masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles will have Chris Davis back in the lineup today for the first time since April 25. He’s been activated off the disabled list and he’s batting third this afternoon against Houston.

Does manager Buck Showalter expect Davis’ timing to be off a bit at the plate at the start?

“No. I’m not expecting that,” Showalter said today. “I wouldn’t activate him if… like yesterday I was talking to (Bowie manager) Gary Kendall. I said, ‘Gary, field might be wet, but if he can’t play…The Orioles will have Chris Davis back in the lineup today for the first time since April 25. He’s been activated off the disabled list and he’s batting third this afternoon against Houston.

Does manager Buck Showalter expect Davis’ timing to be off a bit at the plate at the start?

“No. I’m not expecting that,” Showalter said today. “I wouldn’t activate him if… like yesterday I was talking to (Bowie manager) Gary Kendall. I said, ‘Gary, field might be wet, but if he can’t play nine innings on a damp field at first base then we’re not going to activate him.’

“It’s not like Chris has been out for two months. It’s actually been less than two weeks hitting. That’s a convenient excuse that I know Chris won’t use. If anything, he was a little fast last night, he and Crow (Terry Crowley) both said. Best thing that happened, he said, was seeing a left-hander, which made him stop and let the ball travel a little, which was his best at-bat.”

Earlier this morning in the O’s clubhouse, before it became official that Davis was coming off the disabled list, he said he felt he was ready to return today.

“Yeah. I felt good getting out of bed this morning, which was obviously a good sign. Haven’t done much yet but I feel good, feel normal,” Davis said.

“I just kind of told (Showalter last night) how I felt and how the game (at Bowie) went. My adrenaline was going pretty good last night. Little overanxious my first few at-bats, but I felt good. Biggest thing was seeing how I felt after swinging and sitting in between innings and not being able to stretch or get hot before I went up to the plate. I felt good, felt normal and I was open with him about it last night.”

Davis went 1-for-4 for Double-A Bowie in a rehab game Saturday night. He said he felt good after that game and said again today he is not feeling any pain with his strained oblique.

“No, I don’t. I don’t have any pain or discomfort,” he said. “I don’t have any stiffness, which I was kind of wondering whether if I was going to be tight or stiff or anything like that.”

Davis admits it’s been easier to be out while watching the Orioles winning and he returns to a first-place team today.

“Absolutely and it’s been a little bit easier, too, being around the guys,” he said. “I didn’t want to go to Sarasota, wanted to stay with the guys. They’ve done well.

“Steve Pearce is no stranger to success. He’s been big for us the last couple of years and he’s done a great job. But I’m tired of seeing him hit home runs, so…” Davis joked.