The commercial fisherman specializes in shrimp, but he didn’t raise one. Rookie Davis is 6-foot-5, 255 pounds and could be mistaken for a Bengals linebacker.
Acquired from the Yankees in the Aroldis Chapman trade in December 2015, Davis will be competing with Amir Garrett, Cody Reed, Tim Adleman, Robert Stephenson and the anti-rookie, Bronson Arroyo, for the two open spots in the Reds' rotation.
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Davis plans to compete by keeping things simple.
“I want to go right at guys and do my job,” said Davis, a 14th-round draft choice of the Yankees out of high school in 2011.
Davis was 10-3 with a 2.94 ERA at Double-A Pensacola last year in the Reds system but didn’t feel right most of the season.
“I had a strained groin that happened in spring,” Davis said. “I came back a little too fast and it never really healed. I was never 100 percent.”
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Davis was still effective for Pensacola, which made the playoffs, but his strikeout numbers and velocity declined. In the Yankees system he had struck out 106 in 126 innings at Charleston in 2014 and 129 in 130 2/3 innings for Tampa and Double-A Trenton in 2015.
Davis felt like he couldn’t push off the mound with his lower body but his arm felt fine, so he pitched. Then, in Chattanooga one night in May, he had to stop.
“I felt a pop,” he said. “It kind of felt like Velcro tearing apart. I went on the DL. It took until the last quarter of the season before I felt better and my velocity went up and my strikeouts went up.”
Davis was torn between telling the team he was hurt and pitching with the strain and pain in his groin. His lack of velocity raised questions.
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“I couldn’t disclose what was going on because, one, I wanted to go out every five days,” said Davis. “I struggled with keeping it to myself and telling them. I finally got to the point that I had to tell them. We evaluated my arm. It felt strong and everything was good. It didn’t matter how hard I pushed. I knew what was wrong. I didn’t know the severity of it but it took that game in Chattanooga to scare me.”
A month of rehab got Davis where he wanted to be. He made five appearances for Louisville in August, including four starts, and went 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA. He returned to Pensacola in time for the playoffs after Louisville’s season ended.
The struggle Davis endured had a positive effect, adding an edge that could suit him well in the big leagues. It is a lesson most pitchers have to learn at the big-league level.
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“Having him struggle wasn’t the worst thing in the world,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “It’s the game’s way of telling you where you need to improve. It will be nice to see him back with his typical fastball but it taught him how to manage the strike zone with his other pitches.”
Price hinted earlier in the week that Davis would make the first start of spring, but he held off to see how he recovered from live batting practice Monday.
As soon as Davis was told, he called Billy in Holly Ridge. Billy is flying out Thursday.
“He wouldn’t miss this one,” Davis said. “He’s the reason I’m here.”
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