Matt Davidson signs minor league contract with Dodgers

The Dodgers on Tuesday signed infielder Matt Davidson to a minor league contract. He was also invited to big league camp, giving Los Angeles 31 non-roster invitees.

Davidson had seven hits in 43 at-bats last year for the Reds, hitting .163/.234/.395 with three home runs. The right-handed hitter, who turns 30 in March, has played in parts of five major league seasons for the Diamondbacks, White Sox, and Reds. He got regular playing time in 2017-18 with Chicago, hitting .224/.291/.435, a 95 wRC+, with 46 home runs in those two seasons.

On March 29, 2018, Davidson had a career game for the White Sox, becoming just the fourth player in major league history to club three home runs on opening day.

Davidson is a career .262/.339/.472 hitter against left-handed pitching, his 118 wRC+ against southpaws far outpacing his 85 wRC+ against righties.

Davidson also has a 2.84 ERA in six major league pitching appearances, half coming with the White Sox in 2018 and half with Cincinnati in 2020. But before thinking those 6⅓ innings means the Dodgers signed a two-way player, think again.

For one, the Dodgers only list Davidson as an infielder. But most importantly, all his major league pitching appearances have come in blowouts. Here were his team’s relative scores as Davidson entered his six major league pitching appearances:

• Down 8 runs
• Down 8 runs
• Down 7 runs
• Down 13 runs
• Down 9 runs
• Down 13 runs

Aside from the mound, Davidson’s time in the field in the majors has been split just about equally between third base and first base. He’s played far more third base than first base in the minors, but in 2019 with Triple-A Nashville in the Rangers system, Davidson started 69 games at first base and 27 at third base.

Davidson was also a non-roster invitee to spring training last year with Cincinnati, and made their opening day roster in July.