With a chance to catch for Pirates, Henry Davis seeks to be Swiss Army knife with a sharp edge
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Henry Davis is a man of few words, except when it comes to catching. Ask about his natural position, and the 2021 No. 1 overall pick is willing to go deep into detail.
After spending only two innings behind the plate for the Pittsburgh Pirates this past summer, Davis has been devoted this season to improving everything from his framing and receiving to building a better physique to withstand the rigors of being a major league catcher.
Already renowned for his indefatigable work ethic, Davis knows the true indicator of whether he’s ready for a starting role will be the response from the Pirates’ starting rotation.
“I think for me, that’s the most important piece of catching,” Davis said Saturday at PiratesFest. “I know there’s a lot of different ways and certain things are easier to measure than others, but at the end of the day, I’ll grade myself on if guys want to throw to me or not, and that’s a really good indicator of if you can really get on the same page as a guy. Be able to do whatever an individual guy needs, because they’re all different. One might want a certain type of target. One might want another one. Being able to do different things will help in that nature.”
When Endy Rodriguez suffered an ulnar collateral ligament tear while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic that required Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, it provided an opportunity for Davis to compete with Jason Delay and Ali Sanchez to seize the starting catcher job next season.
Of course, Davis already was working toward that goal. Rodriguez surpassed him on the Pirates’ prospect lists — and the catching depth chart — while Davis dealt with an oblique injury in 2021, a fractured left wrist in 2022 and a right hand strain late last August. Where Rodriguez was considered athletic and dynamic behind the plate, Davis was viewed as raw and stiff. So Davis went back to the drawing board.
“I honestly don’t think about that stuff too much,” Davis said. “It’s just more what are they asking of me. Whatever they’re asking of me, I need to be able to do it. Like we’ve seen in the past, I can see in the future, things can always change. It’s just my job to prepare for whatever they need of me.”
While Davis was willing to make a move to right field last season to expedite his path to the majors, he admits that he wasn’t quite ready. Despite showing off a strong arm, he often misplayed fly balls and missed the cutoff while committing four errors and recording minus-9 defensive runs saved in 49 games, per FanGraphs.
“The catching’s the focus, but I also want to be a little bit of a Swiss Army knife,” Davis said. “Do anything the team needs (from) me. I felt a little caught off guard last year. Where that’s not a situation that shouldn’t arise, but I should have been more prepared for it. There’s no reason I couldn’t have been.”
During his exit interview, the Pirates instructed Davis to concentrate on his play behind the plate and to report to spring training as a catcher. Renowned for his work ethic, Davis has since split his time between training at Driveline Baseball in Kent, Wash., and Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., where he has worked extensively with Pirates third base coach Mike Rabelo, a former major league catcher, and pitchers Quinn Priester and Paul Skenes, the 2023 No. 1 overall pick.
“He’s going to come into spring training and have every opportunity to catch,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said of Davis on Saturday during a Q&A sessions with fans. “We know with how hard he works he’s going to give himself every opportunity to be the guy to win that job. We also know that he hasn’t caught a lot of games in professional baseball, and that’s a hard position to play. Historically, there’s a little bit of a longer development curve with catchers. If anyone’s going to beat the timeline on that, it’s going to be a guy like Henry, with how hard he works.”
Even as Davis was playing right field for the Pirates, he was working behind the scenes with bullpen coach Jordan Comadena and catching bullpen sessions for the pitching staff. All-Star right-hander Mitch Keller found Davis to be a sponge, constantly asking questions and soaking up as much information as possible to improve.
“Henry is probably one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met,” Keller said. “There’s never been a problem with his work ethic. My man is trying to work as hard as he possibly can to be the best player that he can. Even in bullpens, he’s like, ‘Is my target OK? Is this where you want it? Is this where you need it?’ He’s always wanting to tailor to the pitcher. He’s not concerned about anything he’s doing. He’s out there for you. It’s a really comforting thing as a pitcher to know that he’s back there for me and wants me to be my best. I’m just really excited to see him in some games in spring training. It’s gonna be fun.”
Davis has a different definition of fun. An intense competitor, he wants to win. And nothing short of winning a World Series will be satisfying.
He became the first player to hit two home runs in a game off two-time American League MVP Shohei Ohtani last July but finished the season batting .213/.302/.351 with 10 doubles, seven homers and 24 RBIs in 62 games. When asked what he liked about his offensive output as a rookie, Davis didn’t search for consolation prizes.
“I think I like nothing,” Davis said.
That prompted Davis to go to Driveline the day after the season ended, where he was able to use the metrics to work on his mechanics — “you look for things as a player to get an edge or get a percent,” Davis said, “but it’s kind of blown me away” — and appears to have packed on muscle through weight training and diet, all with the intention to be prepared to handle whatever the Pirates want him to do next season.
“I definitely feel that I’ve always prepared and done every step I needed to do along the way to be ready to take the field and have confidence that’s earned,” Davis said. “But, I need to find a way to do it differently. Not necessarily more, but how do I learn more and be more efficient within that work, cause there’s always things you can learn. And really, the value of games and really the experience of the big-league level specifically will give you valuable information to change that plan.”