The Padres are re-signing lefty Austin Davis on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The KHG Sports client was designated for assignment after the trade deadline and elected free agency over the weekend. He’ll presumably head back to Triple-A El Paso on this new deal and continue to serve as depth for the Friars.
Davis, 31, appeared in seven games with the Padres after having his contract selected to the big league roster in late June. He yielded seven runs in seven innings, though four of those runs came home in one regrettable outing against the D-backs on July 7. Davis has spent the bulk of the season in El Paso, where he’s been sharp: 29 innings, 3.10 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate, 12.9% walk rate, 47.7% ground-ball rate, no home runs allowed. Certainly, the Padres and Davis would prefer a lower walk rate, and it’s not realistic to expect any pitcher to keep up such a lengthy stretch avoiding home runs. That said, Davis’ blend of strikeouts and grounders has been quite strong in Triple-A this year.
This brief run with the Padres was Davis’ first big league action since 2022. He’s now pitched in parts off six big league seasons. A 5.77 ERA over the life of 151 1/3 innings isn’t going to stand out (at least not for the right reasons), but Davis has continually shown an ability to miss bats, keep the ball in the yard at a respectable clip, and avoid hard contact. He’s fanned 23.7% of his career opponents, held batters to 1.18 HR/9 and yielded an average 87 mph exit velocity with just a 33.5% hard-hit rate in his MLB career.
San Diego’s aggressive deadline added Tanner Scott, Jason Adam and Bryan Hoeing to what was already a deep and talented big league bullpen. Scott joins Adrian Morejon and Yuki Matsui as lefties in Mike Shildt’s bullpen, giving the Friars’ skipper a trio of southpaw options in the majors (to say nothing of the currently injured Wandy Peralta). Davis will add an experienced lefty to the El Paso roster, one who could be among the first in line for a call should the Padres need another lefty or simply a fresh arm at some point.
This guy has never once been good, how does he keep getting chances? At some point, when do the years of bad results prove that his “advanced stats” are useless?
When his left arm falls off…
This guy has been really good in AAA with an ERA a full point lower than league average and with over 3 years of MLB service time he is making a minimum of $108k to do what he loves, play baseball, even if he is in the minors. He is a huge success in life. How is your Taco Bell job treating you?
“Taco Bell job”…And I guess your “job” is defending celebrity athletes while being a condescending, elitist jerk who looks down on others in a lower social class, aka working at Taco Bell.
My job is making your life a living hell with AI everywhere you look online. Being a condescending, elitist jerk is just a hobby.
I only look down on you because its Taco Bell. If it was Rubio’s I would think it was great, because the food is great.
I may not always get where you’re coming from, PFer, but here’s a thumbs up for the very mention of Rubios. Best fish tacos around… and get Diablo sauce ftw. Cheers fellas
Absolutely Diablo sauce.
Apparently teams are interested in Rich Hill so……
Nice. Davis has an ERA in AAA 2.7 runs lower than the 5.84 ERA league average. He has been solid for the Chihuahuas
I thought this guy was Austin Adams and he is basically left handed Austin Adams
I don’t think Davis has hit nearly as many batters as Adams (no one else has either). Seriously, Adams set the HBP record for a season AS A RELIEVER with maybe 50 innings! None of those back in the day 300 -400 ip guys can touch him!
The Padres missed their chance of upsetting the Dodgers by not reaching out to Trevor Bauer. He single-handedly would have put them on top of the West.
“reaching out to Trevor Bauer”..Of all the little old ladies, children living in poverty and disabled military veterans in the world, you choose to champion a multi millionaire, celebrity athlete whose idea of a good time is punching women until they’re unconscious before having sex with them, consensual or not.
Wow! I heard Bauer pulled the wings off butterflies, and even tore up some little kid’s teddy bear, JUST for fun!! Plus, he wouldn’t even sign autographs, past the 101st fan. There’s just no place in professional baseball, or even life, for a guy like that.
I know it’s true, because I heard it on the inter-webs, and all the cool people even told me so. And, man-oh-man, how I want to say and act like those cool ones, too, so I say exactly what they say, except I embellish it even more so that I can be even cooler, and then try to get anyone to disagrees SHUT DOWN from social media for life. I know it’s true, because the guy down the street who sells teddy bears for kids, swore it’s true. Honest, he had no financial interest in the kid needing a new teddy bear at all.
Oh .. um, yeah, I almost forgot to add ….
/end sarc
Didn’t happen