Guiding light
The death of loved one motivated Royals’ Wade Davis to become bullpen threat,
Wade Davis walks out from the Kansas City Royals bullpen, steps onto the pitcher’s mound, looks up to the sky and starts talking.
He might be the only visible person on the mound to you and me, but the way Davis sees it, he has company.
“Stay right here with me,” Davis says. “We’ll do this together. Let’s get this done.”
Davis is talking to Dustin Huguley — his stepbrother and best friend.
Two years ago Friday, Davis buried him.
Huguley, who used to catch Davis growing up, played softball that afternoon, went home and collapsed. He died of a genetic heart defect. He was 25.
“There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think about him,” Davis told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s always with me. And when I go to the mound, I talk to him. ... I always like to think that maybe he’s out there having a good time on the field with us.”
Davis, who switched uniforms from No. 22 to his brother’s number, 17, after his death, wants to believe Huguley is still around watching his transformation.
Why, two years ago at this time, Davis was a struggling starter, posting a career 31-32 record and 4.57 ERA. He had just gotten clobbered by the Washington Nationals on Aug. 24, 2013, yielding seven earned runs in six innings, hiking his ERA to 5.67.
Royals manager Ned Yost and his staff decided to try something different. They sent Davis to the minors to convert him into a reliever.
“He was doing OK as a starter,” Yost said, “but I heard he was really good as a reliever in Tampa. We wanted to try it.”
Davis made his debut as a Royals reliever Sept. 4 vs. the Seattle Mariners, and the team could hardly believe he was the same guy. That 91- to 92-mph fastball suddenly was 96-97 mph. The curveball was sharp. The slider turned into a 92-mph cutter.
Davis gave up one hit in 11⁄3 innings against the Mariners. Two nights later, he threw 12⁄3 hitless innings against the Detroit Tigers.
A dominant, shut-down, lightsout reliever was born.
Today, he might be the most dominant reliever in the American League.
Davis is 7-1 with a major league-leading 0.60 ERA this year, yielding 23 hits in 442⁄3 innings with 50 strikeouts, in his role as the eighth-inning setup man for closer Greg Holland.
Davis has been so dominant that he brought Kansas City’s barbecue joints to a halt last weekend when he did the unimaginable: He gave up a home run to Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays. It was his first homer allowed since joining the bullpen, a skein of 123 games and 1252⁄3 innings — the third-longest streak in 30 years.
The man has become the Midwest version of Mariano Rivera. He’s 18-4 with a 0.85 ERA since moving to the bullpen, yielding 64 hits in 1262⁄3 innings with 166 strikeouts.
“I hate comparing anyone to Mariano,” says Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland, who spent three seasons with Rivera as the New York Yankees pitching coach. “But (Davis) has been the best reliever in baseball the last year and a half. … When he gives up a hit or a run, it’s like the whole world stops.”
Said Yost, “He’s a closer pitching in the eighth inning. And with our bullpen, we feel like if we’re tied or ahead from the fifth inning on, we’re going to win that game.”
Certainly, no one has appreciated it more than Holland, the Royals closer. He has saved 140 games since 2013, but only once has he needed to pitch more than one inning in 167 appearances.
“He’s such a treat to watch,” Holland said, “and you have extreme confidence when he’s in the game.”
The only one who seems unimpressed is Davis. His teammates will tell you he’s the quietest guy in the bullpen. He’s all business. But when he talks, well, you have an entire bullpen listening.
“You watch how he works, and it’s no secret why he does well,” Royals reliever Ryan Madson said. “His thought process is 10 out of 10. His studying of hitters is 10 out of 10. His knowledge of hitters is 10 out of 10. And his stuff is 10 out of 10.”
Davis certainly could earn more money and have a more prestigious role if he wasn’t under the Royals’ control for two more years — an $8 million team option in 2016 and a $10 million option in 2015.
Yankees reliever Andrew Miller established the marketplace for premium setup men with a four-year, $36 million contract this winter. And Holland earns $8.25 million this year as the closer and likely will top $10 million in the final year of salary arbitration.
You’ll never hear Davis complain. Give him the baseball during the season and a fishing pole and hunting rifle during the winter, and he’s perfectly content, knowing he has that guiding light showing him the way and watching over him.
“I know my brother is out there with me. He never leaves my side,” Davis said. “He’s part of everything I do.
“So this isn’t something I’m just enjoying.
“We’re enjoying this together.”