Houston Astros: Corpus Christi Hooks Player Spotlight – JD Davis

After a great spring training, Astros prospect JD Davis is looking to turn some heads for the Corpus Christi Hooks this season.

Another season is beginning for the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, the Corpus Christi Hooks. The clubhouse is full of familiar faces from last season as well as some new guys that are looking to make an impression of the organization. The team also has players that will probably not be on the team very long. One of these players is the ever-impressive third baseman JD Davis, and he is the focus of the first Player Spotlight of the new season.

Minor League Career

JD Davis has impressed every year of his three-year minor league career so far. He has always been able to hit for a decent average as well as with some power. Throughout his years, he has hit for a .282 minor league average with a solid .859 OPS.  Last season, his first at Double-A Corpus Christi, Davis shook off a slow start to hit .268 with 23 home runs and 83 RBIs. He played well enough to get the invite to spring training this year and left a lasting impression on the team. Davis hit .365 during the spring and kept proving that he is a top prospect in the Astros organization.

Strengths

JD Davis has several strengths that can only get better as he progresses as a ballplayer. The natural power he has is definitely good to have at third base. He also draws walks at a fairly high rate, having 45 last season and 54 the year before. His average should also sit around or above .300 this season if he plays even remotely like he did in the spring. He also is a fairly solid defender at third base, if that is where he ends up in his career.

Weaknesses

There are two main glaring weaknesses for Davis, though. One of these is that he strikes out much more than he should for a player looking to have a high batting average. Last season he struck out 143 times in 126 games. He needs to get those numbers down before advancing in the minor league system or those issues will be abused in the majors (see Domingo Santana in 2014). Another weakness/issue for Davis is that he plays third base.

Much like Colin Moran, Davis’s main position is a logjam for Astros prospects with Alex Bregman and maybe Carlos Correa in the future at the hot corner for the foreseeable future. Thankfully for JD Davis, he started to play a little bit of left field last season, something he should definitely work to learn for his future development.

Next: Astros Secret Weapon: The Master of Change, Chris Devenski

All in all, Davis has a bright future ahead of him if he can work out some of his weaknesses. If he starts out strong this season, look for him to be moved quickly up to Triple-A Fresno where we will really see how good he is.

**Statistics courtesy of milb.com**