On April 9, a dream came true for Duncan Davitt, he was called up to the big leagues by the Chicago White Sox. It was a dream that began at a young age.
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Growing up in a small town in Des Moines, Iowa, with a population of approximately 15,000, there weren’t many people that Davitt could draw inspiration from to get into baseball. But one person who was born in that part of Iowa was Casey Blake, who played in Major League Baseball from 1999-2011. Blake and his father, Joe Blake Sr., saw something in Davitt and started training him, taking him under their wings and giving him lessons.

Davitt would go on to play collegiate baseball at the University of Iowa before getting drafted in the 18^th round of the 2022 MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.

He spent the next several years playing in the minor leagues for several different affiliates, but during that time, he was introduced to VeloU by his college pitching coach, Robin Lund. When Davitt began at VeloU, he worked on trying to get some more velocity on his pitches, more lift on his fastball, and improvement on his pitching shapes.

His training with VeloU is remote, so there are challenges that come with it not being in-person. Not having someone right next to you when you are working so you can adjust and tweak on the fly is an unconventional way to train. But the technologies that VeloU provides allowed Davitt to see his progress from a mechanical and production standpoint.

During all the training and the years in the minor league, Davitt remained patient and maintained belief in himself and his abilities. “You have to have at least a small amount of delusion to be able to make it in baseball,” Davitt said. “If you don’t think you’re one of the best players in the world, you wouldn’t even try, and there’s a certain amount of arrogance that comes with that, to think you’re one of the best in the world.”

Davitt has learned the ability to stay patient. A phrase that has always been relayed to him is “don’t play GM.” He wasn’t sure what that meant early on, as he always envisioned himself playing in the major leagues. When he was called up, it began resonating what the term really means, practicing patience, embracing the situation, not looking too far down the road, and living in the moment.

When the White Sox called up Davitt, he wrote about it for the Indianola Record-Herald, a publication that his parents own in Indianola, Iowa. Davitt contributes to the paper during his offseasons, covering prep sports.

The day was a whirlwind for him. Going from the minors to the majors is a quick turnaround, as Davitt was told, and then hours later was on a plane from Charlotte to Kansas City.

Davitt debuted for the White Sox on April 10 against the Kansas City Royals, checking in midway through the seventh inning as the relief pitcher for Davis Martin, pitching a scoreless inning in the 2-0 loss. It was a full-circle moment for Davitt, as he often attended games at Kauffman Stadium growing up.

As Davitt continues to grow as a pitcher, he knows he’s made strides, but he still feels there are aspects he can continue to grow in, such as his command at the mound and pitch sequencing.

For Davitt, a lot of his growth as a pitcher over the years he attributes to his time with VeloU, where he has been assisted not only with his performance as a pitcher, but also with the strategy behind his training structure and learning about nutrition.

When Davitt started with VeloU, he learned quickly that the best way for him to develop was to be the best student he can be. “Buying in gets you a lot of leeway, you learn a lot if you just buy in.”

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