NEWSLETTER
Here we go! Chicago Cubs outfield prospect Brennen Davis is on his way back to game action!
Tommy Birch delivers the happy news:
The Arizona Complex League (rookie ball) is where all minor leaguers who are on long rehab processes like this start their game action. It’s obviously not the same as playing at Triple-A, but for a guy barely two months removed from back surgery, it’s a huge step for Davis.
I am so excited to see Davis, 22, get back into game action. His procedure was said to have gone as well as anyone could have realistically hoped, and then you in turn hope that his early-season struggles (.195/.286/.299/58 wRC+ in 22 games) were at least partly related to that issue. If so, you could see him, once his timing and mechanics are back, re-establish himself as the top 30 prospect he’d become heading into 2022.
I am trying not to let my personal excitement about Brennen Davis’s impending return dictate my – or your – level of expectation for his performance. Like, I can be very, very excited that Davis is returning so soon after back surgery, and not necessarily be disappointed if it’s like he needs a whole other Spring Training’s worth of struggles to ramp back up. Just get those reps, and set things up for a normal offseason and Spring Training.
Before this back issue, Davis had always hit very well. He’d adjusted so rapidly to swing changes and/or new levels, and he’d crushed the ball at an age young for his level. So this was really the first hiccup.
That said, Davis has played so little overall in his pro career thanks to injuries and the pandemic, there is yet another reason to be patient with his re-adjustment to playing this year. Excitement: high. Expectations: chill.
We’ll see exactly when Davis gets into a game this week, and then how long he plays in the ACL before heading back to Triple-A. Miguel Amaya played in the ACL for a little over two weeks in his pre-return to Double-A, though he’d been out a full calendar year.
