Orioles add Taylor Davis and Brady Rodgers on minor league deals

With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training in a few weeks, the Orioles today added some pitching and catching depth with a pair of minor league signings.

They added right-handed pitcher Brady Rodgers, 29, and right-handed hitting catcher Taylor Davis, 30. Both could get spring training invites, although the club has not announced that group of players yet.

The Houston Astros drafted Rodgers in round three in 2012 after a stellar career at Arizona State. That was at a time when current O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was with the Astros.

As Rodgers was closing in on a chance at a prominent big league role, he underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2017. Last season he went 4-0 with a 3.65 ERA on the farm, mostly at Triple-A. Over 56 2/3 innings he gave up 54 hits with 18 walks and 43 strikeouts. In three games with Houston he was 0-0 with a 16.20 ERA, allowing nine runs over five innings. He also pitched briefly in the majors in 2016, going 0-1 with a 15.12 ERA, allowing 14 runs over 8 1/3 innings.

Rodgers was once a top 30 prospect for Houston. Baseball America rated him as the Astros' No. 23 prospect after the 2012 season, and he was No. 22 after the 2014 and 2016 seasons.

Known for solid control, he is 54-36 with a 4.04 ERA in 140 career games (120 starts) over his minor league career. He has walked 1.73 per nine innings with 7.25 strikeouts. The Astros released him on Aug. 22.

The Chicago Cubs signed Davis as a non-drafted free agent in July 2011. In the 2019 season he played in 61 games at Triple-A for the Cubs, batting .235/.338/.328 with four doubles, five homers and 23 RBIs. He played in seven games for the big league Cubs, batting .167 (3-for-18). Over his career, Davis has thrown out 25 percent of runners attempting to steal, and he is considered a strong pitch-framer.

He could join a group of catchers at Ed Smith Stadium that includes Pedro Severino, Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns, who are on the 40-man roster. The club recently signed Bryan Holaday to a minor league deal. Martin Cervenka, who was in camp last year, also remains with the organization.

Davis has spent time at the Triple-A level the last four years and played briefly for the Cubs every year since 2017, which means he has ties to O's skipper Brandon Hyde, a former Cubs coach.

In his minor league career, over 629 games, Davis has hit .277/.348/.398. In 20 career big league games, he is 8-for-36, batting .222/.256/.333. He has played more than 1,000 career innings on the farm at first base and has played 292 innings at third base.

He is also known for an ability to find and stare into a television camera during his time at Triple-A. A YouTube video put together by the Iowa Cubs in 2017 has been viewed more than 600,000 times.

O's pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota, Fla., on Feb. 11, and the first spring training game is set for Feb. 22.