When Henry Davis came into Monday night’s game against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park, he was helping make major league history.
After a pitch by Paul Skenes nicked off the toe of Washington’s James Wood and ricocheted right into catcher Endy Rodríguez’s hand, the Pirates were forced to put Davis behind the plate for the rest of the night.
As soon as Skenes’ first pitch hit Davis’ mitt, the two became the first battery of first overall picks in the history of the major leagues.
It’s a testament to the Pirates’ commitment to a rebuild of several years that they wound up with not one, but two first overall picks in a three-year span.
But only one of them has found a way to exceed even the loftiest of expectations for a first overall pick.
Skenes, Pittsburgh’s selection back in 2023, has pitched 27 games in his major league career so far, posting a 2.12 ERA, 0.915 WHIP and racking up 196 strikeouts. He has elevated himself into the conversation for the best pitcher in baseball at just 22 years old and won National League Rookie of the Year in 2024.
Davis, meanwhile, has yet to establish himself as a big leaguer. Davis was taken first overall back in 2021, with general manager Ben Cherington taking the Louisville product particularly for his batting prowess. In his draft year, Davis slashed .370/.483/.663, leading the team in all categories. His 15 home runs and 48 RBI in 50 games both ranked second for the Cardinals.
“Obviously, we dig deep on this stuff,” Cherington said on Davis’ draft night. “You can look at his performance against better pitching, against better velocity. It held up really well, no matter how you slice it up.”
Cherington also picked Davis for his tremendous eye while in college. Of the 16 players to take a plate appearance for Louisville in 2021, Davis was the only player to draw more walks than strikeouts.
But none of that success has translated to the major league level. Heading into 2025, Davis had only appeared in 99 MLB games, slashing a wildly underwhelming .191/.283/.307. He had notched only eight home runs and 29 RBIs.
Now, it is certainly not all on Davis. The Pirates have messed with his development along the way. Davis played as and was drafted as a catcher, adamant that he wanted to excel in the major leagues at that position.
“I love to catch, I love being able to contribute [to] every pitch,” Davis said on his draft day. “So for me, doing everything I can off the field and on the field during practice — what I do every day to be the best baseball player and the best catcher I can be — is my goal every day.”
The Pirates deployed their prized pick primarily as a catcher through the minor leagues. But when the time came for a major league opportunity in 2023, they parked Davis in right field — a position he had 18 games of professional experience in.
Davis was called up in mid-June of that year and played 62 games. He only wore a catcher’s mitt for two total innings of work that season. Having to adjust to a new position and major league pitching at the same time undoubtedly wasn’t setting Davis up for success in his first year.
Last season, Davis spent most of the year in Triple-A, where he slashed .307/.401/.555 for Indianapolis. The Pirates opted to use him as a catcher in his brief major league stints that year, but he was horrid at the plate, finishing with a team-worst .144 batting average and .453 OPS in 37 games.
Mashing minor league pitching was never the problem for Davis, but the gap between Triple-A and MLB arms is wide, and Davis has not shown the ability to adjust.
Davis is the unfortunate poster child for this organization’s ineptitude in developing major league hitters. Though he is far from the only one on that list, Davis wears that former first-overall pick title like a scarlet letter.
This season was always a make-or-break year for Davis, and while the Pirates were all but guaranteed to give him another look this season, they probably didn’t envision it happening in mid-April.
He once again resumed hitting well in Triple-A. But now that he is back in Pittsburgh, he has one more chance to try and grab hold of a catching job and not let go.
With Rodríguez now on the 10-day injured list, Davis has a path to grabbing hold of a job in Pittsburgh and not letting go. But he has to start hitting soon.
Rodríguez provided the Pirates some extra versatility as a backup first baseman, but his bat was vulnerable. He was slashing .178/.260/.244 to open the year, and while that is a common occurrence on this year’s Pirates, Rodríguez has minor league options.
If Davis hits in the majors this year, he could force the Pirates into a difficult decision or perhaps make them carry three catchers.
Davis notched his first home run of the season on Wednesday night. It was a good start, but the Pirates need to see more consistency from him. One key area he worked on in the back half of 2024 was cutting down his strikeout rate. He started Triple-A this year with just four strikeouts in 31 plate appearances.
Davis taking better pitches and not chasing is part of his progression, but the Pirates need him to continue to improve in all facets at the plate.
But it’s not just the Pirates who need him to do that — Davis needs to do that for the sake of his career. If another year goes by without him establishing himself in Pittsburgh, it will only get harder and harder for him to turn things around.
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