Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski helped fuel an ex-Cub's Spring Training comeback story

One of the less-discussed features of the chasm that remains between the small-market Milwaukee Brewers and blockbuster-hunting Chicago Cubs is the latter's inability to develop top prospects with any consistency. The Crew have had their share of notable busts, to be fair, but it pales in comparison to the failures on the North Side.

For every success story like Pete Crow-Armstrong or Cade Horton, there have been a dozen swings-and-misses for the Cubs. Players like Matt Shaw, Ben Brown, and Jordan Wicks are recent top prospects who have fallen short of success at the big-league level, and those are just the players who made it that far. Cristian Hernandez and Brennen Davis were two of the most-hyped Cubs prospects in recent memory, and yet neither could ever make it to Wrigley Field.

Speaking of Davis, he was finally freed from his Cubs shackles last year and impressed in the New York Yankees' farm system, posting a 154 wRC+. Now, he's absolutely mashing with the Seattle Mariners in Spring Training, posting a 304 wRC+ with four home runs through 10 games.

His latest blast was a true sight to behold, especially since it came against Milwaukee Brewers All-Star Jacob Misiorowski.

Former Cubs top prospect Brennen Davis improves Opening Day case with tape measure home run off Jacob Misiorowski

The outfielder, a second-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, exploded onto the scene in 2019, posting a .906 OPS in 50 games. When he hit 19 home runs and recorded a .494 slugging percentage as a 21-year-old who reached Triple-A by season's end in 2021, his prospect stock skyrocketed.

Unfortunately, the lost 2020 season that featured no minor league games stunted his development, and then, the injuries started piling up. A lot of them could be classified as freak injuries too, starting with his first back surgery in June 2022, followed by core surgery and, then, in 2024, back and ankle fractures, among other things.

It's probably a good thing that Davis never got healthy with the Cubs, because when he's healthy, he's looked like an absolute monster at the plate. The Yankees should have called him up and given him a chance to make his long-awaited MLB debut, but their 40-man roster glut in the outfield gifted him to the Mariners.

Hitting a home run like that off Misiorowski, even in spring training, is no small feat. Only eight guys managed to hit one off the flamethrowing rookie last year, and none went as far as Davis' majestic blast.

Davis still has to clear the final hurdle (health) to make the Mariners' Opening Day roster, but it sure looks like the Brewers caught a break when the Cubs let him go.