Nope, didn't see this one coming:
Orioles 1B Chris Davis suspended 25 games without pay after testing positive for an Amphetamine. The suspension includes #postseason games.
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2014
I hope you'll pardon me for skipping past the moralizing pretty quickly. I'm glad amphetamines are against the rules, because I hear amphetamines are bad news. I'm not going to hold this against Chris Davis, and do wish him well upon his return. Judge not, lest ye and all that.
Rather, I'd like to just focus on what this means for the front-running Baltimore Orioles.
Obviously, Davis's suspension doesn't affect the Orioles' place in the standings one iota, since they've got a 10-game lead and effectively clinched first place some days ago. They've got 17 regular-season games left, so they've potentially lost Davis for eight important games: three to five Division Series games, and four or five League Championship Series games (and possibly Game 1 of the Serious, although that's highly unlikely for many reasons).
It's a blow, to be sure. Somebody else will have to play first base in those eight important games, assuming the O's play eight important games. On the other hand, Davis has been Baltimore's seventh- or eighth-best hitter this season.
Lately, utilityman Steve Pearce has been playing first base, with the just-acquired Alejando De Aza taking over in left field and Chris Davis playing third base. Essentially, the Orioles will be replacing, for maybe eight games, a decent-hitting, poor-fielding third baseman (Davis) with a lousy-hitting, better-fielding third baseman (Jimmy Paredes and/or Ryan Flaherty).
This is not the end of the world. The Orioles have lost some of their punch against right-handed pitching. Davis probably would have popped a home run or two in those eight games, and one of them might have been big. But if Buck Showalter had to lose somebody for a stretch, this could have been a lot worse.
