Davis enjoying moment, mentors, minor-league mates
Nobody needed to suggest to Jonathan Davis that he smile during the shooting of the Blue Jays team photo on Wednesday afternoon. Fact is he had been beaming steadily for 44 hours, since being called to the visiting manager’s office in Syracuse, informed by Bobby Meacham and coach Devon White that he was headed to the majors for the very first time. The 26-year-old Davis made his MLB debut hours after the shooting of the photo, with his parents and wife in the stands.
“I know this moment is big for me,” Davis said as he headed back to the clubhouse to buckle up for his debut. “I’m not saying I won’t be nervous, but I’m saying at the end of the day you take away the lights, you take away the stands, it’s baseball. I’m going to go out there and give it all I’ve got and try to have fun.”
Davis had no idea at the start of the season, when he was invited as a non-roster player to spring training, that six months later he would be suiting up with the Jays. The Arkansas native has many influences to acknowledge, but one he started with was Curtis Granderson, now with the Milwaukee Brewers but a hero growing up.
The classy veteran outfielder in his 16th major-league season was with the Jays, his fifth organization, when he took Davis and other young prospects under his wing last spring. Grandy’s sharing of experiences accumulated wisdom.
“He’s an idol, I can say,” Davis said. “A guy who’s done the things that he’s done in his career. Being able to sit down with a guy like that and just pick at his wisdom and knowledge, nuggets away from the field, not only on the field, but just to be around the guy every day and see him go about his business.
“He always has a smile on his face. He’s always saying hi to people. He never meets a stranger. He’s honestly one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life besides my dad and my mom — and my wife. Got to throw that in there.”
Davis was a 15th-round pick in 2013 out of Central Arkansas University. As such, with modest expectations from the organization, he may or may not be a big part of the future. But he definitely plans on taking advantage of this moment.
If Davis is not a huge part of the Jays moving forward, he believes he has seen the true future of the organization. Before being promoted to Triple-A Buffalo, he had been a member of the hype machine that was the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, with those three sons of majorleaguers the subject of daily features in the national media. Davis insists the hype is for real.
“That’s the future man,” Davis said. “I really think that’s the future in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette. Those are three amazing people, not just baseball players, and when you have guys like that you can come to the field each and every day and be able to put on your cleats and strap it up and go out there and compete, it’s no surprise why they are where they are and why they have the attention that they get ... I’m excited for those guys and I’m excited for this organization because we have a lot coming up.”
The progress Davis has made in the last two seasons has been remarkable. From midround pick to a member of the 2017 Arizona Fall League, then to Triple-A and the majors, he has done it all in a short period after years of spinning his wheels. In addition to Granderson, Devo, Meacham and Double-A manager John Schneider, he likes to credit hall-of-famer Tim Raines, an outfield and base-running instructor in the Jays’ farm system for any accelerated path to the majors.
“Tim Raines is a character,” Davis said. “He always keeps it light and I think just that in itself, not just in his status, really helped me. A lot of times as a young player coming into the game you have so many failures off the top, and for him to be of that calibre and keep it so light allowed me to have confidence. Whether I go 0-for-4 or I go 4-for-4, just telling me, ‘Guy you have what it takes to get to where you’re trying to get to.’ He helped me so much with my base-stealing and my outfield play and just the little intricacies of the baseball game.”
Davis and fellow Jays outfield prospect Anthony Alford are married to sisters and they all live in the off-season in Mississippi. Alford arrived briefly in the majors last season and has been another contributor to the education of Jonathan Davis. Alford is expected to join the Jays later in September.
“He’s been an influence in my life since I’ve met him,” the Arkansas native said. “One thing that he told me when I got the (major-league) call, he said, ‘It’s the same game, man. Go up there and be confident regardless of the outcome. Just have fun and do what you always do.’ I’m here to try and get wins and just like any other game that I play in Double-A, in Single-A, rookie ball, New Hampshire, the game is the same, just bigger lights.”
It’s surely coincidence, but Davis has taken over the locker of another J.D., the recently departed Josh Donaldson. No pressure.