Chicago Cubs Top 100 Prospects: No. 2 – Brennen Davis

I debated factoring the injury issues in further due to how severely they impacted Davis in 2022. However, these grades are focused on the future, and I still believe Davis is a star in the making. When looking at Davis’s potential, five-tool player still remains a legitimate descriptor in reach for him. If you’d like, I wrote a profile on Davis back in October that covers a lot of my thinking as well.

As a fielder, Davis offers plus defense in center, left, or right. He has the chops to stick in center, the arm to handle right, and the obvious ability to excel in left field. Back in 2021, Davis logged 83 innings in left field, 324.1 innings in right field, and 352 innings in center field. Across the three spots, Davis posted a .982 fielding percentage, which included a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in center field.

The arm is an obvious asset. Davis has routinely shown off a cannon in the outfield, gunning runners down at third base, the plate, you name it. It’s one of the reasons I think he winds up in right field long-term. Of course, a 60-grade arm is helpful in center field, too, and I do think that will be Davis’s first position once he reaches Wrigley. But Pete Crow-Armstrong is also waiting in the wings, and he will likely push Davis out of playing center every day when (hopefully) both players are crushing it in the majors. Hey, you can’t complain about too much versatility.

One of the key reasons Davis exploded onto the map as a prospect is his potential to hit for a lot of power. At 6-foot-4 with long arms, he has a profile that can be honed to hit a ton of long balls. In 2019 with South Bend during his age-19 season, Davis slashed .305/.381/.525 with nine doubles, three triples, eight home runs, and 30 RBIs in 204 plate appearances.

Things started buzzing for the 2018 second-round pick at that point, but that buzz grew to be very loud during the 2021 minor-league season. Davis spent eight games with South Bend, slashing .321/.406/.607 before being promoted to Tennessee. In 76 games with the Smokies, he hit 20 doubles, 13 home runs, and slashed .252/.367/.474 before making his way to Triple-A Iowa to close out the season. Over 16 games with the Iowa Cubs, Davis slashed .268/.397/.536 with three doubles and four homers.

The Davis hype train became super real after that. Going into the 2022 season, Brennen Davis was ranked as the 15th-best prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline and 16th by Baseball America. There was talk about him being in Chicago in 2022 as a matter of when rather than if — but that was before the aforementioned injuries.

Narrative aside, Davis is the type of player who could hit 25-plus home runs on an annual basis while providing plus defense and getting on base at a 35% clip or better. Strikeouts are always a concern with a player with long levers like Davis, but he has certainly put in work to tighten his motion at the plate. Additionally, he has always shown a good eye for the strike zone. 

If he can perform consistently, as he did with Mesa during the 2022 Arizona Fall League (.278/.381/.667 and two home runs in five games before being shut down with back tightness), Davis has all the makings of a star. Now, he just needs to stay healthy.

Next up, we’ll dive into the Chicago Cubs’ top prospect entering the 2023 season. My assumption is we all know who that will be, but I still look forward to breaking things down and discussing them. As always, If you see anything on this list you disagree or agree with, let me know on Twitter! I’d love to talk about it with you.