One year ago, Brennen Davis was the prized prospect of the Cubs farm system. He entered the season as the number 16 overall prospect according to Baseball America. This season’s new rankings see him at the number 84 spot. A well-rested and healthy Davis will be out looking for revenge as soon as the 2023 campaign opens up.
After spending most of the 2021 season in Double-A, Davis received a promotion to Iowa in September of that year. The outfielder was expected to be contributing to the major league roster by the end of the 2022 season following his 2021 breakout. That didn’t happen though. Davis started the season with the Iowa Cubs as expected. He then went into a funk batting .195 and striking out 31 times in the team’s first 22 games. Something was wrong but nobody knew how bad it exactly was.
Davis had been playing through pain since Spring Training. He underwent surgery on June 2 to correct the back issue that had landed him on the injured list and what was the cause of his early season slump. The 22-year-old then began working to get back on the field after it was discovered his back was structurally sound. Davis began the path back to Iowa in the middle of August and eventually was reinstated with the team on August 30.
In the meantime, Pete Crow-Armstrong passed Davis up on the Cubs prospect list. Davis played out the rest of the season and was sent to the Arizona Fall League hoping to make up some of the time that was lost That also didn’t go to plan. He experienced a stress reaction in his back and ended up being shutdown for the season. That leads us back to the rankings that were released this past week.
Brennen dropped drastically in the Top-100. This was undoubtedly due to the missed season and worries about ongoing back issues. The Cubs prospect has had three months now to rest up and heal up any lingering issues with his back. Davis is going to hit the ground running looking to make up for lost time. Don’t misunderstand me, he will begin the season back in Iowa. He will, however, start the season off much better than a year ago. His ETA only have been delayed a year, will be finally promoted to Chicago at some point and finally put his talents on display at the highest level. As far as the rankings are concerned, Brennen Davis is out for revenge.
Featured Image: John Antonoff/Chicago Sun-Times
