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Get to know Wade Davis as he brings his curveball and love of animals to the Rockies

Opposing teams might want to think twice about the strategy of trying to chase the starter out of the game early when they're playing the Rockies in 2018. This offseason, they've added to their already-deep relief corps of Adam Ottavino, Chris Rusin, Mike Dunn and Jake McGee with Bryan Shaw and, now, Wade Davis, a source told MLB.com's Thomas Harding.
Here's what you need to know about the newest member of the Rockies bullpen. a souce told MLB.com's Thomas Harding.
The curveball
Since becoming a reliever in 2014, Davis has a 1.45 ERA, the lowest among all relievers with at least 100 innings over that span. A big reason for that is his curveball, which has the ability to make even the best hitters look silly. For example, you know you've got a good pitch when you can make Bryce Harper look like this:

The bat
Even in the National League, hitting isn't exactly a point of emphasis for relief pitchers. Nevertheless, it's certainly not a bad thing if a reliever can handle the bat a bit.
Now, Davis has only made two plate appearances since moving to the bullpen full-time in 2014, and both have ended in strikeouts. But, watch him foul off five pitches from Dodgers reliever Tony Cingrani and tell me he doesn't know what he's doing up there.

The animal bond
Up in the altitude of the Rocky Mountains, one never knows what sort of fauna one might encounter. The Rockies have found a pitcher in Davis who can roll with whatever Mother Nature throws his way. Back in 2015, he threw with a moth hanging out on his cap:

Earlier that same season, he was unfazed by the interruption of a squirrel running around on the field. He waited for the squirrel to make its exit and proceeded to strike out the batter he was facing.

So, bring on the mountain lions or whatever is lurking up there in the mountains. Davis is ready.

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