Jason Davis Quietly Becomes Starter Option?

I guess its time to run this story again…

Heh, we don’t have many options left. The Pirates aren’t going to go get a major arm. A castoff, ahh…get me some young guys so back to the question.. why not Jason Davis?

All he had was another appearance against the Reds, (albeit the youngsters), another two innings and no runs allowed.  For a guy who is 6’6″ its not like he is hard to miss him around Bradenton, but not much has been made of him this spring.

The debate at hand is pretty simple. Davis gets paid rather well which was a concern heading into the season it seemed.  He didn’t have a role that was crystal clear.  With the pitching staff struggling with walks again this spring (second in the league), Davis pounded the strike zone against the Reds  stretching his impressive spring line to: 11IP .082ERA 7H, 1ER, 1R, SIX walks, 8K.  Three of the walks were in the first outing of spring against the Braves when he also gave up his only run thus far.  UPDATE he since added a loss in the outing against Yanks 13IP, 9H, 2ER, 2R, Eight walks, and 9K.  Scary at best.

I am still not certain what his role will be.  Will he get sent to make a starting appearance?  Long relief?  Stay tuned Pirates fans, I think we might see a lot of Davis in the upcoming days.

Last season, the Pirates used Davis both in a long-relief and was a spot starter after spending some time in AAA Indy.  In four starts with the Pirates, Davis went 0-2 with a 4.12 ERA. He had a 6.91 ERA in 14 1/3 innings of relief.

“He threw well for us in a couple of starts,” Huntington said. “He’s an intriguing guy who proved that he can be competitive at the Major League level.”

Davis typically makes a big splash, he hit a home run in his first at bat in 2004.  This spring he has emulated a high diver and has tried not to make even a ripple.  We barely have heard from him.  Time for a big splash as spring comes to an end with finding the guy that has been here all along…what do we have to lose?