PEORIA, Ariz. -- Left-hander Tucker Davidson understands how important this Spring Training is for him. He’s out of Minor League options, so if he doesn’t make the Angels’ Opening Day roster, he will be exposed to waivers and could be claimed by another club.

Davidson is competing for the sixth spot in the rotation, which could also be more of a swing role since the Angels plan to shuffle their pitching staff to get two-way star Shohei Ohtani as many starts as possible. So Davidson took the offseason seriously, spending time at Driveline Baseball in Seattle before heading to Arizona in early January in an effort to improve his mechanics, maintain his velocity and add a new pitch to his arsenal.

Davidson put it all together in his Cactus League debut on Saturday in a 5-1 win over the Mariners, retiring all six batters he faced, including three via strikeout. He also found success with his new sweeper, which is replacing his overhand curveball and uses the same grip that Ohtani utilizes for his highly effective version of the pitch. But Davidson said the key to his success was simply throwing more strikes.

“I think it’s the biggest thing for me,” Davidson said. “You have to get ahead [of] guys and you have to put them away. Just going out there and trying to attack, attack, attack was my mindset this offseason and this spring. Just go get ahead and throw your stuff in the box and let them get themselves out. And when you have the opportunity to bury them, bury them.”

The Angels acquired Davidson, 26, in the trade that sent closer Raisel Iglesias to the Braves at the Trade Deadline last season. But he struggled with his new club, posting a 6.87 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 22 walks in 36 2/3 innings.

Davidson made it a point to improve his mechanics this offseason, working with new assistant pitching coach Bill Hezel, who previously worked at Driveline. He said he was yanking his head during his delivery, but he feels he’s in a much better place mechanically right now.

“Whenever I got traded over, I was not in a good mechanical spot,” Davidson said. “I was trying to really figure some things out. And I think kind of throughout the summer I got worse to a point, and then we got better towards the end where we really shifted how I set up [from] the windup and out of the stretch.”

Davidson is big on analytics, and analyzes his arsenal based on metrics like spin efficiency and the amount of horizontal and vertical break each pitch possesses. He said his stuff felt crisp against Seattle, and that his fastball velocity will continue to tick up after mostly sitting 91-92 mph on Saturday (he averaged 93.2 mph last season). He knows he’ll have to continue to have solid outings like this going forward if he wants to earn a spot in the rotation, but Davidson was pleased with how everything went his first time out.

“I feel good about it,” Davidson said. “I just have to go out there and attack the zone and get ready for the season.”

Adell homers in first spring at-bat
Jo Adell, who is competing for a spot on the roster as an extra outfielder, homered in his first at-bat against lefty Marco Gonzales, crushing a 3-1 fastball to left field for a two-run homer in the second inning. It was a gratifying feeling for Adell, who spent the entire offseason training every day in Arizona, only taking off time for Christmas.

“It’s good, I’m just happy with the count I hit it in more than anything,” Adell said. “Getting in better counts to hit has been one of my focuses. [I’m] working on being patient and continuing to wait on mine.”

Adell also walked on four pitches in his second plate appearance, and struck out in his third. He’s been working to be a more patient hitter, and didn’t offer at any pitches his second time at the plate despite homering in his first at-bat. But he was also called for a pitch-timer violation in his third at-bat that resulted in an automatic strike before he struck out swinging.

Adell, though, said adjusting to the new pitch-timer rules is a learning process, with which he’ll get more comfortable throughout the spring.

“It’s fine, I stepped out of the box,” Adell said. “I think they’re trying to keep guys in the box. So it’s part of it. Honestly I think it works out in my favor, because it doesn’t create a whole lot of distraction. The moment you’re in there, you've got to be ready to go.”