Pirates A to Z: Henry Davis went from starting with disappointment to making MLB debut

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z, an alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster.

Player: Henry Davis

Positions: Catcher/right fielder

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Age: 24

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 210 pounds

2023 MLB statistics: Batted .213/.302/.351 with 10 doubles, seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 62 games.

Contract: Not yet eligible for arbitration.

Acquired: Selected with the first overall pick out of Louisville in the 2021 MLB Draft.

This past season: Disappointing doesn’t do justice to describing how Henry Davis felt about starting the season at Double-A Altoona, the same place he finished his first full professional season.

The Pirates sent fellow catcher Endy Rodriguez, who supplanted Davis as the organization’s top prospect, to Triple-A Indianapolis in an effort to give both a chance to be the primary backstop.

Davis was downright disgusted, but decided to channel his frustration into not where he was starting the season but where he wanted to end it.

“I don’t know if it should be disappointing,” Davis said at Curve media day. “You can be (ticked) off. You can be passionate about it. You can care. Everybody in this locker room should be upset that they’re here. I think everybody in the Triple-A locker room should be upset that they’re there. I think everybody’s goal in our system is to be in Pittsburgh. I don’t think anybody will be happy at any affiliate, you know what I mean? Our goal is to play in Pittsburgh. Our goal is to win in Pittsburgh.

“So, it’s OK to be (ticked) off, but it’s about how you channel that. If you let that control how you play and if you let that control your conduct, shame on you. But, if you say, ‘You know what, I’ll show them, and I’m going to work as hard as I can to be so good that there’s no choice but for me to be in Pittsburgh,’ I think that’s a great attitude. There’s no shame in saying that. I want to be in Pittsburgh right now. Right now. And I think everybody in the locker room feels the same way. So, it’s OK for it to sting a little bit, but what are you going to do about it?”

"I always had my eyes set on Pittsburgh, but I had to do everything I could each day to get there."

This is Henry Davis' Road to the Show. pic.twitter.com/oeCH4TPPkv

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 18, 2023

Here’s what Davis did: He batted .284 with a .433 on-base percentage and .981 OPS, seven doubles, 10 homers and 27 RBIs, drawing almost as many walks (32) as strikeouts (35) in 41 games at Altoona.

That prompted a June 4 promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis, where Davis didn’t miss a beat. He slashed .286/.432/.514 with three doubles, a triple, a homer and three RBIs in 10 games.

There was a catch, however, one that proved telling.

Davis played 18 games in right field. When the Pirates brought Davis to PNC Park for his major league debut on June 19, it was in the hopes that his bat would provide a boost. They were willing to live with whatever happened with Davis in right field.

1st ML Game ✅
1st ML AB ✅
1st ML Hit ✅

Henry Davis wasting no time getting right to work.@Pirates I #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/v0fWMfahfJ

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) June 20, 2023

Davis doubled in his debut, then went 0 for 10 before hitting his first home run. The 407-foot shot off reliever Andrew Nardi came in the eighth inning of a 6-4 loss at Miami on June 22.

About a month later, Davis accomplished something no major leaguer had ever done: He homered twice in one game against Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani, going 3 for 4 with solo shots in the fourth and sixth innings of his 27th career MLB game on July 21.

.@Pirates rookie Henry Davis is the 1st player with a 2-HR game against Shohei Ohtani! ????

H/T @SlangsOnSports pic.twitter.com/UNNP8YoPP5

— MLB (@MLB) July 22, 2023

It was the culmination of a seven-game stretch in which Davis displayed why the Pirates fast-tracked him to the majors after only 518 plate appearances in 118 games in the minors: He batted .458 (11 for 24) with a 1.427 OPS, three homers, four RBIs and six runs scored.

The problem was his defense. Over that same span, he committed three errors in right field and made mishaps that allowed runs to score in three different games. His minus-4 defensive runs saved ranked as the worst of any Pirates outfielder, per Sports Info Solutions, despite a strong arm.

Of course, he was a catcher playing in the outfield — and looked like it.

“Henry is just getting a crash course in Outfield 101, 102 and 103,” said Pirates first base coach Tarrik Brock, who works with the outfielders. “When he’s out there, he’s a right fielder to me. He has to go out there and make plays, make good decisions and understand when to go and when not to go on balls close to the wall, make sure he’s throwing the ball to the right base or to the cutoff man.

“You’re going to see the inexperience creep up at times, so I’ve been extremely patient and showing a lot of mercy in that. Then getting him to understand, too, that you’ve had years of reps catching and now you’re new to this and having him give himself some mercy, as well.”

That was difficult for Davis, who places high demands on himself in trying to live up to his billing as a No. 1 overall pick. That he was playing out of position made no difference for Davis.

“If I’m out there every night, I’ve got to secure the ball and do my job,” Davis said. “I’m definitely still learning. But I just have to make the play. Those are routine. Just catch the ball. It (stinks). I need to come through for the team. I’m out there because they trust me. I need to make those plays.”

Imagine trying to run on Henry Davis ???? pic.twitter.com/C4JXhZCVy3

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 30, 2023

Davis was involved in one of the Pirates’ biggest defensive plays of the season, as a trio of rookies completed a 9-2-4-2 double play in the 10th inning of a 6-4 walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies on July 30 at PNC Park. Trea Turner hit a fly ball to Davis in right that looked like it would be a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run. Davis fired a one-bounce throw to the plate and Rodriguez fired it Nick Gonzales at second. Instead of chasing Alec Bohm, who was caught between second and third, Gonzales threw it back to Rodriguez to get Bryce Harper out at home.

“He’s got a cannon of an arm, obviously,” Gonzales said of Davis. “Everyone’s kind of on the edge of their seat when a ball’s hit to Henry and he’s about to make a throw because he’s got a great arm, an accurate arm.”

Davis played through a lingering right hand strain that made it hard to grip a bat, and it showed in his performance at the plate. He batted .196 over a 31-game stretch, including .158 in August, before being placed on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 21.

“Obviously he’s dealing with something in his hand, so it’s not going to be 100% from here on out,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “So I think we will monitor what his volume is and what he plays just to make sure that he can finish the season strong and finish the season healthy.”

For Davis, it was the continuation of an injury-plagued pro career. He played in only eight games at Low-A Bradenton in 2021 before being shut down with an oblique strain. He spent two months on the IL at Altoona with a fractured left wrist in 2022.

This time, Davis required a rehabilitation assignment and served as designated hitter in four games at Indy. He returned to the Pirates in mid-September, meeting his goal of finishing the season in the majors. Where Davis hit two doubles, two homers and had six RBIs as DH over the final 11 games, he also had 21 strikeouts against three walks.

“It’s actually been pretty frustrating, but it’s a good learning experience because there are times where something similar to this, I don’t think anybody’s dragging me out of the lineup,” Davis said. “So just learning and, really, gaining as much experience as I can with something like this and learning how to compete with it. I’ll do my best whatever it is, whether that’s a different response in the training room or your workday looking a little different. Whatever I have to do to help the team.”

Pirates rookie RF/C Henry Davis discusses his right hand injury and rehab assignment after being activated from IL. pic.twitter.com/FuUbyPvJfn

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 15, 2023

The future: Davis treated his downtime as a challenge. Instead of pushing through the pain at the expense of the team, he learned to practice patience and allow it to heal.

“It’ll make me a better player and teammate going forward and just finding ways to help your guys when you’re not on here,” Davis said. “I’ll do whatever I can.”

What the Pirates want Davis to do is concentrate on catching. His defense is far behind his bat, so his options were limited. Even though Davis played only two innings behind the plate in the majors, the Pirates haven’t given up on him as a catching prospect.

“That’s how he’s doing his training this offseason,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “For a variety of reasons, he really didn’t get a chance to catch much the rest of the year. We still want to give him that opportunity. We believe he can do it. We know the bat’s going to play. So he’ll get a chance to come into spring training back at his normal position. We’re fortunate to have two young catchers in Henry and Endy Rodriguez we feel really good about, and Jason Delay did a great job. We feel good about the strength of that position moving forward.”