By Ryan Divish
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Mariners filled one of their two vacancies for their major league coaching staff on Tuesday, announcing the hiring of Paul Davis to serve as their pitching coach for the 2019 season.
Davis has spent the last five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, working in a variety of roles. Most recently he served as the Cardinals’ manager of pitching analytics. The duties included “working to assist pitchers at all levels of the Cardinals organization.” Prior to that he served as the assistant pitching coordinator for the Cardinals minor league system in 2016 and 2017.
“I’ve worked primarily with minor league pitchers so I know where everyone has come from,” he said. “I think I have a really good appreciation of how difficult the game can be, but the time, it’s about building relationships and I’ve been able to do that the past six years. It’s been helpful to have a variety of different experiences in the game that I’ve been able to coach on the field, be a roving coach, work with our scouts, communicate with the front office.
“I’ve been able to see things through a lot of different lenses. To be able to bring that into a Major League dugout and onto the field, that’s what everyone is shooting for. We all know that whatever level we are at, that’s the game that’s important every night.”
He began his professional coaching career with the Cardinals in 2013, serving as the pitching coach for the Cardinals’ advanced rookie league team in Johnson City, Tenn. He returned to that role in 2014, but also added responsibilities as the coordinator of pitching analytics. He then served as the Cardinals’ “rehab pitching coach” in 2015.
“Paul is a bright pitching mind with a very diverse background,”Jerry Dipoto said. “He has exceptional understanding of the mechanics of pitching, as well as the balance to make evidence-based decisions.”
Davis replaces Mel Stottlemyre Jr., who didn’t have his contract renewed following the 2018 season.
“I’m excited to add Paul to our coaching group,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “As we’ve talked in recent weeks, it became clear that his philosophies, experience and skillset made him a great fit for what we are building here.”
Prior to getting into professional baseball, Davis served as a head baseball coach at Dana College in Blair, Neb., from 1995-1999. In six seasons at Dana, he was twice named Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference Coach-of-the-Year and led the Vikings to a school-record 32 wins and a conference championship in 1996 at the NAIA level. He worked as a high school/American Legion coach from 1986-88, 1997 and 2011-2012.
He also has a scouting background, doing some work during his time with the Cardinals as their “pitching mechanics team leader” from 2014-2018. He worked for the Philadelphia Phillies as pre-draft psychological evaluator in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2012.
Per his resume: “Davis has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Creighton University (1985), a Bachelor of Science degree in History Education from Peru State College (2004) and a Master’s in Education in Educational Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2004). He took advanced course work in Leadership Studies at University of Nebraska-Lincoln through 2007, lacking only a dissertation for his doctoral (PhD) degree.”
As a player, Davis played three seasons for Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Fla. , graduating in 1981. He played at Valencia Community College (Orlando, Fla.) in 1982 and 1983 and then transferred to Creighton, where he played two seasons (1984-85).
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