BASEBALL’S SECRET KHRUSH

Lorenzo Cain needed some clarification.

Bent over and fidgeting with the laces of his cleats while sitting at his stall inside the Brewers’ spring training clubhouse, the two-time AllStar outfielder glanced up when asked about Khris Davis.

He obliged, but first wanted to ensure he knew which Khris – or Chris – he was supposed to be talking about.

“The first baseman?” Cain questioned. “Or the outfielder?”

Cain smiled wide when told the subject was indeed not Chris Davis, the Baltimore Orioles infielder, but Khris Davis – the flourishing Oakland A’s outfielder and designated hitter who swatted an MLB-best 48 home runs last year and has more jacks in the last three seasons than anyone else in the game.

Cain had plenty to share about baseball’s most anonymous star — a guy who can’t even catch a break with his name.

“Stupid power,” said Cain, who was in the Brewers system with Davis nearly a decade ago. “I remember playing with him in the minor leagues and he would just hit [opposite field] bombs. You’d just be in awe of it. You’re like, ‘Damn, I wish I could do that.’”

Cain isn’t alone. Many of the game’s other top players echo similar refrains of respect for Davis. They’re well aware that he has quietly become one of the sport’s most productive sluggers.

Angels center fielder and twotime American League MVP Mike Trout: “The consistency of just squaring up a baseball is pretty impressive. The opposite field power is unbelievable. A lot of guys have power that can pull the ball, that’s just given. But he’s got a given talent to just hit the ball the other way. That’s what I like about him.”

Brewers outfielder and reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich: “I think he’s a great player. We all understand how hard it is to hit 40 home runs in the big leagues, how tough this game is. I think the players all recognize what he is capable of, what he’s done in his career.”

Rockies third baseman and four-time All-Star Nolan Arenado: “He hits 40 (home runs) and 100 (RBIs) every year. I think the analytics guys, they’re not too impressed with it. But I think as opponents and players in this league, we’re very impressed with what he’s doing. He’s a very scary at-bat. We don’t want him hitting with men on base.”

These sentiments are ones Davis would likely never say on his own. A humble antipode to other attention-grabbing athletes, he doesn’t like talking much about himself, or his accomplishments.

For instance, after fans began chanting “MVP” in his direction during a home game last August, he respectfully brushed the recognition aside.

“Just appreciative and I try not to make it a big deal,” Davis said that night. “I’m just glad I show up and continue working hard to help this team win ballgames.”

His old farm system teammate, Cain, says it’s the way Davis has always been.

“He’s about going out there, working hard and focusing on getting his job done on the field,” Cain said. “Just let his game speak for itself, that’s the kind of guy he’s always been.”

Davis’ quiet demeanor can mask qualities that go beyond his power at the plate. In his own clubhouse, he’s a steady leader who was a key piece in Oakland’s playoff run last fall.

“I wouldn’t say he’s a vocal guy,” said A’s infielder Marcus Semien. “He just shows up, plays hard every day.”

In opposing clubhouses, there’s a healthy mix of admiration and dread for what Davis (a.k.a “Khrush”) can do with a bat.

“It seems like every time we face him, he’s getting hits, hitting the ball hard,” Trout said.

Added Angels outfielder and four-time All-Star Justin Upton: “When you go in to play the A’s, you know he’s in the middle of that lineup.”

Yet, despite the glowing testimonials, it’s difficult to deny the idea Davis gets overlooked at times, that his power surge in the East Bay has happened largely in the shadows of obscurity that too often hide understated players in undersized markets.

“What he’s done is special,” said All-Star Rockies slugger Trevor Story. “Very consistent. He doesn’t get as much love as he probably should.”

An ironic example of his low profile comes in the need to identify him as “Khris Davis ... of the A’s,” so as not to mix up MLB’s 2018 home run king with the other Chris Davis, a declining former All-Star who finished a distant last in the league in batting average a year ago.

Like most inside baseball’s fraternity of free swingers, Cain doesn’t understand why Davis –with all that versatility and juice in his swing – isn’t a bigger celebrity in a sport hungry for stars.

“He definitely deserves more attention than he’s getting,” Cain said. “I hope everything works out for him, but he’s definitely one of the more feared hitters for sure.”

To many of his peers, it is Davis’ ability to drive the ball from foul line to foul line that stands out as much as anything, especially as a right-handed hitter playing half the time in the pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum.

“He has the most power to opposite field in the big leagues,” said Angels catcher and two-time All-Star Jonathan Lucroy, who was teammates with Davis in Oakland last season and in Milwaukee in 2014 and 2015.

“He’s very strong, very flexible. He’s very athletic. Just has a lot of naturally raw power that he’s really put together and, really, has been the most consistent hitter in Major League Baseball, in my opinion.”

Of Davis’ four dozen dingers last season, the one that stands out to Lucroy the most was fittingly a shot the other way. In late July, Davis took Rangers closer Jose Leclerc two decks deep to right field in Arlington, a goahead two-run homer that came with the A’s down to their final strike in the top of the ninth.

“That was probably the most impressive thing I saw, in terms of situation, where he hit it at,” Lucroy said. “That was pretty awesome to see.”

Those who know Davis best are no longer surprised by his power to all parts of the field. Since high school, when as a senior he keyed an Arizona state championship run at Deer Valley High (located across town from the A’s Spring Training facilities in Mesa), he’s been smoking the ball in all directions with ease.

“He showed power pretty much all the time,” said his high school coach, Larry Eubanks, who watched Davis hit a school-record 12 home runs his senior year. “And it was unusual because he wasn’t into the pull stuff. Even in high school, a lot of the balls he hit were to straight away and right-center.”

It was the same story during his three-year collegiate career at Cal State Fullerton, when he hit 16 bombs as a junior before being selected by the Brewers in the seventh round of the 2009 Draft. He continued to rake in the minors too, where he clubbed at least 15 long balls in each of his three full seasons before making his big league debut in 2013.

He’s steadily improved his production over the years, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit at least 10 homers in his rookie season, then increase that total

Khris even be felt as he slides in and out of the box for batting practice. But moments like his walk-off against Cleveland last season illustrate how comfortable he is in the big moment. in each of his next five campaigns, according to STATS. Nelson Cruz is the only other player to have three-straight 40-homer seasons this decade.

“I think he’s getting smarter, the more at-bats he gets,” said Upton. “For me, I think that’s what’s put him over the top, is that he’s starting to put pitchers in positions they don’t want to be in.”

At least one former All-Star pitcher agrees.

“He’s unlike any other hitter I’ve seen before,” said Angels right-hander Trevor Cahill, who gave up a home run to Davis in 2015 before spending last season as his teammate in Oakland.

“The thing with him, he hits good pitches out. He hits good pitcher pitches, which as a pitcher is really deflating because you make a good pitch and then he’s hitting it off the right-field foul pole. That’s just not normal.”

Something else that isn’t normal: the graceful way Davis has handled his success. Even as the home runs have piled up, he’s kept his profile relatively low. He isn’t on Twitter and hasn’t tried turning himself into a marketing mercenary. If he can help it, he’d rather stay in Oakland than hold an auction for his services through free agency.

“He’s found his place in the world in Oakland,” Eubanks said. “Although you hear on the ESPNs and the baseball stuff his name, they all say the same thing. This guy’s just kind of below the radar all the time and just keeps putting up numbers.”

Davis has more than just natural talent to thank for that. Behind the scenes, current and former teammates call him one of the hardest workers they’ve come across. For example, after breaking through with the Brewers six years ago, Davis and his former Milwaukee teammate Scooter Gennett would go to the bullpen several times a week with third base coach Ed Sedar. There, Sedar would re-create a drill Davis did as a kid by throwing tiny beads –maybe an inch or two big in diameter – for them to swing at … with the handle of a broomstick.

“He has the most power to the opposite field in the big leagues,” says Davis’ former teammate Jonathan Lucroy, now catching for the divison-rival Angels.

“I would go flip these little beads at them, and they’d be hitting these things,” Sedar recalled with a laugh. “I’d be going, ‘How in the heck are they even hitting them?’ … I guess it’s paid off with his consistency and what he’s been able to do with his career, with a lot more good things to come I believe.”

The 31-year-old’s development has continued in Oakland, with his spiking home run numbers helping to raise his RBI and OPS totals year-by-year too, even as he’s hit for the exact same .247 batting average in four straight seasons.

“Since he went to Oakland, it really all came together for him,” Lucroy said. “I’m really happy for him. He works hard, great teammate, great friend of mine. I’m really happy he’s so successful.”

From his tireless work ethic to his phlegmatic persona, Davis is a player full of traits that bolster his ability to hit with power, national prominence be damned.

“To hit how many home runs he’s hit, in Oakland, especially as a right-handed hitter,” Lucroy added, “unless your name is Stanton or Judge or Khris Davis, you ain’t going to have that kind of consistency.”

A’S RELIEVER FERNANDO RODNEY HAS BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK AND BACK AGAIN. WE CORNERED THE MAN WHOSE HEART IS SPLIT BETWEEN THE U.S. AND HIS DOMINICAN HOMELAND AND TACKLED MANY TOPICS.