GOODYEAR, ARIZ. On paper, righthander Rookie Davis’ 2016 looks like a success. He went 10-3, 2.94 at Double-A Pensacola.
He earned a promotion to Triple-A Louisville, too, but that didn’t go well. He ran up a 7.50 ERA in five appearances, including four starts.
Scouts said Davis lacked the explosive fastball he had in the past. He didn’t have to be told that because he had seen it himself on scoreboards across the Southern League.
Accustomed to looking up and seeing 95 mph or better on the radar gun, he saw a lot more 91s. Those couple of miles per hour are the separator between an average fastball and an above-average one.
“I’m thinking, ‘OK, it’s not there.’ It was frustrating,” said Davis, 23.
The whole time, he knew the…