Braves prospects: It’s time to view Tucker Davidson as elite
By Clint Manry
Giving him some hard-earned loved
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Depending on your view of Davidson, him being ranked No. 4 — immediately behind righty Ian Anderson — in our most-recent Braves’ prospect rankings may raise some understandable questions. As I mentioned in last weekend’s podcast, actual performance weighed heavily on our list.
Although, it would be inaccurate to define Davidson’s high ranking as purely performance-based. The kid made some incredible improvements to both his fastball velocity AND pitch-mix this past season, two incredibly important characteristics that are vital to the success of a rising starting pitcher.
And not only that, Davidson appears to have an extraordinary amount of work ethic, suggesting that more positive strides are just beyond the horizon; look no further than his Twitter account (@tucktuck6), as his page has increasingly morphed into a library of training videos and benchmark velocity achievements.
Consider a couple of the more viral ones (I’ve titled them myself to differentiate each one):
It’s quite obvious Davidson isn’t satisfied with simply reaching Triple-A Gwinnett or having a great 2019 season, nor does it seem like he’s looking at 2020 as just another year; and because of that, I think our rankings rightfully showed some love.
(NOTE: that’s NOT meant to imply that other Braves’ prospects AREN’T working hard as well.)
2020 outlook
Much like his fellow high-ranking colleagues, Davidson still isn’t quite a finished product, and his 19 frames at the Triple-A level provide no realistic indication that he should be. He will almost certainly begin the coming season in Gwinnett, as will Ian Anderson and most likely Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson.
Granted, that doesn’t mean an MLB debut isn’t in the cards for Davidson, as we all know poor performance and an unfortunate streak of injuries in the Braves’ rotation (or bullpen) could just as easily shake things up (we don’t want that, though!).
However, all things remaining orderly, it’s quite reasonable to predict at least three-quarters of Davidson’s season involving him in the Stripers’ rotation.
But what’s exciting is back in late-November the Braves made several adds to its 40-man in order to protect several Rule 5 eligible prospects:
- Tucker Davidson, LHP
- William Contreras, C
- Philip Pfeifer, LHP
- Jasseel De La Cruz, RHP
- Cristian Pache, CF
Davidson’s inclusion among the group above doesn’t necessarily offer much significance (other than that the Braves’ are obviously high on him, which… duh), but it does theoretically mean that he could just as easily be called up to the major league team as someone as hyped as Pache (logistics-wise, of course); something that certainly wouldn’t have been the case without such a strong 2019 season by Davidson.
I’ve never been much of a fan of the sometimes frequent jerking back-and-forth the Braves were once known to do with its prospect or quad-A pitchers, but if Davidson’s performance permits and there’s a need, a September cup of joe in the Braves’ bullpen is a very practical way for both parties to greatly benefit. He certainly has experience with that flavor of pitching.
Of course, that’s entirely dependent on exactly how the Braves view Davidson long term…
One could also declare Davidson as a prime trade chip, especially one who’s able to leave emotion out of their prospect assessments (admittedly, sometimes that’s not me).
If you can overlook how exciting it would be for Davidson to one day pitch in the Braves’ rotation, including him in a blockbuster trade could perhaps pay even more dividends.
Though, some of us have been known from time-to-time as prospect hoarders, and a proposal such as that is out of the question. For me, if it’s the right deal… then it’s certainly an option.
Regardless, Davidson’s huge 2019 season coupled with his apparent gains this offseason, point to a yet another young player that has deservedly enhanced his prospect stock within the Braves’ system.
Next. 2 free agent targets for 2021. dark
The only question now is exactly how far can this new-and-improved version of Davidson climb this coming season? It won’t be long and we’ll absolutely find out.