Off the Schneid: Pirates Hoping Henry Davis Ending Long Drought Leads to More
PITTSBURGH — It’s been a challenging season for Henry Davis offensively, which is interesting considering he’s turned himself into a fine defensive catcher.
At the time he was drafted and as he climbed the ladder in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization, the thinking was that Davis’ bat would play in the big leagues but there was uncertainty if he would stick behind the plate.
The Pirates first introduced Davis to the big leagues as a right fielder, an experiment that did not go well during his first season in 2023. The following year, Davis spent the bulk of his time at catcher, though he did not grade well defensively.
The Pirates, though, maintained that they viewed Davis as a big-league catcher, and their faith in the 2021 first-overall pick has paid off this season. Among catchers to log at least 550 innings at the position this season, Davis is tied for sixth with seven defensive runs saved. He’s also caught 25.5% of attempted base stealers – thanks to his rocket arm and 89th-percentile pop time – and has received rave reviews from the Pirates’ pitching staff throughout the year.
But Davis hasn’t had the same level of success when trading his catcher’s mitt for his bat. In 73 games on the season, the soon-to-be 26-year-old is hitting just .171 with a .532 OPS, seven doubles, six home runs and 20 RBI.
He entered Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in an 0-for-12 slump, but came up big with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to break a 4-4 tie, helping the Pirates come away with a 9-7 win.
“That was great to see him get the base hit, obviously to drive the run in,” manager Don Kelly said. “Those are the at-bats I know that he likes to have and that we’re looking forward to.”
Not only did Davis’ RBI single break a hitless stretch that spanned 14 at-bats, but it was his first hit with a runner in scoring position since a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 28.
Andrew McCutchen and Oneil Cruz led off the sixth inning against Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez and Spencer Horwitz bounced into a fielder’s choice, setting up the Pirates with runners on the corners and one out. Davis hit a 101.7 mph sinker at the top of the zone into right field for an RBI single. The base hit ended an 0-for-42 slump with runners in scoring position.
“You know what, this game is so hard,” said Kelly. “And when you’re talking about a guy who works as hard as he does, like we’ve talked about before, the way that he’s been able to play defense and game plan and do everything that he does defensively while going through some struggles on the offensive side, kudos to him.”
Sometimes all it takes is seeing one fall to allow a player to breathe a sigh of relief. The Pirates are hopeful that’s the case with Davis, and he’s able to finish the season strong – both with and without runners in scoring position.
“For him to come through with a huge hit to put us up there was really big,” said Kelly. “Hopefully it helps him relax a little bit and get back to being himself.”
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