Former 1st-rounders Jason Kendall, Neil Walker praise Pirates for picking catcher Henry Davis No. 1 overall

After the Pittsburgh Pirates made Henry Davis the first overall pick of the MLB Draft on Sunday night, the Louisville catcher came to the table where another former Pirates first-round pick at the position was seated.

Neil Walker handed his phone to Davis. From a celebratory draft room at PNC Park, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington offered his congratulations to the newest face of the franchise.

Henry Davis. Pittsburgh Pirate. pic.twitter.com/GFQICg9XIP

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 12, 2021

Walker later joined Davis in a private room in the back of Denver’s Bellco Theater, where they recorded a brief video together for the Pirates’ official Twitter account and where Walker visited with Davis, his parents, Chris and Andrea, and his brother and sister, Morgan and Olivia.

“I had an opportunity to go back and ham it up with him and say, ‘Welcome to the organization. You’re going to love this city and this organization,’ ” said Walker, a Pine-Richland graduate who was drafted 11th overall in 2004, played for the Pirates from 2009-15 and will work on their radio and television broadcasts in August and September. “When the program closed, I was able to meet his family. They were just wonderful, down-to-earth people and really excited about what’s coming.”

How perfect.

The first person to meet @henrydavis32 is The Pittsburgh Kid, @NeilWalker18! pic.twitter.com/K8W5zOWDVD

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 11, 2021

So was Jason Kendall, who was watching the draft from his home in Kansas City, the final stop of his 15-year major-league career. Twenty-nine years earlier, the Pirates drafted Kendall, a catcher from Torrance, Calif., with the 23rd pick of the first round.

While some analysts questioned the Pirates for passing on prep shortstops Marcelo Mayer and Jordan Lawlar or Vanderbilt right-hander Jack Leiter, Kendall was impressed that the Pirates prioritized the position by picking Davis.

“Maybe I’m being a little biased because of the position, but I think it’s amazing,” said Kendall, a three-time All-Star catcher in nine seasons with the Pirates from 1996-2004. “Just the way he carried himself. If you’re going to go in the first round, obviously you have the ability. You’ve got to have all the intangibles, not just the athletic ability.

“I’m actually really excited for the Pirates. I think it’s a start in the right direction. … I’m excited for Pittsburgh because I’ve been around over the last 10 years, and there’s no catching anywhere. Not too many people want to go that route. I think it was a very wise pick. I don’t think it’s a surprising pick at all. I think it’s a brilliant pick. Hopefully, he works out there and he can be there for longer than I was and bring home a championship to Pittsburgh. I love the pick.”

"You win in life with the right people and I definitely have the right people by my side."

Henry Davis goes first overall at the 2021 #MLBDraft!@Pirates | #MLBTonight pic.twitter.com/Oi6YOdww7i

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 11, 2021

Davis is the seventh catcher the Pirates have picked in the first round, and Kendall and Walker represent their most successful selections at the position. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Davis appears to be a combination of the two, with Walker’s size and bat and Kendall’s chiseled physique and jaw line.

The Pirates have had a mixed bag of results in drafting catchers in the first round. Steve Nicosia, picked No. 24 in 1973, started four of the seven games in the 1979 World Series, including the Game 7 victory, but he played only 358 career games. Jon Farrell was drafted 24th in 1991 but moved to the outfield and never advanced above Double-A. Tony Sanchez was taken fourth overall out of Boston College in 2009, but he played only 51 games over three seasons as a backup. Reese McGuire, the 14th pick in 2013, was one of two top-10 prospects infamously included as part of the trade package when the Pirates dumped Francisco Liriano’s salary in a trade-deadline deal with Toronto in 2016.

From Cherington to assistant general manager Steve Sanders to senior director of amateur scouting Joe DelliCarri, the Pirates have been adamant they chose Davis because he was the top player on their draft board, not to address their greatest organizational need.

Then again, the selection shouldn’t come as a surprise given Pirates manager Derek Shelton is a former minor-league catcher and new farm director John Baker spent seven seasons catching in the majors.

“It’s an important position. There’s no doubt about that,” Sanders said. “I will say, you’ve probably heard Joe and Ben and myself repeat this, probably ad nauseum, but our focus wasn’t on drafting a catcher or really making sure we got any number of catchers.

“There’s no denying the importance of it. I think this year things lined up for us to take a catcher in Henry Davis at 1:1. Being a catcher was secondary to a lot of that. I think you know we were focused on having the best player possible. We felt Henry Davis was the best player we could add to the organization. I think the fact that that we feel confident that he’s going to be an impactful big-league catcher for a long time is really an added bonus in that respect.”

Not only was Davis regarded as the best hitter in college baseball this season, slashing .370/.482/.663 with 15 home runs and 48 RBIs in 50 games, but he has a rocket arm that drew a 70 grade on scouts’ 20-80 scale and threw out 46% (13 of 28) attempted base stealers in 2021 and 40% (25 of 63) over his three-year college career.

Want to see what a 70-grade arm can do?

From Henry Davis’ Instagram: pic.twitter.com/2fbgkFgUe3

— Jake Crouse (@JakeCrouseMLB) July 12, 2021

Although he is considered athletic enough to play a corner infield or outfield position, Davis emphasized he wants to remain behind the plate. All-Star catchers Buster Posey and Yadier Molina are his favorite players, as much for their leadership as their game-calling and hitting.

“It’s very important to me,” Davis said. “I love to catch, I love being able to contribute every pitch, so for me, doing everything I can off the field and on the field during practice — what I do every day to be the best baseball player and the best catcher I can be — is my goal every day.”

Kendall believes the best thing for Davis is to “just get out and play.” When the Pirates drafted Kendall out of Torrance (Calif.) High School in June 1992, he recalls graduating the next day. Where his friends went on a senior trip to Mazatlan, Mexico, Kendall signed and reported to Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., to begin his pro baseball career.

Kendall and Walker were drafted out of high school, so they believe Davis has an advantage from playing three seasons at a major-college program that also produced a first-round pick at catcher in World Series champion Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“The first question I’d ask him is, were you allowed to call your own game? Did he call his own pitches?” Kendall said. “Calling a game is the main thing when you get into professional baseball. It took me four or five years to know how to call a game, and I had a father (Fred) who played 12 years in the big leagues.”

Where Kendall remained behind the plate through the minors and for 2,013 career MLB games — where he had 2,195 hits — Walker spent one full season catching in the minors before moving to third base and then to second, where he played 1,031 career games in the majors.

Both emphasized the extra duties that go into being a catcher, from reporting to the ballpark early to take the first batting practice to spending time going over scouting reports and gameplans with the pitching and coaching staffs to learning how the umpires call games. It’s an exhaustive process that can be physically and mentally taxing.

“For me, as a high school catcher, I had no basis for comparison getting into pro ball because it was essentially sit behind the plate and catch the ball and try not to let it get away from you and frame it well,” Walker said. “He’s playing arguably the most demanding position in baseball. He did it at a major, major-college program as a catcher, and he handled the bat very, very well. These aren’t easy things to do.”

A self-described bat-first catcher, Walker remembers being behind the plate for 120 games for Single-A Hickory in the South Atlantic League and sweating through his jersey in the 85-degree heat as a 19-year-old. By his fourth at-bat, Walker was worn out and didn’t even want to hit. From what Walker has seen of Davis swing the bat, he proved his pedigree as a hitter in two-plus seasons at Louisville.

“You don’t want to go into professional baseball clouded by thinking that I may have to move positions,” Walker said. “In my opinion, if this guy can be a catcher and hit somewhere in the middle of the order, between 4-5-6, you’re looking at a guy that can really, really impact the game, especially in the National League. If he’s a catching-first guy that can just handle the bat and he’s stuck in the sixth spot in the National League lineup, in my opinion, that’s still a win.”

Kendall and Walker expressed interest in working with Davis, knowing how important a mentor can be to a catcher in the minors. They also are aware they will be the standards as Pirates first-round draft picks at the position against whom Davis will be compared.

Kendall offered the same advice for Davis as he does to his son Kuyper’s baseball team: Be yourself. Go be you. Do what you have done to get you into the position you’re in.

“I hope he doesn’t compare himself to me or anyone else,” Kendall said of Davis. “Sounds like this kid is the type of player Pittsburgh is going to fall in love with. I’ll definitely be following him and rooting for him.”

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred steps out to a chorus of boos and announces C Henry Davis of Louisville as the first overall pick in 2021 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. pic.twitter.com/fzc5VGxo3L

— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) July 11, 2021