Former Top 100 prospect Yankees swiped from Cubs is having a ridiculous power surge

Brennen Davis' Cubs career was interrupted not by developmental woes or a stacked big-league roster standing in his way. Rather, it was the same iceberg in front of the same ocean voyage every single time: Davis just couldn't stay healthy.

Injuries ranging from the freak to the far-too-familiar weighed him down at every turn following his star turn at the 2021 Futures Game. After he peaked at No. 16 on Baseball America's Top 100 list prior to the 2022 season, he finally fell off the rankings in 2024 and wore out his welcome in Chicago at season's end.

Davis was far from a known quantity when the Yankees took a flyer on his raw pop and athleticism, hoping that his mature bat would be able to present itself uninterrupted this season. Still, they knew that was a best-case scenario, and they more than likely had a project ahead of them when they signed him as a minor-league free agent. That would more than likely indicate that they didn't expect him to be readily available on the Scranton Shuttle this season for fill-in duty, and probably intended to re-up him at the end of the year to take another step forward if they liked what they saw.

And how ... could they not ... like what they see, given what's transpired lately? Davis cracked another home run on Thursday night, giving him 11 of them in 21 games at the Triple-A level. He's only played 36 professional games this season — again, not entirely surprising — but has cracked 17 home runs in the process, including one Friday night.

Outfield roles aren't readily available with the big-league Yankees, but without Everson Pereira, there's a power vacuum in the upper minors. You mean to tell me this isn't worth the 40-man spot that Braden Shewmake (pictured above!) is currently occupying, especially considering Trent Grisham is more than likely on the way to greener pastures?

Yankees' Brennen Davis has 16 home runs in 118 at-bats across the minors

Some players who struggle to reach their peak in your organization leave fans with a bad taste when they excel elsewhere (read: Aroldis Chapman). Others, you can't help but root for. After all, it wasn't their fault fate twisted the wrong way.

Davis is certainly in the latter category for Cubs fans, and if the Yankees opt for a return engagement, there's a chance he'll further endear himself to the fanbase sometime next summer, earning his long-awaited opportunity to bash.