Matt Davidson reportedly joining Rangers as he continues to chase two-way dream

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The next time Matt Davidson throws a big league pitch, it could come at the first stadium where he threw a big league pitch.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the former White Sox slugger is heading to the Texas Rangers on a minor league deal. This after the White Sox non-tendered him earlier this offseason.

Passan notes that Davidson could have the opportunity to do what he's very serious about doing: being a two-way player in the major leagues.

Davidson grabbed headlines on the South Side when he became a part of one of 2018's hottest trends, managers using position players to pitch and save a few outs for their relief corps. Davidson, who pitched growing up, found some success, too, retiring all but two of the 11 batters he faced over three appearances, the first of which came against the Rangers in Arlington, the first of two 1-2-3 innings.

Davidson made an even bigger splash when, in his third outing of the season, he struck out New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton.

While plenty of fans and observers saw Davidson's foray into pitching as a throwaway handful of outings to help spell White Sox relievers in a trio of lopsided games, Davidson thought this could become a regular thing. He grew up pitching and talked all about his dream of pitching in the major leagues.

Well, maybe the Rangers will give him that opportunity.

Before the White Sox non-tendered Davidson, general manager Rick Hahn said that Davidson "knows, still, his bread is buttered with the offense he provides" and that he didn't "anticipate" Davidson getting some work as a pitcher during spring training. Then the White Sox made the decision to part ways with Davidson, opting to stick with Daniel Palka, who at the time was competing with Davidson for at-bats at the designated hitter position. The White Sox later added Yonder Alonso via trade and said he'd be splitting time at first base and DH with Jose Abreu.

It left little room for Davidson on the South Side, but he could find a role — or two — in Texas. In addition to the three successful stints as a pitcher last season, Davidson upped his walk total dramatically, going from just 19 of them in 2017 to 52 walks in 2018. His on-base percentage jumped from .260 to .319. He also hit 20 home runs for the second straight season.

So perhaps the AL West, already home to Shohei Ohtani, could have a pair of two-way players.

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