Former A's First Round Pick May Be Hitting His Way To The Show

The Oakland A's selected switch-hitting infielder Logan Davidson with the 29th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2019 MLB Draft. A three year starter at Clemson playing in 187 games, Davidson hit .290 with .933 OPS and 42 home runs.

After being drafted by the A's, Davidson was assigned to the Vermont Lake Monsters where he hit .239, and struck out at a 23.1% rate in 54 games. He was then a non-roster invite to spring training where he only had nine at bats due to the Covid shutdown. Davidson would not play until 2021 where he was promoted and had 448 at-bats for the Double-A Midland Rockhounds. He struggled after coming off an entire year off, hitting .212 with 30.1% strikeout rate. Davidson's play slightly improved in 2022 with Double-A Midland but he still struck out at a below average rate.

It wasn't until 2023 where things really started to click for the former Clemson tiger. In 48 games with Double-A Midland, Davidson hit .297 with a .863 OPS and eventually earned his promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas on June 16th, 2023.

Davidson would continue to play well in Triple-A, his on-base and slugging numbers took a dip compared to Double-A, but his strikeout rate decreased to 22.0% which was a career best for him. Davidson played almost all of the infield positions for Las Vegas in an attempt to get him more at-bats and see where his glove would play best.

Now in 2024, Davidson has really shined, sporting a .289 /.349 /.467 slash line in 38 games. Davidson has also seen more time in left field, as the A's No. 1 prospect Jacob Wilson has taken over the every day role at shortstop. One thing that stands out however, Davidson currently has his highest strikeout rate and lowest walk rate since beginning his professional career. Those percentages raise some concerns about how he might handle big league pitching. Especially considering he is currently competing in the PCL, which is a hitter-friendly league. However, Davidson only has 135 at-bats under his belt this season and has played in under half of Triple-A Las Vegas's games this year due to injury. As he gets more at-bats, those percentages should improve.

As for when Davidson could finally get his shot in the big leagues, it is hard to determine. With Abraham Toro and Esteury Ruiz headed to Arizona for rehab, and Darell Hernaiz expected to follow suit on July 19th, the A's have decisions to make. If the A's are planning on having all three players join the the club in Oakland after their rehabs, then there will need to be three corresponding moves to make room. Meaning, it might not be in the A's cards to promote Davidson anytime soon with reinforcements on the way. Not to mention, the aforementioned number one prospect takes precedence when talking about who may get promoted next.

Davidson was dealt a bad hand, losing a crucial development year in 2020. The former first round draft pick has taken it in stride however and now is playing some of his best baseball when it matters most. For now, the 26-year-old will need to continue to play how he has been and work on cutting down the strikeouts. If so, he might see himself sporting an Oakland Athletics jersey when rosters expand in September.