Homer-happy Davis swats two more
Rake, rinse, repeat. That's been the approach for J.D. Davis this week.The Astros infielder/outfielder went yard twice Friday, giving him homers in four straight games, seven in his past six contests and powering Triple-A Fresno to an 8-1 win over Tacoma at Cheney Stadium. He was 3-for-4 with four RBIs
Rake, rinse, repeat. That's been the approach for J.D. Davis this week.
The Astros infielder/outfielder went yard twice Friday, giving him homers in four straight games, seven in his past six contests and powering Triple-A Fresno to an 8-1 win over Tacoma at Cheney Stadium. He was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a walk.
Davis has two 26-homer seasons in his five-year career, but even those performances pale in comparison to his recent homer-happy exploits.
The 2014 third-round pick hit one long ball during a 30-game stay with the big league club and has 15 dingers in 278 at-bats in the Minor Leagues this season. But nearly half of those have come since Sunday. He went yard in that game, skipped the next night, then homered on Tuesday and Wednesday and hit two on Thursday.
The 25-year-old had a similar stretch in 2015 with Class A Advanced Lancaster.
Gameday box score
"Yeah, when I was in Lancaster I had a stretch of six or seven in a row, but some of them were a little cheap, you know Lancaster -- 20 mph winds. But right now I'm just driving the ball all over, driving the ball to left field, right field, center," he said.
Davis kept the streak going and capped the Grizzlies' four-run third with a three-run blast to left field off stater David Rollins (0-1). Leading off the sixth, he sent Rollins' 2-1 pitch over the fence in right-center. With a shot at his second career three-homer game -- the first came with Double-A Corpus Christi on May 19, 2016 -- he singled in the ninth. He's already accomplished one milestone this year, hitting for the cycle on May 17 against El Paso.
The Cal State-Fullerton product says he tweaked his stance a bit, leading to better a contact rate.
"Watching film from up in the big leagues and my mechanics and comparing to Spring Training when I had the big jump, I broke it down," he said. "I spread my stance out to be a little more balanced. It's about loading up my hips to keep things simple. And I continue to work on my plate discipline because that goes a long way, too."
Davis' career strikeout percentage is 24.6 percent, but this season it's 18.8, a statistic that's not lost on him. He credits Fresno hitting coach Darryl Robinson and big league instructor Jeff Albert.
"It goes along with my swing, I had a big loop in my swing. That allowed me to catch some off-speed out in front and still hit homers, but with learning how to deliver my back elbow in time with my back hip, I can time my swing," he explained. "And it allows me to foul off tough pitches and stay through the ball a little more. I can also make it to a 3-2 count and then put the ball in play [more].
"I do make a really good effort now to hit the fastball, make contact or foul it off," he said. "That's the biggest thing to make improvement from 2017 to now, [especially] against high velocity."
The 25-year-old slugger was a wrecking crew Friday, but he wasn't a one-man show. Derek Fisher went 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored, Astros No. 14 prospectMyles Straw doubled, singled and scored twice, while Taylor Jones smacked a two-run homer homered and singled.
Trent Thornton (9-8) earned the win, allowing a run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in six innings. Rehabbing right-handerChris Devenski struck out three around two hits in a scoreless seventh and Matt Ramsey gave up two hits and a walk while fanning one over the final two frames.
Rollins took the loss in his first appearance since signing a Minor League deal with the Mariners, allowing eight runs on 10 hits -- including all three Fresno homers -- and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out three.
Vince Lara-Cinisomo is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincelara.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between