Matt Davidson Entering Make-Or-Break Year With White Sox

By Bruce Levine-

(CBS) The trade that brought third baseman Matt Davidson to the White Sox proved to be a first-year dud, for the team and player alike.

"I am guilty of trying to prove to much after the trade," Davidson said from the White Sox mini-camp in Glendale, Ariz., this week." Yeah I did that, but this is a new year and it was the first bad one for me, after five good seasons."

Turning 24 in March, Davidson will have to jump-start his career after failing badly at Triple-A in 2014. The White Sox had originally hoped he could compete and win the big league job outright in spring training, but that thinking proved to be flawed. He struggled at the plate and in the field for most of the spring.

The fact that Davidson was moved by the Diamondbacks for White Sox closer Addison Reed was a focal point and brought him more under the microscope because the Chicago bullpen struggled so much and couldn't find a ninth-inning arm to lean on.

Davidson apparently couldn't adjust to the change either.

"Last year a lot of changes occurred and didn't work out," Davidson said. "This year the comfort level is there and not even close to what it was like last year."

The right-handed hitting Davidson has tremendous raw power, which could make him a fixture at third base for the major league team if he can make better contact in 2015. He batted a horrendous .199 with a .283 on-base percentage and a .362 slugging percentage at Triple-A. The swing-and-miss factor was the most alarming part of his decline. Davidson whiffed at a rate of more than once every three at-bats last year (164 strikeouts in 418 at-bats).

The White Sox need to see improvement in the field as well as at the plate. Davidson's 15 errors and .943 fielding percentage won't get it done at the major league level.

"Davidson has as much raw power as any third baseman in baseball," said a scout who has watched his development since he was drafted in the first round of the 2009 amateur draft by Arizona. Davidson appeared in 31 games for the Diamondbacks in 2013.

"I understand what the White Sox liked about him. We have so few players in the game with great power to all fields like this young man. He must get his stroke back and use the opposite field if he is going to have any impact."

Davidson knows the path to the big leagues still has an open door for him.

"It became an issue of confidence," he said.

With a new baby daughter and a different perspective on life, Davidson thinks he will take a more confident approach into this season.

"I am not doing anything that different," he said. "I am just getting mentally focused and prepared for the season ahead."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.