Top-ranked Chicago Cubs prospect Brennen Davis placed on injured list
The 2022 season was supposed to be a big year for Brennen Davis.
The first half of it is turning quickly into a forgettable one, however.
The 22-year-old outfielder was listed as the top-ranked prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization and began the season with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, one stop away from the majors.
But the season hasn’t gone anywhere close to according to plan for Davis, who struggled through the early part of the season and has only shown rare moments of all his potential.
Now, Davis is experiencing another big setback to his promising season.
The Iowa Cubs placed Davis on the injured list with lower back discomfort Thursday. Davis, who hasn’t played in a game since May 3, had been day-to-day due to lower back tightness. Iowa manager Marty Pevey had no timetable for Davis' return.
"Just from having conversations with him, I think it was something that he might have just felt in spring training," Pevey said. "He's been trying to grind through it."
It hasn't worked and it may have contributed to an unusually slow start for Davis.
Davis, ranked the 15th-best prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and the top one in the system, has tallied of slash line of just .195/.286/.299 through his first 22 games this season. Even worse, Davis has struck out 31 times in 77 at-bats and hit just two home runs.
"Any time you have lower back problems, it's hard to do anything, especially when you're at such a high level," Pevey said. "It's hard to be consistent on a daily basis and try to stretch that thing out and get loose and get prepared to play in a professional baseball game."
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The hope is that Davis will eventually get going. There are still huge hopes for the young outfielder who was selected in the second round of the 2018 draft and performed well at every level up until this season. Expectations for this season rose after a huge 2021 for Davis.
The outfielder shined on one of baseball's biggest stages last summer when he smashed a pair of home runs in the All-Star Futures Game and earned MVP honors. Davis also earned his first Triple-A promotion that season and smashed home runs in his first two at-bats with Iowa. After the season, he was named the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year.
With that type of success in the past and those huge expectations still surrounding Davis, the Cubs will likely be cautious with Davis.
Pevey said Davis certainly wouldn't return until he healthy.
"We don't want to run him out there and have him be less than his best," Pevey said.
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Chicago Cubs prospect Brennen Davis placed on injured list for back
