'He acted like a champion' - Davis Daniel embraces move to bullpen

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April 26, 2018

By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. ââ'¬" If you look up the definition of teammate, it's simply "a fellow member of a team." But a teammate is so much more than that.

Just ask Davis Daniel.

"I think (good teammates) are the guys that no matter what they're going through personally, they're there to pick everybody up," the Auburn pitcher said. "Whether they're struggling, whether they're at their highs or their lows, they're the even-keeled guy that's always there no matter what."

So when Daniel was asked to give up his starting role for a spot in the bullpen, he could've easily sulked and put his own pride in front of the team. Outside of one relief appearance last year and another at Samford two weeks ago, he had always been a starter. But instead, he accepted his new role because that's what a good teammate would do ââ'¬" always there no matter what.

As a result, fellow pitcher and friend Andrew Mitchell took Daniel's spot in the weekend rotation, and Daniel transitioned to reliever.

"Initially, I'm not going to lie, I was a little frustrated with myself," he said. "I definitely saw it coming. I think Andrew pitched really well throughout the season. I think he deserved it. But once you get over the frustration, you just kind of have to lock in and realize that you're still here to help this team and do everything you can to win."

This past weekend, rather than prepare for his start Saturday like he had done all season, Daniel sat in the bullpen with the other relievers and waited for his name to be called.

Friday's game came and went without an appearance. In the first game Saturday, Daniel never got the call. However, when Auburn started to get in trouble during the fifth inning of Game 2, the coaching staff made the move to bring in the sophomore right-hander.

In only the third relief appearance of his college career, Daniel came in and got the final out of the inning, inducing a ground ball to shortstop to strand a pair of runners. He then pitched the next four innings, giving up just one run off two hits, and earned the victory to complete the sweep over in-state rival Alabama. It was the first time he'd ever finished a game on the mound at Auburn.

"It was a different kind of adrenaline coming into that game," Daniel said. "Starting, you're kind of building up for the whole week. In the pen, you don't really know when you're getting your chance. You're just sitting around waiting and watching the game. For me, I didn't have to think about it quite as much. It was almost just like you're sitting and then all of a sudden, you're hot and you're in and you're just right into the action. So it was a lot of fun."

The next morning, Auburn coach Butch Thompson told Daniel that he's never been prouder of him in the year-and-a-half that he's been with the Tigers.

"That fires me up," Thompson said. "He's had 22 consecutive starts here at Auburn, and then he's being asked to go to a bullpen all of a sudden. How he acted (last) Tuesday in the game as a teammate, how he approached his bullpen on Thursday with Coach (Steve) Smith and then him getting an opportunity and him finishing that ball game for us was huge. He acted like a champion.

"Baseball teaches you so many life lessons, and Davis Daniel didn't blink. He actually stepped toward the opportunity instead of becoming dazed and confused, and we might have got his best."

Down the road, Daniel hopes to return to his role as a starting pitcher. But with less than a month until the postseason and a three-games series beginning Thursday night at Florida followed by matchups against Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and LSU, there's no time to worry about that. His focus is on helping this Auburn team as a reliever the rest of the way.

"I'm pretty much willing to do anything it takes for this team," Daniel said. "I think if you looked around the locker room, there are a lot of guys that are willing to say the same thing."

Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf