Brennen Davis was all over Top 100 prospect lists from 2020-22 and played in the 2021 Futures Game. The outfielder, who the Cubs took in the second round in 2018 out of high school in Arizona, seemed like one of those proverbial “can’t-miss” prospects, a guy who was going to make the big leagues at a young age and become a star.
As you know, injuries happened. Davis played in only 124 games total the last two years and batted just .192/.298/.303 with 10 home runs.
Several players passed him by on the Cubs prospect list and at age 24, with no MLB experience, Davis dropped off MLB top prospect lists.
So this spring is among his last chances to show the brass that he’s still MLB-capable.
He sure did that Saturday afternoon against the Giants. Davis singled in two runs and homered, helping lead the Cubs to an 8-4 win over San Francisco.
In the second inning, Matt Mervis singled and Jorge Alfaro was hit by a pitch. A force play by Miles Mastrobuoni put runners on first and third and then Mastrobuoni stole second.
One out later, Davis singled in the first two runs of the game
The Cubs put another run on the board in the third. Mike Tauchman singled and moved to second on an infield out. Patrick Wisdom then doubled in Tauchman
The Cubs extended the lead to 4-0 in the fourth on Davis’ solo homer .
One more Cubs run crossed the plate in the sixth. Mervis led off with a walk and one out later Mastrobuoni singled him to third.
Kevin Alcántara singled in run number five
Pitching-wise, Drew Smyly threw two scoreless innings. He struggled a bit with command, issuing two walks, though I thought he got jobbed by plate umpire Alfonso Marquez on a couple of pretty good looking breaking balls. Ben Brown also threw two innings without allowing a run, issuing one walk. Luke Little, who could be a key part of this year’s bullpen, threw a scoreless fifth, striking out one.
There were a couple of good defensive plays by Cubs in this game that I want to show you. Here’s Mastrobuoni making a fine diving stop to finish the second inning
Brett Bateman, who was the Cubs’ eighth round pick last summer out of the University of Minnesota, made this slick diving catch in the bottom of the fifth
Bateman played a bit at Myrtle Beach in 2023, 29 games in which he batted .298/.431/.327 with 11 stolen bases. He’s probably headed back there this year.
Two more Cubs homered in the late innings. David Bote, who’s got plenty of MLB experience and has a non-zero chance of playing in the big leagues, went deep in the eighth with a man on base, and Chase Strumpf, who was the Cubs’ second-round pick in 2019 out of UCLA but hasn’t had any big-league chances, homered to complete the Cubs scoring in the ninth. Unfortunately, I don’t have any video of these to show you.
That’s about it for meaningful Cubs performances in this game. Cubs pitchers walked six and struck out just four after 13 K’s Friday. A couple of minor leaguers were touched up for three Giants runs in garbage time in the ninth.
Still, overall it was a good day for the boys in blue (and yes, the new uniforms are still awful).
Whether there’s room for Davis on the Cubs’ 26-man roster remains to be seen. However, he looked good in today’s practice game.
Sunday, the Cubs return to Sloan Park to face the Padres. Javier Assad will start for the Cubs and Randy Vasquez gets the call for San Diego. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
