Next Guys Up: Jonathan Davis

Jonathan Davis is a 28 year old outfielder for the Jays who has spent a majority of his career in the minors. Davis was drafted by the Jays in the 2013 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut in 2018. Despite that, Davis has retained his rookie status after only playing in 57 games, amounting to 0.112 service time. This season he seems to be fighting for the backup outfielder spot with Derek Fisher, Billy McKinny, and his brother in law, Anthony Alford.

The lifelong Jay is most well known as a speedy contact hitter with a ton of speed, and an above average glove. Davis has found solid success in the minors, but has struggled to translate his game to the big league level, only hitting for a poor .185 average over 108 at bats in his career. In AAA Buffalo, his numbers looked much better with an average at .262 in 2019. Although these aren’t star type numbers, they are solid for a potential bench player for the Jays.

Davis has become somewhat well known in Toronto after a couple of great grabs on defense. Although his defense isn’t generally anything above average (0 defensive runs saved in 2019), a couple highlight reel plays can be found with him, even convincing many that he was a lesser Kevin Pillar. All around, Davis does emulate a similar play style to Pillar offensively, and defensively, but it looks unlikely he will reach the same level as the former beloved Jay.

Although Davis looks like a solid player who the Jays could use for a few years, it doesn’t look likely that he makes the team out of spring, and he might not be on the roster for much longer. With Alford and Fisher out of minor league options, Davis could have a difficult time forcing his way on the team. Being one of the older outfielders in the organization, his time with the franchise as a whole might be winding down as well. In the meantime, he will likely start the 2020 season in AAA Buffalo as a depth option incase of injury. However, if the proposed 30 man roster for 2020 passes, a strong spring training could give him a chance to make the team in a fifth outfielder role.