Former No. 1 overall draft pick Henry Davis has been called up to the Major League ranks by the Pittsburgh Pirates. His MLB debut will be Monday night at PNC Park against the Chicago Cubs.
In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE is on board with the move. However, he is cautioning against unrealistic expectations from Pirates fans.
“He has hit the heck out of the ball in Double-A and Triple-A this year. But I warn against seeing this guy as a savior — as the guy who can save the season. Because I don’t think there’s anything to save with this season,” Madden said. “There’s not a playoff berth to be had. Not a division title. I know they were in first place just a few days ago, but I don’t think that was ever something that you could think might realistically happen.”
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In 183 at-bats this year between Altoona (AA) and Indianapolis (AAA), Davis has 11 home runs, 30 RBIs, a batting average of .284 and an OPS of .974. Madden says the big picture of Davis’ call up has to be about judging him on his own development this year so he can help the Pirates in the future and not so much about him being an immediate elixir for their recent woes, having lost six straight games.
“This has to be its own reward,” Madden continued. “I just want to see how he plays. where he plays — right field, catcher, DH, wherever. How he hits. What his long-term potential is.”
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Madden says there has been a disconnect between what many Pirates fans, bloggers and media members were saying before this season and what they are saying now. As a result, the pressure has been mounting on Pirates general manager Ben Cherington to call up Davis as soon as possible.
“For months, years, it was, ‘Oh, Ben Cherington has a plan. Let’s just trust his plan. He knows what he’s doing,’” Madden mimicked. “Then, this year, because you’ve got a small taste of optimism via a few wins (20-9 in April), being around .500 now (34-36), it was like, ‘You’ve got to get these guys up here now! It’s a wasted opportunity!’ What happened to trusting Ben Cherington? What happened to trusting the plan? That’s the part I find most laughable about all this.”
Also in this week’s podcast, Madden and I talk about the Pirates roller coaster season in general, what they may do in the upcoming MLB draft, some Steelers predictions and the controversial USA-Mexico soccer game he witnessed over the weekend in Las Vegas.
Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden talk Henry Davis and Pirates
