Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 Previews: LHP Austin Davis
Left-handed pitching is hard to find at any level of baseball from little leagues all the way up to professional baseball. To find a good left-hander is even harder, but is one of the keys to a successful pitching staff. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, their current 40-man roster only has two left-handers and only one in the mix for a spot in the Pirates bullpen. That man is Austin Davis, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade last year. Davis struggled in his first four appearances with the Phillies, so he was sent to the Pirates alternate training site at first. Once he was ready he joined the team in September and gave the team a preview of what he can offer.
Davis appeared in just five games for the Pirates at the end of the season and pitched to a 2.45 ERA in 3.2 innings of work. It was a drastic turnaround from his ugly start to the season and, although it was just a short showing, he showed that he is capable of having success at the Big League level. Coming up through the Minor Leagues, Davis had great success out of the bullpen and has posted sub-three ERAs in four consecutive seasons. Now, with a chance to crack his first Opening Day roster, Davis is looking to put it all together and become the dominant lefty he has been training to be since the moment he stepped on a baseball field.
A Season of Changes
Over the first six seasons of his career, Austin Davis hadn't seen much change. He was drafted by the Phillies in 2014 and had risen straight up through the organization. Over the last two years, he had been up and down between triple-a and the Major League club, and this was the case again in 2020. After starting the year at the Phillies alternate training site, he was called up to the Big Leagues a few days after the start of the shortened 60-game season. He made his debut on July 24th and pitched a scoreless outing to get his season started. However, his next three appearances went downhill as he allowed seven earned runs in two innings of work. The Phillies had seen enough and ended up designating Davis for assignment after his August 13th outing.
The Pirates would end up working out a deal with the Phillies for Davis, sending them cash, and for the first time in his career, Davis was with a new organization. He started his season at the Pirates alternate site and caught management's eye with his work ethic. He would join the Pirates on September 11th and made his Pirates debut one day later. It was a scoreless outing against the Kansas City Royals as he struck out one batter in his one inning of work. Davis was one of just two left-handers in the bullpen at the time and he knew he had to be successful if he wanted to stay at the Big League level.
Davis would put up scoreless outings in four of his five appearances with the Pirates, only allowing one earned run on September 21st. His 10.80 final ERA is not indicative of his time with the Pirates, as he lowered that dramatically to 2.45 over his final five appearances. He showed a good strikeout rate, setting down three batters in 3.2 innings while only walking one during that span. It is only a short sample size, and Davis still has a lot to prove, but for the 28-year-old it was the best stretch of baseball he has had in the Major Leagues, and he is hoping to build off of it and become a pivotal part of the Pirates bullpen moving forward.
Lefty Specialist
This off-season, the Pirates ended up designating left-handed pitcher Nik Turley for assignment, leaving Davis as the only lefty reliever on the roster. Because of this, he has a good chance of cracking an Opening Day roster for the first time in his career. However, he will be counted on in big situations to face the other team's best left-handed hitters and get big outs when his team needs them. Because of the three batter role, there are no more lefty specialists, but Davis will be the guy Derek Shelton turns to when he needs a big out against a left-hander. He has shown an ability to get both types of hitters out throughout his career and that will be key to his success during the 2021 season.
Last season, he had much more appearances against right-handers than he did left-handers and he had success holding the righties to a .211 average against. Over the course of his career, he has always done slightly better against lefties but still attacks right-handers. In 2019, lefties hit .269 against him compared to a .273 average against for righties. He will most likely be used in a middle relief role and the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings have been the best throughout his career. In 2019, opponents did not get a hit off Davis in the fifth, hit .200 in the sixth, and hit .227 in the seventh. With the Pirates needing pitchers to bridge the gap between starters and the back-end of the bullpen, Davis could be the guy to do that for the Pirates.
At the start of the 2021 season, Davis will be 28-years-old and entering his fourth season of Major League Baseball. Being that he is the only left-handed reliever as of now, I think he is a lock to make the bullpen and this is a chance he has to run with. He has struggled in the past, but his 2.45 ERA in five games last season shows some promise. He is not going to overpower you with his 93 miles per hour fastball, but he has enough breaking stuff behind it to build off of. His curveball, change-up, and slider each come in around 80 miles per hour and gives him a chance to change speeds. If he can change speeds effectively and continue to have success against left-handers, he could be a vital part of the Pirate's 2021 bullpen.
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