, joining the team in early June. Delmarva was probably the proper destination for the 2006 19th round Oriole draft pick out of the University of Delaware (hailing from Somers Point, NJ) since Todd didn’t hit too well at Aberdeen last season, just .208 in 50 games. Less success at the plate at extended spring may have meant a return to the IronBirds or a release.
With the Shorebirds, Todd’s batting has kept up very well. He got off to a really good start (.294 in June) and has managed to keep the average pretty solid, batting .260 as of this writing. Todd’s also hit his first two professional home runs in a Delmarva uniform and maintains a tidy .720 OPS.
I’d look for Davison to finish out the season at this level and give Frederick another go in 2008. While the organization has drafted high for corner infielders and has a pretty good second baseman at the big league level in Brian Roberts, depth at middle infield may be a needed commodity for the Orioles system in the near future.
