Pirates assign No. 1 pick Henry Davis to High-A Greensboro, which is loaded with prospects

Kevin Gorman
Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021 7:00 p.m.

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Number one overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in last week’s Major League baseball draft, Henry Davis slips on a Pirates jersey with the help of general manager Ben Cherington at PNC Park before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Sunday, July 18, 2021. The Pirates signed the 21-year-old catcher on Sunday, a week removed from taking him with the first overall pick in the draft.

Henry Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, has bounced over Low-A Bradenton and is headed straight to the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers to start his professional career.

The Pittsburgh Pirates assigned the 6-foot-2, 210-pound catcher, who signed for a $6.5 million bonus, to Greensboro on Thursday afternoon after he went 3 for 7 (.429) with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs in two games for the Florida Complex League Pirates Black team.

Davis, 21, is ranked the No. 2 prospect in their farm system and No. 46 in the minor leagues by Baseball America. He joins a roster that now includes seven of their top 11 prospects and will handle a pitching staff featuring right-handers Quinn Priester (No. 3), Carmen Mlodzinski (No. 8), Michael Burrows (No. 10) and Tahnaj Thomas (No. 11).

The Grasshoppers also have top-five prospects in second baseman Nick Gonzales (No. 4) and shortstop Liover Peguero (No. 5). Priester and Gonzales were the Pirates’ first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, respectively, while Peguero was acquired from Arizona in the Starling Marte trade in January 2020.

Greensboro only has one other catcher listed on its roster, 23-year-old Eli Wilson, a 16th-round draft pick out of Minnesota in 2019 who is batting .298 with three home runs and 22 RBIs.

Davis is the most prominent of the four catching prospects Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has added this summer, so it’s no surprise he was assigned to their most talent-laden affiliate.

The Pirates assigned Carter Bins, acquired from Seattle in the Tyler Andrson trade, to Double-A Altoona. They sent Abrahan Gutierrez, acquired from Philadelphia, to Bradenton. Seventh-round pick Wyatt Hendrie is playing for the FCL Black.