Right before the first Spring Training game of the 2023 season, the New York Mets made a move to add another outfielder to the organization. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets signed outfielder Jaylin Davis to a minor league deal and he received an invite to spring training.
Last season, Davis spent the majority of the year in the Boston Red Sox organization after being claimed off waivers from the Giants in late April. The 28-year-old appeared in 12 games for Boston and had a slash line of .333/.407/.375 with two RBIs. In total, Davis has just two home runs and four extra-base hits in 38 career major league games.
While Davis has not hit as many home runs in the big leagues, he does provide some versatility defensively in his ability to play all three outfield positions. Whether it was with the Red Sox or their Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, Davis spent the bulk of last season in center field, but has played mostly in right field over the course of his career.
One of the main problems for Davis is that he does have the tendency to strike out a lot. According to FanGraphs, Davis struck out around 31% of the time in Worcester last year and hit a groundball 46.5% of the time, which led to a low OPS of .647.
While Davis did have a high strikeout rate last year, he did a good job finding his way on base by drawing walks. His 43 walks in 88 games (12.4% walk rate) were the fifth-most on the Worcester roster and his combined total of 46 walks between both Boston and San Francisco was the second-most in his career (65 in 2019).
Back in 2019, Davis had arguably the best season of his career in the Twins organization. The former 24th round pick of the Twins back in 2015 had a combined slash line of .306/.397/.590 with 35 home runs, 94 RBIs, and an .987 OPS at Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Rochester. He also has shown glimpses of good power in the past as he had a three-home run game back in 2017 for then Low-A Cedar Rapids:
Even though Davis only had four stolen bases a season ago, he is a player known for his plus speed and power as once noted by San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler.
Davis ended up finishing the year at Triple-A Sacramento after being acquired by the Giants in the deal that sent reliever Sam Dyson to San Francisco. The Mets will be hoping that Davis can find some of that power from 2019 as he has a combined 21 home runs in his last three minor league seasons going back to 2020.
Earlier that year, Davis didn’t begin his season until June 10 due to a partial tear of the patellar tendon in his left knee that occurred during spring training. He would wind up making two other IL stints that year, including once for a left hamstring strain.
If anything, the Davis signing gives the Mets more depth at Triple-A Syracuse going into the year. In camp, the Mets have five different non-roster invitee outfielders (Tim Locastro, Abraham Almonte, Davis, DJ Stewart, and Lorenzo Cedrola). Stewart was also signed earlier this month.
It never hurts to have too much outfield depth and it’s a low-risk move for the Mets to add a player that can give versatility defensively and hope to show the power that he is capable of having at Port St. Lucie. And, maybe for the Mets, if he gets that opportunity.
