CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MAY 04: Taylor Davis #53 of the Chicago Cubs hits a grand slam during the fourth inning of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field on May 04, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
Cubs back-up catcher Taylor Davis had never hit a home run in his major league career until mashing a grand slam to help tie the Cardinals at 5 runs a piece on Saturday.
The 29-year-old career minor leaguer has never been known for his bat, as Davis got the call up to Chicago when original back-up catcher Victor Caritini fractured his left hand and was placed on the IL back on April 15th. Davis’ role with the Cubs has been minimal, with Willson Contreras catching most games during the week, the veteran backstop hasn’t had much to do in Chicago since arriving.
Davis, who is better known for his ability to find the camera at the ballpark, had been hitless prior to today’s game. The Cubs had been struggling all game against Michael Wacha, while Yu Darvish continued to struggle to throw strikes. It felt like things weren’t going to go the Cubs way, even after they got runners on base. The Cardinals intentionally walked Kyle Schwarber to load the bases to get to Davis. And then he went and this did this.
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1124790673734025217
Davis’ homer prompted everyone to ask roughly the same question, “Who is Taylor Davis?” But was even better than the homer were all the jokes, as Twitter was peak internet comedy.
NBC Sports Chicago’s Cubs twitter page shared this before Davis went yard.
The crazy part was that the Cubs truly needed Davis and his grand slam to beat the 1st place Cardinals, later taking the lead on a solo shot from Javier Baez in the 8th inning. Thanks to Taylor Davis, the Cubs will head into Sunday night’s game down just a 0.5 game back from 1st place in the division. And after their terrible start to 2019, the Cubs are one win away from taking the division back – all thanks to goofy Taylor Davis and his grand salami. This is why baseball is the best.