C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Rookie Davis has what amounts to a literal target on his back — No. 54.

When the 23-year-old reported to Reds camp last week, he had a new number in his locker, the old number of the player he was traded for, Aroldis Chapman.

“People are going to see the jersey, they're going to see a new guy in it and it just happens to be the guy who was traded for him,” said Davis, one of four players acquired for Chapman in December of 2015.

Davis, 23, will start for the Reds in their Cactus League opener on Friday, another step in proving himself and finding his way out of the shadow of a trade that lingers to this day.

With the Reds’ in full-blown rebuild mode last year, then-President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty pulled the trigger on the trade that sent Chapman to the Yankees in exchange for Davis, reliever Caleb Cotham and infielders Eric Jagielo and Tony Renda. Chapman was being investigated by Major League Baseball for a domestic violence incident, and most around the game saw the deal as Cincinnati selling Chapman for pennies on the dollar.

That perception wasn’t helped when the Yankees traded Chapman to the Cubs mid-season and received three players in return, including shortstop Gleyber Torres. Torres, 20, was recently ranked as the No. 5 prospect in baseball by Baseball America.

Meanwhile, Davis’ star fell, despite what looked on paper like a successful 2016 season. Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 6 prospect in the Yankees’ system entering 2016 (the organizational rankings were released before the trade), Davis didn’t land in the publication’s top 30 prospects for the Reds in 2017. (He is ranked No. 9 in the Reds’ organization by MLB.com.)

Jagailo wasn’t in the top 30 either, and while Cotham and Renda played for the Reds last season, both were removed from the 40-man roster. Renda is in big-league camp this spring, while Cotham (who wore No. 54 last year) and Jagailo will report to minor-league camp.

“Everyone has their opinion on it,” Davis said of the trade. “I say, if you respect me, I'll respect you. Whenever a line is crossed. I feel like it was an attack on me as a person, that's one thing I won't deal with — I have a memory bank, I'll file that for a later date. I felt the pressure a little bit, but not anymore. I'm wearing his jersey for God's sake.”

In Davis' first year in the Reds’ organization, he went 10-3 with a 2.94 ERA at Double-A Pensacola. He earned a call-up to Triple-A Louisville, but that didn’t go well. He had a 7.50 ERA in five appearances, including four starts.

Despite the numbers, scouts said he lacked the explosive fastball he’d had in the past. Davis didn’t have to be told that. He’d see it for himself on scoreboards across the Southern League. Accustomed to looking up and seeing 95 or 96 and even 97 on the radar board, he saw 91, 92 or 93. It doesn’t sound like much, but 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,” he said.

The whole time, he knew the reason. It was a groin injury he suffered at the end of spring training. Dealing with the pain in his right groin, Davis said he could never quite get the push that he needed to get that extra velocity on the ball, that separator.

Still, the last thing he wanted to do was to complain. In a new organization, Davis wanted to show that he was a gamer, someone who would take the ball every five days and help the Blue Wahoos win. And he did that.

“I learned how to pitch. I would really try to spot up more in the bottom half of the zone, obviously,” he said. “The good thing that came from that was when the velocity came back, I still had the command of the lower half of the zone. I think, honestly, it was a blessing in disguise. I was able to work on some things while still going out every five days.”

Along with the decrease in velocity, Davis saw a drop in his strikeouts. He struck out 129 batters in 130 2/3 innings in the Yankees system in 2015 and dropped to 77 strikeouts in 125 innings in 2016.

"It forced him to have to really invest in the accessory pitches," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He had the breaking ball, he worked on a hybrid slider-cutter, and then the changeup. The changeup for me, was really one of the areas that he really needed to focus on since last year to continue to move along as a starting pitcher. He made the most out of a tough situation."

Davis also suffered a lower back injury, but still made 23 starts on the season. When he takes the mound on Friday, Davis expects to be himself, to be the guy that was the center of the Chapman trade, complete with the velocity. Throwing live batting practice on Monday, Davis said he felt as good throwing as he has since 2015 when he was that top Yankees prospect.

His legacy will continue to be that trade until he overshadows it with his performance, and that’s fine, he said. So too is the constant reminder on his back and in his locker and written in every piece of equipment — No. 54. But at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds, Davis isn’t exactly used to hiding, anyway.

“I like it better than 63, I think it looks a little better,” he said of the number he wore last spring. “I'll be out there every day with it on.”