The path to stardom for Colorado Rockies' Noah Davis has been nothing but slightly askew

The start to Noah Davis’ career is a prime example of how fulfilling one’s dreams can often take a circuitous route.

“It’s always kind of been left of center – I think is a good way to put it,” the 25-year-old shared with DNVR Rockies. “But I’m extremely grateful for every step that’s come along the way.”

Take his Major League debut as a prime example for how things have gone askew for Davis. Rather, take the unorthodox wait for that debut as the example.

Promoted from Double-A Hartford to the big leagues last September during his first full season in the organization following his acquisition via trade from the Cincinnati Reds, something that the Colorado Rockies hadn’t done since Antonio Senzatela bypassed Triple-A and went directly to the 2017 Opening Day roster, the starting pitching prospect boarded a plane to Chicago for a series at the historic Wrigley Field.

He performed his rookie duties by grabbing coffee and donuts in full uniform across the street from Wrigley and waited patiently for his opportunity to debut. Yard Goats teammate Gavin Hollowell joined him in the Windy City two days later and eventually made his debut the next evening at Coors Field.

Ah yes, my favorite day of the year… the annual rookie coffee run at Wrigley! @ATTSportsNetRM pic.twitter.com/YxPfzgkBVi

— Kelsey Wingert-Linch (@KelsWingert) September 17, 2022

Hollowell was utilized once more before Davis was optioned down to Triple-A Albuquerque without making so much as a relief appearance. The SoCal product out of UC-Santa Barbara made one successful start with the Isotopes before being called back to the big league roster for the final two games of the season. Though the games were at Dodger Stadium, this historic ballpark meant less to Davis than the neighboring Angel Stadium.

“They won the World Series in 2002,” the Huntington Beach High School grad and former Angels’ fan shared. “All of those guys I liked watching: Troy Glaus, David Eckstein, Darin Erstad, Tim Salmon and Garrett Anderson. Those are the guys I grew up on and they were all in Anaheim for a long time.”

The fact that the pitching coach from that vaunted team, Bud Black, is now his manager may be the one thing that’s gone better for him than expected. 

In the final game of the regular season, Black called on Hollowell once again for what would be the sixth time since being promoted two days after Davis. Meanwhile, Davis awaited the nod.

“I was up here for a while and didn’t get into a game, but I had no complaints. Obviously, I want to get on the field and be a part of the team and play. But just being around the clubhouse and being up here is an experience that, for most of the season, I didn’t expect because of how things were going in Hartford,” Davis confessed.

The Double-A Eastern League is one of the more pitching friendly leagues in the minors. The cold and wet months of April and May can make it a challenge for hitters to get into an early groove. The ball doesn’t fly much and scoring runs can generally be hard for this reason. For Davis, his 5.54 ERA was more than a run above the league average. By midseason, his earned run average started with the number seven. Over his final seven starts, his 3.32 ERA was a lot closer to the one he held through 2021 while in High-A.

Noah Davis strikes out the side in the 4th! Tied bottom 4 pic.twitter.com/GqG1BqlPw9

— Hartford Yard Goats (@GoYardGoats) July 30, 2022

Colorado had long been eliminated from playoff contention, but the 1-1 ball game against L.A. on the last day of the regular season was an opportunity to end on a high note. With each inning that passed, there would be fewer outs remaining and less likelihood for Davis to get his chance. 

The Dodgers scored three in the fifth and continued to use their best arms against the Rockies as they’d have plenty of rest with a bye in the Wild Card Round. The phone rang in the visitor’s bullpen and Reid Cornelius, Colorado’s bullpen coach, signaled for Davis to get ready. He’d enter the game after Hollowell in the seventh.

Every child dreams of playing in the Majors. They never think about the backfields or long bus rides or sharing hotel beds with teammates. It’s the bright lights in the big leagues and nothing else. 

For Davis, he had long thought over the moment of his first pitch as a big leaguer. Slider. That was his pitch. He got strike one with the slider on Cody Bellinger before looking in at the sign from catcher Brian Serven. Slider again. The results were quite different.

“Threw the same exact pitch and Bellinger got a good piece of it.” Davis quipped of the home run, “Maybe I should have planned out the first couple pitches.”

He shared that anecdote during Spring Training in the days leading up to the first exhibition at Salt River Fields, a game that he’d start for Colorado. It was an indicator that Davis would be important to the club during the marathon that is 162-game season. When Germán Márquez went to the injured list with forearm tightness, Davis was the first option this time for Black.

The rookie took the ball on Sunday in Seattle in his first big league start. The Mariners were 7-8 entering the game, but began the year as heavy favorites to reach the postseason for the second consecutive season. 

Davis pitched incredibly well. He walked three, but gave up just three hits — all singles — and gave up no runs over five frames, good enough to earn his first win in the Majors. Unfortunatley, that’s simply not the luck Davis has.

On the other side of the diamond for Seattle was a Cy Young Award candidate that Davis was quite familiar with during their time together as part of the Cincinnati Reds organization. No, instead of earning the win, Davis’ counterpart was throwing an even better game.  Luis Castillo had entered the seventh inning with a perfect game on the line. 

Baseball hadn’t seen a perfect game since 2012. That was courtesy of Félix Hernández who did so for those same Seattle Mariners in the same ballpark. Of course the next one in over a decade would have to be against Davis. However, Jurickson Profar singled to left field to lead off the seventh inning and broke up history in the process.

In the early hours of Monday morning when the last bit of adrenaline left his system, Davis reflected on his big moment in the spotlight and noticed a clip on Twitter going viral courtesy of Pitching Ninja. The social media account, created by Rob Friedman, typically highlights everything from great performances by a pitcher to singular pitches that confound opposing hitters. Justin Lawrence and his sweeper has been a recent favorite. 

Once again, it wasn’t what he would have hoped. His overall performance was worthy of such highlights, especially considering he was the first Rockies pitcher since in 2017 –Senzatela, again — to toss five scoreless frames in his first Major League start. Instead, it was a clip of a line drive that knocked the cap off his head.

This is not how I pictured my first appearance on Pitching Ninja… https://t.co/gUNrkiSDCT

— Noah Davis (@noahxxdavis) April 17, 2023

Things may start to go Davis’ way. Colorado snapped an eight-game losing streak on Thursday over the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0, so the pressure of preventing a 10-game losing streak, only the fourth such skid of that length, is entirely off his shoulders. 

“I’m hoping things are just really good,” Davis said when looking ahead to his start against the Phillies. “This is where it starts to take the turn where things are good.”