Yankees sign former top outfield prospect to MiLB free agent deal
12/24/2024 01:53 PM
The New York Yankees signed former top Chicago Cubs prospect Brennen Davis according to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball Media. Last season he played 47 games in Triple-A with the Iowa Cubs as he hit 11 home runs with a 116 wRC+ and .359 OBP, displaying elite-level power while struggling to consistently make contact, as injuries and inconsistency have limited his ability to live up to the gaudy expectations placed on him as a prospect. He was a top-100 prospect entering the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons, and he’ll hope to get things back on track in New York.
An uber-talented outfielder with tons of power and bat speed, he profiles as the kind of hitter who the Yankees love to target on MiLB flier contracts.
Brennen Davis Signs With Yankees, Hopes To Get Career Back On Track
The Cubs once held extremely high hopes for Brennan Davis, as did the rest of the prospect world when he climbed from High-A to Triple-A in 2021 and posted a 150 wRC+ with the Iowa Cubs. Injuries robbed the former second-round pick of the ability to remain on the field and make consistent progressions, as he played just 53 and 71 games in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Last year Davis played just 55 games, as injuries left their mark on what looked like a return to prominence.
Davis posted a 140 wRC+ with 10 home runs in his first 36 games in Iowa, getting called up from High-A after an encouraging start to his season, but he’d be placed on the IL and miss over two months of MiLB play. In his return from the IL, Brennan Davis posted a 44 wRC+ and slugged just .275, but the overall numbers were still encouraging as we finally saw a glimpse of his enormous upside again.
Few hitters do as much damage as Brennan Davis, who can crush the baseball at a high rate while also making excellent swing decisions, making him a dangerous matchup for any pitcher.
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Making contact consistently is important, and if Brennen Davis wants to be a big leaguer, he’ll need to significantly reduce his swing-and-miss rates without seriously damaging his power numbers. His excellent patience at the plate with aggressive in-zone swings indicates that Davis has good pitch recognition skills, and perhaps the Yankees can help re-work parts of his swing to avoid whiffing a ton.
The Yankees have an extremely talented player on their hands, but one who is in desperate need of refinement in the batter’s box, but a change of scenery could help. Keeping Brennen Davis healthy will also be important considering that injuries have played a large role in his inability to perform consistently at the MiLB level, as he looked sharp in Iowa prior to the back fracture that sidelined him mid-season.
He’s currently recovering from an ankle fracture, and Davis hopes that his age-25 season is the one where he breaks through and cracks the Yankees’ roster.
