Two weeks ago we learned that Pat Kelly would be moving up to manage the Triple-A Louisville Bats. That left an opening in Double-A Pensacola, where Kelly had managed the previous three seasons. Jody Davis will be taking over the managing duties in Pensacola as the Blue Wahoos manager for 2018, as first reported by Bill Vilona of the Pensacola News Journal.
In 2017 Jody Davis was the hitting coach for the Louisville Bats. In the past, with other organizations, Davis has experience managing in the Minor Leagues. From 2006-2010 he served as a manger in the Chicago Cubs system for four seasons. In 2009 he was the organizations roving catching instructor. Here’s how his teams performed as a manager in that time frame.
| Year | Team | Wins | Losses |
| 2006 | Peoria | 75 | 64 |
| 2007 | Daytona | 57 | 80 |
| 2008 | Daytona | 73 | 59 |
| 2010 | Boise | 34 | 42 |
Jody Davis is a former Major Leaguer. From 1981-1990 he saw action in the bigs with the Cubs and Braves. Almost all of his time came behind the plate with just 51.2 innings played at first base. His remaining 8562.2 innings came as a catcher. He was well regarded for his defense, winning a Gold Glove in 1986. That season he threw out a record 89 base runners, which is still the Major League record. That was the second, and last season in which he was named a National League All-Star.
We don’t yet know who will manage the teams below Double-A. However, that news should be coming out soon enough. The organization may be waiting to finalize the deal with the team in the Appalachian League (Greeneville) before announcing all of the managers. Things still aren’t quite finalized, but it seems the next step was taken on Friday for that. The Greene County Partnership got a new entity known as the Greeneville Reds according to the Greeneville Sun. The hold up seems to be between the Reds and Tusculum College, who need to still reach an agreement for the home stadium to be used by the franchise.