Henry Davis

Henry Cummings Davis

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.
School University of Louisville
High School Fox Lane High School
Debut June 19, 2023

Born September 21, 1999 in Bedford, NY USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Catcher Henry Davis was the first overall pick of the 2021 Amateur Draft, selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the University of Louisville. The Pirates had played the draft close to their chest, and the most anyone could say on draft day was that they had at least a half dozen players under consideration. While Davis was considered a certain top-10 pick, his name did not come up as much as others in pre-draft speculations, as there was some question over whether he would remain at catcher over the longer term. There was no question about his bat, though, as he was coming off a season in which he had hit .370 with 15 homers and 48 RBIs in 50 games for Louisville. The Pirates were convinced he was their catcher of the future and pointed out his excellent rate of throwing out basestealers in their press release introducing Davis to their fan base. It did not take long for the two sides to come to an agreement, that being achieved on July 17th, as Davis agreed to a signing bonus under slot value, at $6.42 million.

During the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, he got an unexpected opportunity to work with some bona fide major leaguers, as he learned through Instagram that P Adam Ottavino was training near his home in the New York City area by throwing into a net. Davis offered to work out with him, and another major leaguer, P Matt Barnes, soon joined them in working out together, much to the young catcher's benefit. He was 3 for 7 with 2 doubles, a homer and four RBI in two games for the FCL Pirates Black then hit .263/.375/.684 with 2 homers and 6 runs in 6 games for the Greensboro Grasshoppers before an injury cut short a fine pro debut.

He began 2022 with the Greensboro in the South Atlantic League, where he batted .342 in 22 games to earn a quick promotion to the Altoona Curve of the AA Eastern League after one month. However, he after just two games was set back by an injury, and went back for one game each in the Florida Complex League and the Florida State League, before resuming his season at Altoona on June 11th. He was originally named to the National League roster for the 2022 Futures Game but was unable to take part in the game due to another injury. He ended up playing 31 games for Altoona, and a total of 59 at four levels, finishing at.264 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs.

He had a more stable season in 2023, starting off at Altoona, where he hit .284 with 10 homers in 41 games. That earned him a first look at AAA with the Indianapolis Indians on June 6th, but barely two weeks later, after hitting .286 in 10 games, he got the call to Pittsburgh on June 18th. The Bucs immediately sent a message to their fans urging them to buy tickets to see him make his debut at PNC Park in the three-game series against the Chicago Cubs starting the next day. In his first game, he started in right field and went 1 for 3 with a walk, the hit being a double off Drew Smyly in his first at-bat of the game, which the Pirates unfortunately lost, 8-0. He was expected to play more outfield than catcher in the short term, with the Pirates having two excellent defensive catchers in Austin Hedges and Jason Delay. The idea was to let him concentrate on his hitting at the major league level, without having to learn the tendencies of a whole pitching staff and of a whole league's worth of opposing hitters. An early highlight was his becoming the first player to hit multiple homers in the same game off Shohei Ohtani, which he did July 21st.

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Henry Davis

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