FAU pitcher Paul Davis won 10 games for the Owls in 2011, but is still looking for his first victory as a professional. He'll get another shot on Friday in his first game with Salem-Keizer. (Owl Access file photo)
Late season promotion
Former Owl Friday: Paul Davis figured he'd spend the remainder of the year in the Arizona Rookie League, but a late season promotion to Salem-Keizer has him in the heart of a pennant race.
Originally published on
8/26/2011
by
Chuck King
With the Arizona League Giants having already clinched their division title, Paul Davis now finds himself in the midst of another playoff race.
The San Francisco organization promoted the former Owl from the rookie league to Salem-Keiser of the short season Northwest League earlier this week. The Volcanoes currently find themselves in third place, in the Northwest's West Division, three games back of Everett.
“I wasn't really expecting it - it is pretty late in the season,” Davis said.
Davis has yet to pitch since his promotion, but is expected to start tonight's game against the Boise Hawks. He'll likely get one more regular season start after Friday.
“They needed a little bit extra pitching right now,” Davis said.
Following his selection in the 17th round of this year's MLB Draft, the Giants assigned Davis to the Arizona Rookie League, where they've been cautious with his innings.
Davis didn't win or lose a game in Arizona, in part because the Giants imposed a pitch limit of between 50 and 60 pitches that never allowed him to throw more than 4 1/3 innings in any of his efforts. He was the starting pitcher in nine of his 12 appearances, posting a 3.44 ERA while striking out 27 in 36 2/3 innings.
With Salem-Keizer, Davis expects the pitch count to rise to between 70 to 80.
“I feel good,” Davis said. “My arm feels good, pretty much every day.”
The ace of FAU's staff in 2011, Davis' 100 1/3 innings pitched was nearly 25 more than any other Owl hurler, despite starting the season in the bullpen. He led the Owls with 10 wins, and Davis' 2.87 ERA was one and a half runs better than anyone else on the team that threw at least five innings.