Pitcher · 2021

Wade Davis

Kansas City Royals American League Central

Age: 36
B/T: R/R
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 225 lb
Number: #40

Born: September 7, 1985 in Lake Wales, FL, USA
MLB debut: September 6, 2009

dbWAR: 3.5
IP: 42.2
ERA: 6.75
FIP: 5.30
K/9: 8.0
FIP−: 124

Wade Davis is a relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals. In 2021 he struck out 38 batters over 42.2 innings across 40 appearances, going 0-3. His ERA of 6.75 was 58.2% higher than the league average of 4.27 — the second worst on his team, and 535th of 567 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 5.30 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 23.4% of swings (11.3% of every pitch he threw), walked 10.0% of the batters he faced and struck out 20.0%. His -0.3 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2021.

FIP5.30

K/98.0

WHIP1.48

WAR-.3

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.


2021	40	42.2	0	3	2	44	32	38	19	6.75	5.30	1.48	8.0	4.0	158	124	-0.3
2020	5	4.1	0	1	2	9	10	3	3	20.77	12.88	2.77	6.2	6.2	466	289	-0.4
2019	50	42.2	1	6	15	51	41	42	29	8.65	5.56	1.88	8.9	6.1	192	123	-0.3
2018	69	65.1	3	6	43	43	30	78	26	4.13	3.65	1.06	10.7	3.6	100	88	0.7
2017	59	58.2	4	2	32	39	15	79	28	2.30	3.38	1.14	12.1	4.3	53	78	0.9
2016	45	43.1	2	1	27	33	9	47	16	1.87	2.29	1.13	9.8	3.3	45	55	1.1
2015	69	67.1	8	1	17	33	7	78	20	0.94	2.29	0.79	10.4	2.7	24	58	1.7

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Season

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2021. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
Split	PA	AB	H	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	K%
vs LHB	79	70	18	6	8	20	.257	.333	.529	.367	25.3%
vs RHB	111	93	26	2	11	18	.280	.351	.398	.328	16.2%

Pitch sequencing

What Wade Davis throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter

Four-seamCutterKnuckle curveSinkerChangeup

Select a count to see exactly what Wade Davis throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, and how often it misses in 2021.


Four-Seam Fastball	40.3%	310	92.7	2,390	44.5%	13.4%
Cutter	32.0%	246	88.6	2,685	50.0%	31.6%
Knuckle Curve	19.6%	151	81.9	2,474	38.4%	26.9%
Sinker	6.5%	50	91.4	2,383	36.0%	28.0%
Changeup	1.6%	12	84.4	1,771	16.7%	20.0%

Wade Davis's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters.

Head to head

Put Wade Davis beside up to three others.

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Wade Davis

Similar players

Nearest 2021 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

David HalePHI

ERA: 6.41
FIP: 5.16
SO: 21
WAR: -0.1

Very close

Paul CampbellMIA

ERA: 6.41
FIP: 5.01
SO: 26
WAR: -0.1

Very close

Alex ClaudioLAA

ERA: 5.51
FIP: 5.10
SO: 30
WAR: -0.1

Very close

Tommy NanceCHC

ERA: 7.22
FIP: 5.02
SO: 30
WAR: -0.1

Very close

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.