With the number two seed in the National League wrapped up and nothing to play for during the final two games of the season, the Atlanta Braves have called up left-handed pitcher Tucker Davidson to start Saturday’s game at home against the Boston Red Sox.
The Player
Tucker Davidson, LHP
Age: 24
OFR Prospect Rank: 11
2019 Level: AA Mississippi/AAA Gwinnett
The Results (2019)
2.15 ERA / 3.27 FIP
25 G, 25 GS
129.2 IP
3.75 BB/9
9.30 K/9
The History
Davidson, a native of Amarillo, Texas, was selected in the 19th round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Midland College in Texas. He is the fourth player to make his debut out of that draft class, behind Bryse Wilson, Jeremy Walker, and Ian Anderson. Davidson made his pro debut for the GCL Braves shortly thereafter, recording a 1.52 ERA over 29.2 innings. He spent the 2017 season at Rome where he was used in a mix of starting and relief roles, putting up a 2.60 ERA in 103.2 innings of work while striking out nearly a hitter an inning. In 2018, Davidson moved into the starting rotation for the Florida Fire Frogs where he hit the first real speed bump of his pro career with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.504 WHIP over 24 starts in a notorious pitchers’ league while walking 4.4 hitters per nine innings and striking out just 7.5 per nine. He was at risk of getting lost in the shuffle to begin 2019 at Mississippi, joining a starting rotation that had Ian Anderson, Patrick Weigel, Kyle Muller, and Joey Wentz in it.
2019, however, became Tucker Davidson’s breakout season.
Aided by a jump in his velocity that put his fastball in the mid-90s, Davidson led the Southern League with a 2.03 ERA, finished fifth in WHIP, and seventh in strikeouts. He was named along with Anderson as Mississippi Braves Pitchers of the Year by the organization.
He improved in virtually every aspect of his game, including strikeout percentage (up from 19 to 27%), walk percentage (down from 11.3 to 10%), groundball percentage (up from 47 to 50%), and batting average against (down from .267 to .220). His FIP/xFIP were higher than his ERA, but both were still very good at 3.01/3.13. As a result, he was part of a mass promotion to Gwinnett in early August along with Ian Anderson, Cristian Pache, and Drew Waters. He finished the season with four starts at AAA where he had a 2.84 ERA but a significantly higher FIP/xFIP at 4.10/5.82 due to the higher level of competition and adjustment to the AAA/MLB baseball.
The Report
Listed at 6’2″ and 215 pounds, Davidson’s offerings include a fastball that reaches the mid-90s although he hit 100 at Driveline earlier this year, an elite curveball that serves as his out pitch, a solid changeup, and a newly-developed slider that he believes may be better than his change even at this early stage in development. He needs to work on becoming more efficient in his outings as he tends to run up big pitch counts early in games as evidenced by only going more than six innings four times in 25 starts despite throwing more than 90 pitches in a dozen outings.
What’s Next
Davidson has earned this start through hard work over the last few years: success at multiple levels in the organization, in the offseason with Driveline, and during the pandemic shutdown in his hometown of Amarillo.
There were some milestones along the way…
What 100.2 MPH with reflective markers on looks like, from @tucktuck6. Sheesh. Most pro pitchers throw ~95% of their competitive max here.@_rachelbalkovec has done a good job in getting better data by creating a fire-throwing culture in the research lab, which = better data. pic.twitter.com/HYkToOpI5f
— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) January 11, 2020
And maybe a setback or two…
Quarantine throwing is going great 🥴🔥 pic.twitter.com/MyDrpJ6JYf
— Tucker Davidson (@tucktuck6) March 19, 2020
Davidson’s start is an optimal starting point: everything’s clinched, the game means nothing in the standings, and he’ll be facing a mediocre lineup for the Red Sox. This start will serve as a good opportunity for Davidson to get some real-game experience before heading into 2021 spring training with a solid chance to start the season at the back-end of the starting rotation.
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