Chicago Cubs top prospect Brennen Davis has his sights set on majors while in Triple-A with Iowa Cubs

Chicago Cubs prospect Brennen Davis keeps his goals for the 2022 season written in a journal he carries around in a backpack. The journal is full of notes he’s jotted down from meetings with members of the organization’s hitting department, inspiring quotes his mother has sent him, and his goals.

Davis’ goals for the season are private, but he’s willing to share one — make it to the big leagues.

“I think it’s very attainable,” Davis said. “I just have to take care of my business and wait for my time.”

The 22-year-old outfielder will begin perhaps the biggest season of his young professional career Tuesday when the Triple-A Iowa Cubs open the year at Buffalo at 12:05 p.m.

Davis, the No. 1 prospect in the Cubs organization according to MLB Pipeline, begins the season just one step away from accomplishing his goal.

“My goal isn’t to be a prospect,” Davis said. “It’s to be a big leaguer.”

The Cubs selected him out of high school in the second round of the 2018 draft. The Arizona native rapidly rose through the minor-league system, impressing everyone along the way. Davis hit .298 in 18 games in rookie ball that season and followed it up by hitting .305 in 50 games in Single-A.

He showed so much promise and potential that when the 2020 minor-league season was wiped out because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cubs invited Davis to the club’s alternate site in South Bend, Ind. Davis continued to impress members of the Cubs’ coaching staff, including Iowa manager Marty Pevey, who was at the site.

“I had never seen guys hit the ball to right, center, on the push side, like him,” Pevey said.

The rest of the world got a good look at it over the course of the 2021 season. Davis earned an invitation to the prestigious All-Star Futures Game and stole the show by hitting a pair of home runs and earning MVP honors. Davis played at three different levels in 2021 and reached Triple-A for the first time. When he made his Triple-A debut, Davis smacked home runs in his first two at-bats.

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Before the 2021 season started, Davis was considered a top-100 prospect by some of the best-known prognosticators, including Baseball America (which ranked him No. 72) and MLB Pipeline (which had Davis at No. 61). But the success of the 2021 season changed everything for Davis.

Davis now enters this season as the No. 1 prospect in the Cubs' organization by MLB Pipeline, which also lists him as the 15th-best prospect in all of baseball. Baseball America lists him as the 16th best. Davis doesn't mind the higher expectations.

"You win one all-star game and people recognize who you are," Davis said. "I'm the same player I was before the (Futures Game). That's kind of how I see it."

Davis is considered a key component to the future of the Cubs organization, the same way other big prospects such as Kris Bryant and Javier Baez once were.

"Brennen is a very talented player himself and we expect that he'll be a big part of our future," said Jared Banner, Chicago's vice president of player development.

But before Davis can help out in Chicago, he needs to clear one more hurdle in Iowa. Davis has logged just 168 games in the minor leagues, including 16 in Triple-A. He needs more experience. Pevey said Davis also needs more experience in the outfield. The Iowa skipper plans to play Davis at all three outfield spots this season.

He also needs more at-bats, especially against Triple-A pitching, which is full of prospects on their way up and former big-league pitchers trying to get back to the majors.

"He just needs to play," Pevey said.

Davis said he added seven pounds of muscle and is up to around 215 pounds after participating in a Cubs camp during the offseason. He worked with a nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach. They did speed and agility exercises and heavy lifts.

During his second day of batting practice at Principal Park on Saturday, Davis wowed teammates and coaches by belting multiple home runs onto the stadium's party deck and metal seats in right field.

"Brennen's got a high ceiling," Pevey said. "He's got power that you don't see very often."

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Chicago Cubs prospect Brennen Davis has sights set on big-league debut