Freshman Joe Davis is meeting the lofty expectations UH had for him.
Most days, it’s not uncommon to see University of Houston freshman Joe Davis launch baseballs out of the ballpark during batting practice.
“Watching his BP is unreal,” UH outfielder Connor Wong said. “He probably hits the most home runs and the farthest home runs I have ever seen.”
A few of the tape-measure shots have found their way over the street beyond the left-field wall at UH’s Schroeder Park, even some rolling into the parking lot of a nearby McDonald’s.
“Those are 400-plus,” Wong said of the estimated distances of some of Davis’ “Big Mac” shots. “He’ll put them out anywhere.”
Constellation Field, home of the minor league Sugar Land Skeeters, became the latest ballpark unable to hold one of Davis’ monster shots Tuesday.
Davis ripped a pitch from Rice’s Dane Myers over the left-field wall for his first career grand slam, part of a 10-run eighth inning in UH’s 24-6 whipping of the Owls. The first baseman finished the game with a career-high six RBIs, all but one coming in the eighth inning.
Heading into UH’s final regular-season series against Tulane, which begins at 3 p.m. Thursday at Schroeder Park, Davis leads the American Athletic Conference in batting average (.349), RBIs (50), hits (73), slugging percentage (.584) and is third in home runs (11). His homerun total is a UH freshman season record. Power to spare
Davis is on pace to become the 12th player in school history to lead the team in average, home runs and RBIs in the same season.
“He’s what we thought he was going to be,” UH coach Todd Whitting said. “He’s been that guy.”
Whitting said the Cougars have been counting on plugging Davis’ bat into the middle of the order ever since he committed while playing at Austin Bowie High School, where he totaled 23 home runs his last two seasons and was the Central Texas Player of the Year as a junior.
Davis’ power was on display when he won the inaugural Area Code Home Run Derby in 2014.
“Every time we saw him play, he was just destroying the opposing pitcher,” Whitting said.
Davis began the season fifth in the lineup but was moved to the No. 3 spot after hitting an eye-popping .636 with six doubles and 13 RBIs during the first week.
“We thought when we signed Joe we were getting the best freshman hitter in the state of Texas,” Whitting said. “He’s proven to be that.”
A 16th-round pick by the Miami Marlins in last summer’s draft, Davis was unavailable for this story because UH does not allow true freshmen to speak to the media.
So, instead, Davis has let his bat do the talking. He has 20 multi-hit games and is on a career-best 13game hitting streak as the Cougars make a late push for NCAA tournament consideration.
Even lull was minimal
Only twice in 52 games has Davis gone back-toback games without a hit.
“It’s unreal for him to be a freshman the way he is playing right now,” said Wong, who’s second on the team with five homers.
Even with the high expectations, Davis was bound to hit a lull at some point in his first collegiate season. It came in midApril when Davis went through a 1-for-15 slump in four games against Texas and Connecticut. And even then Whitting said there was no cause for concern; Davis was still making good contact and many of his outs were sharp balls hit right at fielders.
Since then, Davis has been hitting .371 with 17 RBIs over the last 17 games. Whitting said Davis has benefited from hitting in front of cleanup hitter Corey Julks.
“Everywhere he’s played, every level he’s been on, he’s put up numbers,” Whitting said. “It’s a big jump to this level, especially against the teams we play. But he’s handled it well. He has an advanced approach for a freshman.”
Whitting warns not to look at Davis’ numbers and conclude he’s merely a power hitter.
“Just a really good baseball player,” Whitting said. “Hopefully, he’ll stay right there in the middle of the lineup and create havoc for a long time.”