Jim Hickey And Joe Maddon On Wade Davis

Alden Gonzalez has this on Wade Davis from pitching coach Jim Hickey and manager Joe Maddon after today's game:

"The thing about Wade is that he's confident, extremely aggressive, and he's well-armed for the job," Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey said. "It's not somebody who's confident and aggressive going out there with below-average stuff. This guy has very quality stuff across the board, and he added a slider to his repertoire last year -- that was a big factor for him, and it's going to be [this year]. He's got four legitimate pitches and pretty much everything you look for."

Davis said his slider is "not quite as sharp right now as it will be in the future." On Monday, he mostly threw fastballs again while mixing up a couple of curveballs. "It was a little different this time," Davis said, "but I kept the ball on the ground, we made some good plays and I threw strikes again."
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"I love the tempo that he demonstrates," Maddon said. "He gets the ball, and he throws it. And he's throwing it in good spots, too. He's keeping it down, primarily with his fastball. Great location, great poise, and another really fine outing for him -- it really was. Right now, he's wanting to make a point that 'I'm here,' and the way he's doing it is very interesting."