Zach Davies Major League Debut
Zach Davies made his major league debut on Wednesday night, earning rave reviews from many baseball critics despite giving up four runs in only 4 1/3 innings of work. Davies mixed his changeup well with his fastball, but the baby-faced call up had trouble with his control as he walked three and threw 80 pitches.
Davies was acquired in the Gerardo Parra trade from the Baltimore Orioles and was not expected to work his way into being a September call up at first. After a brief stint in AA, he was quickly moved AAA and shined with a sub-3.00 ERA. When the Brewers began auditioning pictures for next season, Davies was high on that list. The Orioles selected Davies in the 26th round of the 2011 draft, so suffice it to say that nothing much was ever expected from the 6’0”, 155 pound 22 year old. Physically, he looks like he would fit in better walking the halls of Riverside High School than walking in the Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse, unless batboys are allowed in the clubhouse.
Davies handled his major league debut well, and hopes to be more aggressive next time.
Elsewhere on the diamond, Jonathan Lucroy has started finding his hitting stroke, though it may be a bit later than everyone was hoping for. Hitting safely in the past ten games, Lucroy has upped his average to a respectable .260, though it is still far below his career average of .282. With his average dropping to .235 at one point during the season, it’s nice to see Lucroy regain the offensive game that made him one of the best catchers in the league for the past few seasons. If the Brewers hope to fare any better next season they will need Lucroy to return to his previous form, but preferably for the entire season, not just at the end when the games don’t matter anymore.
Davies will be fighting for a spot in the rotation next year as the Brewers expect to lose at least one starting pitcher. Whether the Brewers choose to continue the youth trend that they have been trotting out to the mound or not, is not yet determined. Davies would fill out a rotation nicely with Wily Peralta and Jimmy Nelson, though Mike Fiers, the man who threw a no-hitter last week, would have been nice to keep around as well.
No matter how well the young pitching corps develops next season though, much of the same is expected for this Brewers squad. The hitters aren’t getting any younger and with no real prospects expected to blossom any time soon, it may be a while before reinforcements come along
