Arizona sophomore outfielder Chase Davis is having a breakout season.
This comes as no surprise to those who were aware of Davis’ talent — or to Davis himself.
Asked after his two-homer, six-RBI outburst vs. Stanford if he always knew that he was capable of those sorts of fireworks, Davis said:
“I’d be lying if I told you no, because I know who I am as a baseball player. I know what I’m capable of.
“It just took time, and it just wasn’t my turn last year. So what? Keep my head down and work hard.
“I’m super grateful for the opportunity I have now. I’m just trying to take advantage of it and do the best I can each and every day.”
Davis came to Arizona in August 2020 from Franklin High School in Elk Grove, California, after slipping through the truncated MLB draft. Had it not been shortened to five rounds because of the pandemic, Davis — ranked as the No. 55 draft prospect by Baseball America — probably wouldn’t have made it to campus.
Despite his striking skill set — tremendous power at the plate, good speed, strong throwing arm — Davis couldn’t crack Arizona’s deep lineup last season. He appeared in 27 games with only one start. He totaled 32 plate appearances.
“I wouldn’t call it difficult; I would call it more of a challenge I would take on, an opportunity that I knew I was gonna get down the road,” Davis said. “If it wasn’t my time during that year, it’s OK.
“I knew this time would come, and I was very prepared for it.”
Two UA outfielders, Ryan Holgate and Donta’ Williams, were picked in the ’21 draft, creating the opportunity Davis had been waiting for.
He has started 20 of 21 games as No. 12 Arizona’s regular left fielder. Davis has batted cleanup in most of those games. And he has delivered as promised.
Davis has popped a team-high eight home runs, including five in the past seven games. His 23 RBIs are tied for second on the team behind Tanner O’Tremba. His .291 batting average ranks third among qualifiers behind O’Tremba and Daniel Susac.
Davis has struck out more than any UA batter (29 times), but he also has drawn the most walks (17). His patience carries over to the plate. Add in his consistently high exit velocities, and Davis profiles as a modern-day hitter who will be highly attractive to MLB clubs when he’s eligible for the draft next year.
“He always has been an on-base guy,” said UA coach Chip Hale, whose teams faces UCLA in a three-game series starting Friday at Hi Corbett Field. “He has a really good eye. So we knew that was going to translate.
“Now he’s hitting the pitches he’s supposed to hit.”
Hale inherited Davis and immediately noticed how smooth and powerful his swing was. But Davis wasn’t — and still isn’t — a fully formed player, and Hale had to acknowledge that too.
In the same breath, Hale described Davis as a “work in progress” and a player whose “talent is so good.” In other words, he should only get better.
One area where Davis still can grow is making more consistent contact. He opened his strike zone a bit with the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s game at New Mexico. Davis worked the count to 3-2 before swinging and missing at an inside fastball that appeared to be slightly off the plate.
When he does make contact, Davis invariably hits the ball hard.
“He’s got extremely good bat speed,” Hale said. “So when he puts the barrel on the ball, he has a good chance to hit it a long way.”
Midweek malaise
That bases-loaded situation was Arizona’s best opportunity to rally against New Mexico on a night when the Wildcats’ pitching faltered.
Davis, Tommy Splaine and Noah Turley each represented the tying run. But all three struck out against Lobos left-hander Justin Still, and Arizona (16-5, 5-1 Pac-12) lost 12-7 to end its six-game winning streak.
Pitchers Anthony Susac, Josh Randall and Eric Orloff — all true freshmen — combined to allow 10 earned runs in four innings of relief.
“They just haven’t gotten consistent work, and that’s just the way it goes at this level when you don’t play every day,” Hale said. “So when they go in and there is a little bit of a struggle, you have to expect it.”
Hale was pleased with the way Orloff and Javyn Pimental, a redshirt freshman, finished their outings. After allowing two runs, Orloff retired the final three batters he faced via a pair of strikeouts and a popup. Pimental allowed a solo homer to the first batter he faced then retired six of the next seven.
Injury updates
Right-hander Chandler Murphy, on the mend from an arm issue, made his second “rehab start” and fared slightly better than in his 2022 debut the previous week at Pacific.
Murphy pitched one inning. He allowed one unearned run on one hit and two walks. He threw 36 pitches and did some additional work in the bullpen after Susac entered the game.
Murphy’s next outing is expected to be Tuesday at Grand Canyon. His pitch count could be up to 60 at that point, Hale said.
Third baseman Tony Bullard, who’s recovering from a shoulder injury, still isn’t quite ready to play in the field. Hale wants to give Bullard one more week, so he again will be limited to DH duty this weekend.
“There’s just too many plays where you can’t script them out — if he has to go to his backhand (or) he has to take a step back,” Hale said. “That’s just going to be too difficult. But it has gotten way better.”
Inside pitch
UCLA (13-7, 1-2) ranks first in the conference in ERA (2.61) and K/9 rate (11.07). The Bruins are sixth and 15th in the nation, respectively, in those categories. Said Hale: “Looking at the video of their pitchers, they’re typical UCLA — right-handers, power, good arms, good breaking balls and use their changeup. It’s gonna be like Stanford. It’s gonna be a battle of those starting pitchers. We have to try to get those guys out and get in the bullpen.”
Arizona has lost its past two series against UCLA, going 1-5 in those games. The Wildcats last won a series vs. the Bruins in 2018 (3-0 sweep).
The scheduled starters for Game 1 on Friday are right-hander Jake Brooks (3-2, 1.97 ERA) for UCLA and righty TJ Nichols (3-0, 2.40) for Arizona.
