NEWSLETTER
The big league Cubs did some plopping last night, which, as I said, would be more galling if the games were more critical at this moment. Nevertheless, it’s still not FUN to watch the Cubs blow a 7-0 lead (and get blown out thereafter), and you might like to wake up to something much nicer.
You know, like Brennen Davis hitting his third homer in as many games at Triple-A Iowa:
For the third time in as many games, Brennen Davis goes deep for the @IowaCubs. pic.twitter.com/abqTkXPfFq
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 17, 2021
That power just looks so easy for him. It’s a unique finish on the swing, but he gets such tremendous leverage. And he’s only 21!
Davis, an obvious top 20 prospect in baseball, also singled in the game, and is hitting a LEAGUE-LEADING .462/.500/1.154 (324 wRC+) at Triple-A. So what if it’s only 14 plate appearances? Minor league vet Max Moroff had a slightly higher wRC+ in a small sample before his season ended in June. But he’s out for the year, so I’m not counting him for these purposes. Davis has the best (active) line at Triple-A!
Even if Davis finishes out the season on an absolute tear, I don’t think he’ll realistically be on the radar for the Opening Day big league roster given the limited overall experience. You can’t rule it out completely – every year he seems to make incredible strides in the offseason – but I think it’s more likely he remains at Triple-A until there’s an organic opening at the big league level sometime mid-year in 2022 (assuming he seems ready at that point).
That said, I wouldn’t hate if there were some additional struggles for him at Iowa before the season is up (or early next year). Sure, some guys are just too good to ever meaningfully struggle in the minors, and Davis might be one of those guys. But the struggle is so good for development, and if you can go through some of it – and the adjustment process – in the upper minors rather than in the big leagues, all the better to start that process. Because you will DEFINITELY have some additional adjusting to do in the big leagues anyway, so it’s nice if there aren’t quite as many hurdles in that process because you chipped away at certain things at Triple-A.
But whatever. If he just keeps raking the rest of the year at Triple-A, it’s not like I’m going to complain! He’s really quite good!
