Jonah Davis

JONAH DAVIS, CENTER FIELDER
Born: July 2, 1997
Height: 5′ 10″
Weight: 181
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Drafted: 15th Round, 444th Overall, 2018
How Acquired: Draft
College: University of California
Agent: N/A

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

Davis switched from center field to left field during his junior year, and the Pirates announced him as a left fielder.  They nevertheless played him in center exclusively during his debut season.  He has a small frame, but gets a lot of power production.  In 2018, he hit for a .321/.446/.606 line in 193 at-bats, with 14 homers and a .285 ISO.  He also hit nine homers in the Northwoods League in 2016, which is a wood bat league.  He struggled in the Cape Cod League, another wood bat league, in 2017.  Baseball America ranked him 200th overall in the draft class, giving him a plus raw power grade.  Davis does have significant strikeout issues, with a 30.99% strikeout rate in 2018.  Some of that results from a dead pull approach.  His value is fueled by the bat, but he has enough raw power to be able to provide value in a corner outfield spot.  He signed quickly after the draft.

2018
R+:  306/398/612, 206 AB, 15 2B, 6 3B, 12 HR, 27 BB, 59 K, 6-11 SB

Davis was the regular center fielder for Bristol and had a huge debut season, hitting for serious power.  He had a quarter of all of Bristol’s home runs.  One warning sign, though, was the high strikeout rate.  Davis didn’t hit LHPs nearly as well as RHPs, although he didn’t do badly against them (his OPS was .800) and the sample size was very small, just 40 plate appearances.

2019
A-:  000/278/000, 13 AB, 5 BB, 7 K
A:  249/327/489, 317 AB, 15 2B, 2 3B, 19 HR, 33 BB, 130 K, 5-14 SB

Davis missed the beginning of the season with a minor ankle injury.  Once he got to Greensboro, he struggled severely.  Through mid-May, he struck out in 43% of his plate appearances and batted .131.  The Pirates sent him back to extended spring training, then to West Virginia when the short season leagues began play.  After a brief time there, he moved back up to Greensboro, more because playing time was needed for other players at West Virginia than anything else.  Once Davis got back to Greensboro, he suddenly started hitting, with a 286/358/533 line in July and 318/383/654 in August.  The swing-and-miss problems, though, didn’t go away.  In August, for instance, Davis struck out 44 times and walked only nine in 121 plate appearances, which meant that he made outs on only 30 balls in play.  For the season, Davis had only a small platoon split.  He started off playing center regularly, despite the presence of Lolo Sanchez, but later in the season he played often in right.  He seems to have lost speed and it’s questionable whether he should be in center going forward.

Like any power hitter in a power-starved organization like the Pirates’, Davis is intriguing, but there are real questions whether his approach will work as he moves up.  He’ll get a good test in the Florida State League.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
2020: Minor league contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: $125,000
MiLB Debut: 2018
MLB Debut:
MiLB FA Eligible: 2024
MLB FA Eligible:
Rule 5 Eligible: 2021
Added to 40-Man:
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
June 6, 2018: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 15th round, 444th overall pick; signed on June 13.