A's skipper: 'Ridiculous' that Khris Davis isn't in MVP conversation

Khris Davis continued his season-long dominance of the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, hitting his ninth homer of the year against them in a 6-0 Oakland Athletics victory. In the process, Davis tied J.D. Martinez for the major-league lead with 38 long balls.

The latest big performance elicited MVP chants from the home crowd at Oakland Coliseum, which - despite Davis rarely receiving much national attention - didn't surprise A's manager Bob Melvin one bit.

"Why wouldn't you (chant 'MVP' for Davis)?" Melvin said after Tuesday's game, according to Ben Ross of NBC Sports Bay Area. "I've been hearing some talk on some of these national broadcasts about MVP, and his name is not even brought up. I mean, how can you not? It's ridiculous that he's not part of that conversation."

Davis has certainly mashed all year, and not just against the Rangers.

Along with his 38 taters, the 30-year-old slugger owns a .914 OPS (150 OPS+), sits four RBIs behind Martinez for the highest total in baseball, and has driven in more runs (38) and hit more home runs (17) than anyone else in the second half.

"He's a joke," A's teammate Brett Anderson said of the right-handed swinging Davis. "He hits balls that left-handed pull hitters don't hit to right field. The ball comes off his bat different than pretty much everybody I've ever seen. He should definitely be in the (MVP) equation."