It wasn’t that long ago when Chicago Cubs’ 2018 second-round pick Brennen Davis was on the national radar as a top-20 prospect.
The 6’3″ lanky-framed outfielder has also been ranked in the top 3 of Chicago Cub prospects over the last few years.
Unfortunately, one injury after another has pushed the Brennen Davis train from the tracks.
The list included an HBP-induced broken finger, a pair of concussions, hamstring issues, and a severe back condition that wasn’t a severe back condition after all.
In a 2022 interview with Marque Sports, Davis describes the unexpected road to feeling better.
He endured multiple MRIs and eventually had surgery for what the doctors thought was a herniated disc. Only, there was no herniation and no spinal issue.
“They found a cluster of blood vessels [during surgery],” Davis said. “It’s kind of weird. It was a strange one. It’s called a vascular malformity. It’s just a genetic thing that popped up.”
Fast forward to Spring Training 2024 and Davis looked every bit the part of a guy feeling good and ready to make his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs.
As (bad) luck would have it, he took a ball in the face—concussion #2—and once again, the big-show express experienced a delay pulling into Wrigley Field station.
Duel-Sport Brennen Davis Chooses Baseball. Is That Decision About to Pay Off?
Brennen Davis is a baller. A duel-sport athlete from Chandler, Arizona, Davis was part of a state championship high school basketball team as a junior at Basha HS.
Brennen’s immediate bloodline includes his mother Jakki, an accomplished long jumper at Washington and a former NBA star in Reggie Theus.
He chose to focus solely on baseball as a senior, and after a bumpy ride, appears on the cusp of the big show.
Davis has been punishing the ball at Triple-A Iowa putting up filthy numbers. How about 8 HR/21 RBI in only 63 at-bats with 15 walks and 20 runs scored?
And a .270 batting average with a healthy 1.109 OPS on top of that.
The momentum is building, and I’m not sure he can be contained much longer.
When It’s Simply Your Time
Sometimes a need expedites the journey to big league baseball, and other times a guy is pounding on the wall with monster numbers.
In Brennen Davis’ current situation, it’s a lot of both.
The Chicago Cubs need offense. After jettisoning Pete Crow-Armstrong back to Triple-A Iowa, the outfield ranks are thin.
To further escalate anxiety levels, Ian Happ—owed $61 million over the next 3 years—can’t seem to fix his rudder.
Through 186 plate appearances, Happ has 2 home runs and 14 runs driven in. His SLUG is in danger of falling in the 2s (.302) and he’s toiling 31 points behind his career OPS+ average (111).
While playing 37 games in left field, Happ is posting a -1 DRS figure.
You see where this is leading.
Time for a change?
The 24-year-old slugger is a looming talent about to put both feet in the door. Good luck keeping him out.
Oh, guess who topped Baseball America’s latest ‘Hottest 20 MLB Prospects’ list?
Brennen Davis’ time is now. Call him up Chicago.
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