Davies keeps proving he belongs in rotation

The Padres' rotation has been one of the best in baseball in 2020, and their big names at the front get the accolades for it. Deservedly so. Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet and Garrett Richards have been excellent.

But make no mistake, after four trips through, Zach Davies has been every bit as good.

Davies became the first San Diego starter to complete seven innings in the Padres’ 6-0 loss in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. He allowed just four hits and two tough-luck runs in the fifth inning, before Craig Stammen imploded late. Davies kept the Dodgers off balance with pinpoint command and a baffling sinker-changeup mix.

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“He was in control the whole night,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. “Wish we could’ve gotten him some runs.”

Davies doesn't have next-level electric stuff like the Padres’ big three. He isn't woven into the team's long-term plans like Lamet and Paddack. The Padres didn't risk big bucks on him, like they did with Richards. Davies was merely the less-heralded half of the November trade that also landed Trent Grisham.

Suddenly, however, he seems integral to the Padres’ success in 2020. Davies has certainly locked himself into a rotation place, even if his repertoire is nothing like the other three -- or the rest of the league, for that matter.

“Guys that throw upper 90s and live at the top of the zone, I'm kind of the opposite,” Davies said. “I'm down in the zone, over the plate more, mixing speeds a lot more. It’s a good change of pace.”

“Change of pace” is the best way to describe what Davies does. In a league with fastball velocities trending ever higher, pitchers are constantly abandoning sinkers for four-seam fastballs at the top of the zone. But Davies threw 29 sinkers on Wednesday night, most of them knee-high, and he averaged just 88.8 mph.

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In theory, the modern hitter should feast on that. But Davies takes great care to make sure those hitters are never comfortable. His best pitch is a changeup, and he throws it whenever he wants.

Davies’ changeup usage has risen to around 40 percent this season, and it nearly hit 50 percent on Wednesday. He got seven whiffs on 19 swings, and when the Dodgers made contact, they did so with a measly 67 mph average exit velocity. The pitch drops late, and it serves as the perfect complement to Davies’ two harder options, a sinker and a cutter.

“He's just a pitch maker,” Tingler said. “And he's making his pitches right now.”

“I don't like being on the other side of the dugout when he's throwing everything at the knee and changing speeds and not getting barrels on the baseball,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “That's what he does, and he's exceptional at it.”

The Dodgers’ fifth-inning rally began with a rare walk, only Davies’ third of the season. Two bunts and a single off Davies’ glove followed, and Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead. Still, Davies managed to work seven frames on just 87 pitches.

“Not only did he do a good job, but he gave us quite a bit of length and saved some bullpen,” Tingler said.

The season is only three weeks old, but that trade -- which sent Luis Urías and Eric Lauer to Milwaukee -- looks better by the day. Grisham went 2-for-4 on Wednesday night, bringing his OPS to .871. He has also been very reliable in center field.

In truth, Grisham was always the focal point of that deal. The Padres wanted a lefty-hitting on-base weapon, and they needed a center fielder. They just so happened to upgrade their rotation in the process.

On the same night Davies lowered his ERA to 2.78, Lauer surrendered seven runs in Milwaukee and seems to be on the way out of the Brewers' rotation. Already, Lauer seems like a relic of a different era -- one in which the Padres regularly scrambled to fill out their starting five.

That’s no longer the case. The Friars turn their rotation back over to ace Chris Paddack on Thursday. Through 19 games, their starters have combined for a 3.20 ERA, the fifth-best mark in the Majors. As much as anyone else, Davies has played his part.