Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Introducing a new Q&A feature that aims to introduce you to the humans who wear the San Francisco Giants uniforms. This week: Jaylin Davis. The following has been lightly edited:
Earliest memory?
My granddad owned a car lot when I was younger, and I guess that’s probably up there. That’s where I spent most of my time. They picked me up from school, and I’d be up there with them. So I guess that’s probably most of my earliest memories.
So you hung out in the car lot?
Yeah. I would go up there and that’s where I was throwing baseballs off the wall and stuff.
Are you a car guy?
My granddad is a real big car guy. I would guess yes, I’ve seen all kinds of cars in my lifetime, it’s pretty cool.
Can you go behind the hood and know what you’re doing?
I wouldn’t say I know exactly what I’m doing, but I know the basic stuff just from being around him.
What is 10-year-old Jaylin Davis like?
I don’t think I’ve changed that much. Just pretty laid-back, not really very vocal, but I guess I was a little goofier back then.
What’s the most trouble you got into?
One time in school, I guess I was talking in class or something like that with my friends. But other than that, that’s about it.
Sent to the corner?
I actually went to a private school where they actually had paddles and stuff. All the way up to when I was in fourth grade. It was a Christian school — it wasn’t hard, but you’d get three pops or something.
Did it hurt?
Not at all. I didn’t cry. It only happened once, but I remember.
It was the teacher?
The principal, in first or second grade (laughs). They only did it for a couple years, then they stopped doing it.
So you played baseball — what other sports?
I played basketball, play football a little bit until I got to middle school
Were you good?
I was pretty athletic, so yeah. Football I didn’t really care about, I just played because all my friends were playing. I really like basketball, ended up playing AAU for a while, too.
How good were you? Were you the team’s best player?
I wouldn’t say best player. I could shoot.
Could you dunk?
No.
Can you dunk?
Now? Yeah. But give me time to warm up a little bit (laughs). I play around with my friends in the offseason.
You went to high school in McLeansville, N.C. What is that like?
It was good — I enjoyed my time there, still have friends from there till this day that I talk to. I lived six, seven minutes away from the school, so I still go see the coaches and stuff like that. It’s definitely played a role in my career for sure.
You’re a good pupil for hitting coaches here. Were you a scholar in high school? Did you like classes?
My mom was the type to say, “If you’re going to play sports, you’re going to make good grades, and this is the only way you’re going to play.” She was always just telling me baseball is a luxury not a necessity. So I was like, all right, I got it. I had to get my studies together. Once she put that in my head a couple of times, after that I knew.
Did you have a favorite class?
If anything, I would say science. I was in the science fair a couple times when I was in middle school.
What were the projects?
One she still has — how tornadoes are formed. We did a little thing with dry ice and fans. I ended up making it out of my school and into a competition, but then I got killed there (laughs).
If you’re not a baseball player, are you involved in science? What are you doing?
Probably not. I’m not a baseball player, I’m probably coaching. Helping people out, helping kids out.
Best first date?
With my current girlfriend now. I’m a really laid-back guy. When we first went out, I didn’t really talk much. We played mini golf, we talked back and forth, talked back and forth. She still tells me to this day, “I thought you hated me. You barely talked. I made it my mission to make you talk more,” and she still does. I feel like she’s kind of helped me get out of my shell a little bit more and express myself.
How did she do that?
Just by … she likes to talk a lot. She would tell you that, but she’ll probably kill me for saying that (laughs). Just being around her made me come out of my shell. She pries and pries and just goes, “Talk, talk more.”
How’d you meet her?
Spring training with the Twins last year. We were out one night and I met her, we ended up going out on a date. That whole spring training we spent time together. I ended up leaving, going to [Double-A] Pensacola, and she ended up coming out a couple times.
Favorite quality about her?
Just the way she carries herself. She’s very smart. She’s into athletics, she used to be a trainer. She helped me out this offseason with nutrition — I told her I wasn’t feeling too good stomach-wise, and she was like, “Hey, you need to do this, we’re going to diet, we’re going to eat healthy.” She’s caring. That’s the biggest thing. She puts other people before herself.
Few baseball players have come out of Appalachian State. How’d you end up there?
I went up there a couple times because I ended up playing there in showcase one summer, and I was like, this place is pretty nice. About my junior year [in high school], started getting letters and stuff from them and then I went up to visit. And it was during the fall, when it’s so pretty up there in the mountains, and it kind of hit me — I really want to go here. And then a couple guys that I played with in the past had committed, too. Then all of a sudden I get a call from NC State, and it’s like, “Hey, come up and visit,” so I go up there and visit. I like it, too. One of my good friends had committed there. He was debating on whether there or App, too, but he was an NC State fan growing up. I know he’s leaning toward there, and he’s like, “We’re going to be roommates.” And after that, I was leaning toward NC State.
Then I get a call from the App coach, he was like, “Hey, we want you to come back up.” We’re sitting in the office, and he was like, “We’re going to offer you 80 percent. You’re going to come in, have a chance to play as a freshman.” It was a chance for me to go to college and not be in debt. And I’m actually going to get the opportunity to play — I’m competitive, for me, I want to get out there and play.
Did it concern you that the school hadn’t produced many big leaguers?
Not really. I just knew if I got a chance to go out and play, it would be more beneficial to me than going somewhere and not being able to play my first year. As a player, of course the name of the school — having that name — is cool, but going somewhere where I can build my own little legacy there was the biggest thing for me.
Do you feel you wear that? Do you rep App State in the majors?
Kind of. It was fun going back there this offseason, I got to do the coin toss for the homecoming football game. Just seeing them put my name on the scoreboard, with the Giants, that was pretty cool.
What’s your 21st birthday like?
I’m pretty sure I was in Fort Myers (Fla.) because I was rehabbing my shoulder [after surgery]. There was a group of guys that I instantly bonded with out there. I actually don’t remember much from it. (Laughs.) They did a good job taking care of me. I still talk to those guys to this day — that was my core group of friends with the Twins. Low-draft guys and we kind of just clicked. Andrew Vasquez, Max Cordy — who’s actually no longer playing but he lives in Sacramento, got to see him last year. Alex Robinson, who was my roommate for the Twins.
When you’re such good friends with groups of guys like this, how difficult is getting traded?
It’s definitely difficult. I’ve been with those guys since Day One. It was hard, but it was the best thing for me I thought. And I still talk to them. I was in Fort Myers this offseason — my girlfriend’s from there and lives there and works there, so I got to see them. I’m in one of the guy’s weddings this offseason.
There are a million stories about terrible minor league moments.
I’ve got a perfect one in mind. We were in Cedar Rapids [Iowa], and we had a trip to Boiling Springs [S.C.]. We played in Boiling Springs and then we played the Indians affiliate [in Lake County, Ohio]. We get halfway there, and the air goes out of the bus. Just picture you’re sitting at the front of the bus, you see all these minor league guys just sitting there in their underwear and it smells like pee. It was terrible. We were probably three hours in. So we did that for about seven hours. And then finally they stopped and were like, we need to change buses, it’s not gonna work. This was 2016 or ’17.
Are there ever moments where you’re like, this isn’t worth it?
Oh, multiple times. That was definitely one of them it was, it was pretty rough.
What keeps you going?
When you step out on the field, all that just goes away. It’s like, all right, I’m here, I’m playing. Those are just some things you have to put up with.
Sept. 4 you get the call-up. Put me next to you.
It’s crazy. I was actually with one of my buddies from the Twins — he lives pretty close to Sacramento and he was home — and he came and got me on an off-day. We went out to a lake, just hung out and went to his parents’ home, and they made us dinner and we were catching up. They’re like, “Hey, you know when you’re going to get the call?” And I’m like, “Not really.” They were like, “Hopefully soon,” and I was like, “Yeah, it’d be nice.”
He’s taking me back to the hotel. I get a call and I don’t know who it is. He’s like, “You might want to answer it. It’s around that time.” I answered it and it’s Brundy [Sacramento manager Dave Brundage]. He told me, and [my friend] pulled over at a gas station, said, “Take your time, call whoever you need to call.”
Ended up calling my mom and all of them and telling them, “Nothing’s wrong, relax. I just got called up.” This was late — it was 9 o’clock, so midnight East Coast. My mom started crying and went up and woke up my little brother. He was asleep, delusional, he had no clue going on until the next day, when they were flying out.
What’s your brother’s name?
Amari. He’s 13. Pretty big age gap right there.
What is the relationship there?
We’re pretty close. When I’m home, my mom’s always like, “You can’t do this because he’s gonna want to do this. Your hair’s like this, so he’s gonna want to do his hair like that.” We really have a close relationship. I’ve told him if he needs anything, call me, so we FaceTime a lot. I told him if you ever need to talk, you don’t have to always go to mom or dad, you can come talk to me.
Does he do that? What’s big-brother Jaylin’s advice?
I just try to put myself in his situation. For me it’s just, what would I do in that situation and trying to help him through that, and I feel for him. It’s kind of cool because I wish I had that older brother to talk to, not having to go to mom and dad. It’s pretty cool having him look up to me and knowing that he can come to me about things.
What has he come to you about?
He was like, “I like baseball, but I don’t want to do it — I’ll play, but it’s not a big thing for me.” I was like, “Dude, you don’t have to play because I play. Do your own thing, follow your own path. I’m always going to support you no matter what. Just because you don’t play baseball doesn’t mean I’m not going to be interested in what you do.” I feel like him knowing that was good for him. He just pushed his way towards basketball now.
You probably cast a pretty big shadow at home.
I try to tell him, “You’re not loved any less than I am.” It’s just that I’m never there. So if people talk about me all the time because I’m not there — for him, that’s kind of hard to deal with.
The walk-off home run Sept. 25 — what’s the clubhouse scene afterward?
It’s a good time. Walked in, all the lights and stuff flashing. Next thing I know they tell me to get in the little laundry cart.
Who’s they?
I don’t even remember. Everyone. They’re like, “No, leave your jersey on.” I get in one and then Mauricio [Dubon is] there, and they’re like, “Hey, you didn’t get one either, so you’re getting in.” We get pushed in the shower, then next thing we know milk, beer, shaving cream, all kinds of stuff is on us. It was so much fun. It was really cold.
You mentioned last year that you felt like you were putting a little bit too much pressure on yourself. What does that feel like — are you gripping the bat too tight? How did the pressure manifest for you?
I don’t even think it was on the field, it was just mentally. Finally get where you always want to be. And everything I did in the minor leagues last year, just trying to do everything at once. You can’t do that. You need to go out there and play relaxed. I let the games speed up on me a little bit.
I don’t feel like that’s the case anymore. I feel like me struggling that early helped me even more. Just knowing that it’s out of the way.
Quick hits: Most underrated part of being a major leaguer?
The travel. Just getting to play in different cities all the time, I think that to me is really cool, getting to see different places.
I thought that was going to be the answer for the worst part.
It definitely goes both ways, not being in one place all the time.
Last meal on earth?
Steak, lobster, pizza, mac and cheese and I’m good.
Nothing from your mom’s cooking?
I mean, yes and no. My mom’s a really good cook, so it’s kind of hard to choose from.
Good answer. Childhood hero?
Just my family. My mom, my dad, my grandparents — just being there. I wouldn’t have gotten into baseball doing what I’m doing now if it wasn’t for them. Spending all those weekends at the fields, and they had to go to work during the week and just taking their time out and traveling with me just to help me accomplish what I wanted to do. Without them, I definitely wouldn’t be sitting right here.
Who washed your jersey after each game?
My grandma. When I would have people from the team stay over — there would be five or six of us. And she would stay up. Then we would wake up and all of the jerseys are laid out on the couch, number by number, socks and everything in a row. She had [the cleaning] mastered. It looked like we didn’t even play.
Favorite book?
I read a book about Derek Jeter when I was in middle school, and that kind of stuck with me. That’s the first thing that pops in my head.
Favorite TV show?
I have a lot of them. When I was in high school I used to get up and watch “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” before I went to school every morning. Still to this day I go back and watch reruns of it.
Music?
More of a hip-hop guy, but I went to App, so I know a lot of country. I got to see Luke Combs play at a bar in school. He went [to App State], so I think that was kind of cool. He got me more into country.
What hip-hop groups?
Drake’s always got good stuff. Kevin Gates. Post Malone, too. Anything that has a good beat I can get into.
Do you have one pump-up song?
Ballin’ by Roddy Richh. Forgot to throw his name in there.
Why is Jaylin Davis gonna make it?
When I put my mind to something, I’ve always done whatever I can to make it happen. I feel like I’ve always worked hard to get to where I need to be. And I think that was instilled in me at a young age, and I feel like that [work ethic] is always going to be there for me. And I’m very competitive. That’s a big thing, too. No matter what it is, I’ll find a way to make it competitive.