Jaylin Davis, OF
DOB: July 1, 1994
BATS: R / THROWS: R
ACQUIRED: Trade with Minnesota (Sam Dyson for Davis, Kai-Wei Teng, and Prelander Berroa)
ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: 24th Round (#710), 2015
LAST LEVEL: MLB
VOLATILITY: Medium
GiantFutures Ranks: #5 Corner Outfield
Performance: Davis came into 2020 with a lot of chatter around him and more than a fair share of excitement. Davis was a bit of a late bloomer, but his 10 home runs in 27 games at Sacramento in 2019 got a lot of excitement, even if he didn’t follow through in his Major League debut that season. However, in 2020, Davis didn’t get much time, only getting into four games, going 2-for-12 with a home run, but ending up with the same batting average in the bigs (.167) as he had in 2019. Davis went back to the Alternate Training Site, and did not return, surprising more than a few fans.
Davis has a career batting slash in the minors of .274/.349/.481 over four minor league seasons, truly breaking out in 2019 with a .306/.397/.590 line and 35 total home runs, after topping out with a previous season high of 16 games in his first pro (half) season.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Davis’ power is his calling card, as he has excellent exit velocites, and his plus raw power has the potential to hit a lot of home runs. The key for him is to make solid contact, which has been a problem for him. In 2019, he had a groundball rate of 51%, even though he hit 35 home runs while putting that many balls on the ground.
Davis, as most sluggers do, has struggles with strikeouts, but has steadily improved his walk rate to help his performance, going from an 8.9% walk rate in 2018 to 12% in 2019 in the minors. He hasn’t been able to put that into practice in the Majors yet, but he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to do so.
In the field, Davis is an average outfielder, with good sprint speed but only average speed out of that sprint. He does have a strong arm, giving him a home at either corner.
2021 Outlook: Truthfully, Davis should be getting more chances in the big leagues, and should compete for that spot in Spring Training. But it’s looking likely he’ll need to prove he’s improve that launch angle consistently in Triple-A Sacramento again. He’ll do best to prove his position in the Majors quickly, before the Giants younger outfielders on the prospect list make their way all the way up the ladder.
Future Profile: Davis has the raw power to a slugging, middle-of-the-order hitter in most lineups, but he needs to continue building on the changes to his mechanics that he did for the 2019 season. If he does, he can be a presence in the Majors for a while to come. But if not, he’ll struggle to find a place without supporting tools.
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