One of the more intriguing players in camp with the Los Angeles Dodgers for Spring Training is Matt Davidson, a power-hitting infielder who also has the potential to provide innings out of the bullpen.
He signed a Minor League contract with the club in February and was one of several non-roster players to receive an invitation to Spring Training.
From 2017-18, Davidson averaged 23 home runs as a member of the Chicago White Sox, but also logged three innings pitched at the Major League level. Last season with the Cincinnati Reds, he again pitched three innings in a relief role.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Davidson said when asked if he considers himself a two-way player. “I guess I look at myself as the tools that I have and some tools I don’t.
“One of my tools is pitching. I’m not much of a runner or anything like that, but I can pitch. So we’ll see kind of where it goes with that role.
“I feel like I can compete on the mound and I’m really excited to be here with the organization and all the information and technology they’ve got on the pitching side, I’m really excited to dive into.”
While it’s unclear if the Dodgers will utilize Davidson as a two-way player, he wants to stay prepared for the possibility.
“I’m really going full-go as far as being an infielder and hitter, and kind of doing the pitching stuff — not necessarily on the side, because we’ve got a bullpen coming up this week — but kind of easing into it as far as my throwing program and really making sure my arm is in a good position from the health side and strengthening side,” Davidson said.
“Really getting that going with my long toss program and then throwing ‘pens to build my arm up. Yeah, we’re doing everything we can, we’re on a schedule and I listen to my arm to make sure we’re doing it the right way.”
As long as Davidson stays on schedule with his bullpen sessions, he expects to eventually pitch in a Cactus League game this spring. “We’ll see how it goes as everything comes on the schedule and if the arm stays healthy, the bullpens go well and we move right along,” Davidson said.
“Because I am going to be playing in the field as well. As long as everything goes pretty well I can see myself doing that.”
Davidson explains becoming two-way player
Davidson, who didn’t pitch in a professional game until 2018, explained how he became a two-way player. “To be honest, it started really young. In high school that’s all I really did and that was honestly before thinking about hitting,” he said.
“It was a dream to be a pitcher in the big leagues before hitting or anything like that. Hitting just took off in high school and the rest is kind of history. I’ve always loved throwing, throwing different pitches.
“Once I threw some innings with the White Sox, I kind of fell back in love with it and really just thought now with the game, two-way playing is not as crazy or foreign as it used to be.
“I think that culmination of things coming together, just going with it and I love pitching. There are some things I can’t do on the baseball field, but the one thing I can do is I believe I can pitch. It kind of all came together and here we are.”
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