The Yankees have signed outfielder Brennen Davis to a minor league deal, as reported by Aram Leighton of Simply Baseball. It’s not clear whether or not or not the deal consists of an invitation to large league Spring Coaching.
Davis, 25, has not but made his large league debut however was a consensus top-100 prospect for a few years. A second-round choose by the Cubs in 2018, Davis broke out on the age of 19 in 2019 with a with a .305/.381/.525 slash line in 50 video games on the Single-A degree. Following the cancelled minor league season in 2020, Davis acquired the bump to Excessive-A to start out the 2021 season however lasted simply eight video games on the degree earlier than being promoted to Double-A. After hitting a strong .252/.367/.474 for the Cubs’ Tennessee affiliate in 76 video games, Davis acquired his second promotion of the 12 months with a late-season cup of espresso at Triple-A, the place he impressed with a .268/.397/.536 slash line in 16 video games.
After dominating at each degree of the minors throughout his age-21 season, Davis grew to become a consensus top-20 prospect within the sport and gave the impression to be on the verge of a Wrigley Discipline debut. Sadly, 2022 was not type to the teen as he struggled badly in 22 video games on the Triple-A degree earlier than present process again surgical procedure in Might. He made it again to the membership’s Iowa affiliate in September for the stretch run and managed a .361 on-base share down the stretch however hit simply .188 and struggled to hit for energy. Even after that disastrous 2022 marketing campaign, Davis was nonetheless a consensus top-100 prospect within the sport and appeared poised for a rebound in 2023.
Sadly, that rebound by no means got here. Davis’s 2023 and 2024 seasons have been simply as damage plagued as 2022 as he contended first with core surgical procedure after which a fractured ankle. The outfielder’s brutal 2023 numbers (.187/.296/.279 in 62 video games at Triple-A) had been sufficient to knock him off each top-100 prospect record, however he did handle to put up robust numbers at Triple-A when wholesome this season. In 47 video games at Triple-A this 12 months, Davis slashed .214/.359/.469 with 11 dwelling runs in simply 145 journeys to the plate and a 12.7% stroll price, although his batting common was held down by a paltry .213 BABIP.
After years of damage struggles and given the membership’s extremely crowded outfield combine, the Cubs determined final month that they might now not afford to make use of a 40-man roster spot on Davis and non-tendered him. That led to him hitting minor league free company, and he’s now caught on with the Yankees. For New York, the teen represents a low-risk, high-reward flier who if wholesome may probably contribute to the membership’s large league outfield as quickly as this 12 months. Aaron Decide and Cody Bellinger are presently locked into two of the membership’s three outfield spots, but when Davis can keep wholesome and show his robust energy and self-discipline numbers from 2024 had been a return to kind it’s not laborious to think about him vying for enjoying time alongside fellow children Jasson Dominguez and Everson Pereira, the latter of whom is presently rehabbing from elbow surgical procedure he underwent final summer season.
