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Rookie Davis began his season with the Tampa Yankees in the Florida State League. His year got out to a nice start as he allowed a run over the course of 6.0 innings with five strikeouts in his 2015 debut. That was followed up by starts of 5.0 and 5.2 innings without an earned run allowed and seven strikeouts in each contest. Daytona would touch him up for three runs over 5.0 innings to end the month, but the righty racked up his third straight seven strikeout game. He finished the month with a 1.66 ERA in 21.2 innings with just three walks and 26 strikeouts.
May got out to a rough start as Lakeland scored five earned runs in 4.0 innings on 10 hits and two walks with just one strikeout. Davis rebounded well as he allowed just one run in 5.0 innings the next time out, but it was short lived as the Mets touched him up for five earned (and two more unearned) in just 3.0 innings. He wouldn’t make another start for 11 days, but the time off cured what ailed him. In the final two starts of the month he tossed 10.0 innings with just one run allowed, no walks and 16 strikeouts. The month was inconsistent and produced a 4.91 ERA over 22.0 innings where he allowed 29 hits and six walks, but also struck out 26 batters.
Building on a strong finish to May, the right hander took the mound on June 4th and allowed two runs in 6.0 innings with a walk and six strikeouts. A week later, on the back-end of a double header he ran into some problems, allowing four runs in just 2.2 innings with two walks. He would rebound well though, allowing just one earned run in his next two starts, each lasting 6.0 innings with a combined 15 strikeouts and just one walk. The month would finish up with the longest start to that point in the season as Davis allowed two earned over 7.0 innings with a walk and six strikeouts. In 27.2 innings on the month he would post a 2.93 ERA in 27.2 innings with five walks and 31 strikeouts.
July didn’t get out to a good start for the righty as he allowed three earned (and three more unearned) in 3.2 innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Five days later he would rebound with 7.0 strong innings, allowing just one run with six strikeouts. That was followed up by 8.0 innings of two run baseball with nine strikeouts. He was skipped the next time through the rotation, not pitching for ten days before finishing out the month on the 27th. The time off didn’t help as he allowed seven runs in 2.1 innings with a walk and a strikeout. A strong middle of July had two bookend rough starts that led to a 5.57 ERA in 21.0 innings with three walks and 19 strikeouts.
August got out to a solid start after July ended on such a sour note as Davis gave up two runs in 5.0 innings with a walk and three strikeouts. His next start would come at the Double-A level with Trenton. His debut with the Thunder saw him allow two runs in 5.1 innings with five strikeouts. The next time out didn’t go as well as he allowed five runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. A week later against Bowie he would allow one earned, but three total runs, in 4.1 innings. In his first start at home for Trenton the 22-year-old struggled, allowing six runs in 5.1 innings on 10 hits and three walks. Getting back on the road seemed to work as he recovered by allowing just two runs over 6.0 innings with five strikeouts. The season finished with a strong start against New Hampshire on September 4th with 7.0 innings of one unearned run baseball. The final seven starts of the season were solid, but unspectacular as he allowed a 4.23 ERA in 38.1 innings with nine walks and 27 strikeouts.
The first half of the season was much stronger for Davis than the second half was. He battled some consistency during the season, mixing in a few real clunkers with some very good stretches. Opposing base stealers were quite successful against him, going 22-27 (82%) against him during the season. His splits were relatively strong, not really showing a particular weakness against hitters from either side of the plate.
| Level | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP |
| A+ | 3.70 | 97.1 | 94 | 4 | 18 | 105 | 1.15 |
| AA | 4.25 | 33.1 | 38 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 1.38 |
Scouting Report
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Fastball | The pitch works in the 90-93 MPH range on some nights and touches higher than that. On other nights he works 92-95 MPH. The pitch is a little bit straight, but he locates it quite well.
Curveball | His second best offering and the one he goes to more often, is an average pitch that will flash both slightly below-average at times when it flattens out and flash slightly above-average when he tightens the pitch up, working in the 74-77 MPH range.
Change Up | A pitch that has improved over the last few years, but it’s still a below-average offering.
When Davis is at his best, his fastball and curveball combination can keep hitters off balance and he can use the breaking ball to put hitters away. He struggled to continue missing bats at the Double-A level after striking out hitters at a very high rate in the Florida State League. He’s going to need to throw his curveball and change up more consistently for strikes to have more success missing bats at the higher levels of the minors. Improving his change up will be key for him to be more than a back-end-of-the-rotation starter. Building upon the improvements he showed with it in 2015 will be something to watch for in 2016. With good fastball velocity and control he’s got a relative high floor as a useful reliever, but his upside can be that of a middle-of-the-rotation starter if his curveball finds more consistency and his change up can improve even a little bit over the next few seasons.
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