Pirates All 40: Henry Davis Does Full Reversal
This is one in a series breaking down players on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.
When the Pirates took Henry Davis with the top pick in the 2021 draft out of Louisville, the general consensus was that his bat was going to play but there were questions whether or not he would stick behind the plate.
The initial returns on Davis through the early portion of his career were in line with that consensus. Davis’ bat carried him all the way to the big leagues, but when he made his Pirates’ debut in 2023, it was not as a catcher.
The Pirates used Davis in right field during his initial stint in the big leagues. It was a failed experiment that probably never should have happened to begin with, and Davis’ struggles at the plate only made things worse.
Davis hit just .213 with a .653 OPS in 62 games during his rookie season. 49 of those games were played in right field. 11 were as designated hitter. Two innings were at catcher.
When Davis returned to the big leagues for 37 games in 2024, he did so as a catcher, but struggles on both sides of the ball continued. Davis registered minus-four defensive runs saved and was a below-average pitch framer. At the plate, he only hit .144 with a .453 OPS and just one home run in 122 plate appearances.
But Davis, with a strong reputation as a student of the game and extremely hard worker, made it a point to get better defensively. He did just that during the 2025 season.
Davis got so much better behind the plate that he became the personal catcher of Paul Skenes, who went on to take home the National League Cy Young. The 26-year-old had eight defensive runs saved in 83 games at catcher this season and had a healthy 28.2% caught stealing rate. Davis always possessed a strong arm and a quick pop time, but he was finally able to put everything together to see much better results.
Despite his ability to improve defensively, Davis wasn’t able to replicate the success when trading his catcher’s mitt for a bat in his hands. In a career-high 87 games, Davis slashed a lowly .167/.234/.278 with seven doubles, seven home runs and 22 RBI.
Essentially, Davis has become Austin Hedges with more power, something not many would’ve predicted at the time he was drafted.
But Davis proved his capable of improving defensively. Now the challenge will be doing the same on offense. I wouldn’t rule that out just yet.
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