The son of former Astros and Twins big league outfielder Mark Davidson, Logan followed in the footsteps of his father as a first-round pick by the Athletics out of Clemson in the 2019 Draft. After an inconsistent pro career, he enjoyed arguably his best season in 2024 at Triple-A Las Vegas, hitting .300 with a .901 OPS, 14 home runs and 23 doubles in 87 games. Davidson was invited to big league camp this spring, where he left a strong impression on the big league staff with his performance.
Davidson is finally over the hip injuries that plagued him the previous two years, and the A’s believe that has played a huge role in helping him discover who he is at the plate. As opposed to earlier in his career when he was constantly chasing his swing, Davidson now looks hitterish in the box with an ability to adjust to different pitches and utilize the whole field from both sides as a switch-hitter. He has also displayed much higher exit velocities on a consistent basis over the past year, and though the strikeouts are still somewhat high, he maintains the ability to work counts and draw walks at a decent rate.
It certainly has not been the typical trajectory of a first-round pick, but Davidson reinventing himself as a versatile switch-hitter who can play every position outside of pitcher and catcher has him fully back on the Major League radar. Going unselected in the Rule 5 Draft again this offseason, Davidson has a shot to reach the big leagues with the A's as a super-utility player.
Davidson followed in the footsteps of his father, Mark, a former big league outfielder with the Astros and Twins, as a first-round pick by the A’s out of Clemson in the 2019 Draft. After he was inconsistent early in his pro career, he played arguably his best sustained stretch of baseball over the first two months of the 2023 season at Double-A Midland, hitting .297/.379/.484 with seven homers in 48 games. The strong start earned him a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas, where his offensive numbers dipped slightly but still marked an improvement over what he’d done over the previous couple of years, and while he played in just 90 games in 2024, he found his offensive footing back in Vegas, with a .915 OPS for the year.
The A’s have been really pleased with the progress Davidson made in his approach at the plate. The switch-hitter still strikes out at a high rate, but his ability to work counts helps his walk rate as well. Davidson is a solid runner on the basepaths, though his steal totals have lowered in recent seasons.
Looking to add some versatility to his game, the A’s gave him outfield reps in the Minors in 2024, and he’s shown the ability to play all over the infield. He’s been left unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft the last two seasons and hasn’t been taken, so he’ll get a chance to show he belongs in the big leagues with the A’s next spring.
The son of former Twins and Astros outfielder Mark Davidson, Logan followed the family tradition looking to carve out his own big league path. After starring at Clemson for three years, the A’s selected him 29th overall in the 2019 MLB Draft. His professional career has been an inconsistent one, coupling long stretches of success with struggles at the plate. Repeating Double-A for a second year in 2022, he dealt with a nagging groin injury and hit .252/.337/.406 with 14 homers and 56 RBIs in 111 games.
The switch-hitting Davidson has flashed some plus power at times and generally brings a solid approach to the plate. While his strikeout totals remain high, he still displays a good ability to work counts and his walk totals are decent.
Speed is a solid element to Davidson’s game, enabling him to steal an occasional base. Even in a system filled with premium defenders at shortstop, the A’s like how he plays the position and still utilize him there some, though he does profile more at third base. In what might have been a telling sign of where he stands, Davidson was left unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft this offseason. Entering 2023, he’ll get another shot to break through.
Baseball runs deep in the Davidson family, with Logan’s father, Mark, a former outfielder who spent six Major League seasons playing with the Astros and Twins. Drafted 29th overall by the A’s in 2019 after three standout years at Clemson, Logan is looking to carve out his own path to the big leagues. Playing in his first full season with the organization in 2021, Davidson struggled to stay consistent but ended his year on a high note by going to the Arizona Fall League and hitting .270 in 20 games.
The A’s believe there is more power to Davidson’s game than what has shown up so far in his pro career. His strikeout totals are a bit high but his overall approach at the plate is solid with a good ability to work counts and draw walks. There is also some decent speed to his game that will allow him to swipe the occasional base.
Davidson has played solid defense at shortstop and second, though he will probably end up on the corner at third, a spot he saw considerable time at in 2021 and in the AFL. He has a tendency to overthink things at times, but he’s a diligent worker who should eventually reach the Major Leagues, even if it’s as a super-utility type.
Davidson’s father, Mark, was a Major League outfielder who spent six seasons with the Twins and Astros. Logan was selected No. 29 overall by the A’s in the 2019 Draft after three years at Clemson in which he showed promising power, though his performance with wood bats in the Cape Cod League over two summers showed there was still work that needed to be done. Davidson overcame a slow start in the Class A Short Season New York-Penn League in 2019 to slash .301/.400/.408 that August. The improvements at the plate continued as he was one of the top performers at the club’s alternate site last year.
A switch-hitting infielder, Davidson tweaked his swing at the alternate site last year and showed off strong power, especially to the opposite field from the left side. He will continue to fill out his wiry 6-foot-3 frame, which should get him to at least average game power. There will be strikeouts, though he has also shown a good ability to work counts and draw walks. His speed will also allow him to swipe a bag now and then.
Even though he’s on the taller side for shortstop, he plays the position well with his long limbs. Third base is a possibility in the future, but his strong arm and athleticism should keep him at shortstop for a good while.
The son of former big league outfielder Mark Davidson, Logan Davidson decided to head to his father’s alma mater, Clemson, rather than sign out of the North Carolina high school ranks. He showed off plenty of power in his three years, though he struggled with wood bats in two summers in the Cape Cod League. The A’s liked his upside enough to take him at the end of the first round of the 2019 Draft and signed him for full pick value. After a very slow start to his pro career in the Short-Season New York-Penn League, he posted a .301/.400/.408 August and then swung the bat really well in instructional league play, leaving the A’s optimistic about his first full season of pro ball.
A switch-hitting infielder, Davidson has wiry strength and a lot of raw power, with more in-game pop to come as he fills out that 6-foot-3 frame. With some length to his arms, there’s swing and miss and he does have trouble being on time at the plate. If he’s going to get to average game power, there are going to be strikeouts as well, though he does offset that with an ability to work counts and draw walks. An above-average runner who does produce plus run times occasionally, Davidson is a good baserunner able to steal a base now and again.
Though he’s a bit tall for shortstop, that speed, his overall athleticism and his strong arm should be enough to let him stay at the premium position long term. The A’s do like to move infielders around, and he could see time on both sides of second base, and even some action at the hot corner, as he begins his climb up the A’s ladder.
As a North Carolina high schooler, Logan emerged as an early-round prospect for a handful of teams late in the 2016 Draft process. He ultimately turned down the Phillies as 30th-rounder to attend Clemson, where his father Mark had played en route to a big league career. Much like former Clemson star Seth Beer, an Astros first-rounder in 2018, Davidson has confounded evaluators with the dichotomy between his success with metal bats (.939 OPS, 42 homers in two-plus years with the Tigers) and struggles with wood (.570 OPS, three homers in two summers in the Cape Cod League).
If scouts were convinced that Davidson will hit with wood, he'd likely be the first college shortstop drafted in June. A switch-hitter, he has some timing issues and a swing that tends to get long, leading to strikeouts. His strength and leverage already generate plus raw power, and he should have more as he fills out his lanky 6-foot-3 frame.
There are no holes in the rest of Davidson's game. He produces solid to plus run times and uses his speed to steal a few bases and cover ground at shortstop. He's tall for the position but should be able to remain there with his athleticism and strong arm.
These run values are leveraged, meaning the base/out situation at the time of the event does impact the run value (thus introducing context outside the batter's own contribution).
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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0
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1
0
0
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1
1
1
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0
0
0
1
1
1
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about how positioning is defined here
