Pirates No. 1 overall draft pick Henry Davis makes smashing debut at Double-A Altoona

ALTOONA — Before Henry Davis made his Double-A debut, the Pittsburgh Pirates top catching prospect discussed how he has developed a sense of pride in becoming a magnet for getting hit by pitches.

“It’s a compliment, right?” Davis said with a smile Tuesday as he sat atop the home dugout bench two hours before first pitch. “It’s a compliment to get hit. It shows respect.”

Somerset Patriots right-hander Jhony Brito showed the 2021 No. 1 overall draft pick respect by hitting him with the fifth pitch of his first at-bat. Davis was nearly hit by a pitch again in his third time up on a pair of high heaters, with the second one bouncing off his bat.

The next pitch, Davis paid his respects to Brito by drilling a 2-2 fastball 407 feet for a two-run homer, a screamer down the left-field line with a recorded 110 mph exit velocity. As he rounded first base, Davis gestured toward the home dugout and pumped his arms.

No. 2 @Pirates prospect Henry Davis slugs his first Double-A @AltoonaCurve HR!
110 mph
407 ft pic.twitter.com/PTC3i4O6en

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 10, 2022

“I thought it was foul,” said Davis, ranked the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect and a top-100 prospect by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. “I was excited. It was a tied game. I’m trying to help the team win.”

Davis did just that in his debut for the Altoona Curve, making an immediate impact by going 1 for 2 with two RBIs and two runs scored in a 4-3 win at Peoples Natural Gas Field.

It was no surprise that the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Davis earned a promotion after slashing .341/.450/.585 with three doubles, a triple, five home runs and 22 RBIs in 22 games at High-A Greensboro.

With Pirates starting catcher Roberto Perez out for a significant stretch with a left hamstring strain causing a domino effect on the organization’s depth chart at the position, Davis couldn’t help but wonder whether he could help solve the Pirates’ catching conundrum.

Henry Davis doesn’t have any doubt that he could help the Pirates but their top catcher prospect also knows he’s not the GM. pic.twitter.com/uTa0BOuNUL

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 11, 2022

“Do I think I could contribute to them winning games? 100%,” Davis said. “But my job is to be here. I’m not Ben Cherington. He has a lot on his plate. I have a lot on mine. We each just try and do our jobs.”

Pirates farm director John Baker had predicted as much from Davis a day earlier at PNC Park. Baker called Davis a “really good compartmentalizer” whom he doesn’t expect to fall into the trap of looking ahead to the majors before he dominates Double-A.

“When you talk to Henry, he’s going to speak into existence what he wants to happen,” Baker said Monday at PNC Park. “When the game starts and the workday starts, he really is where his feet are. And he’s fully locked into that thing. He knows his path to Pittsburgh is always through the present moment. If he’s fully present, that’s the way he accelerates his path towards Pittsburgh.

“Henry’s done a good job of believing that he’s one of the best players in the world. If you talk to Henry, he’ll probably tell you he should be on the Pirates now. It takes that kind of self-belief to be a major-league player. It’s never something we’ll tamp down with him. It’s something I respect, personally, because he meets that with being there for his team every single day, which is remarkable.”

Before his Double-A debut, 2021 No. 1/1 Henry Davis discussed his work in Greensboro with another catcher who was a Pirates No. 1 draft pick. pic.twitter.com/GyK7omum6U

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 10, 2022

The Pirates turned to one of the top catchers in franchise history to mentor Davis during his 22-game stint at High-A Greensboro, another square-jawed former first-round pick who became a three-time All-Star in nine seasons in Pittsburgh and caught the sixth-most games (2,025) in major-league history over a 15-year career.

Jason Kendall spoke with Davis about everything from managing a game, calling pitches and controlling the running game to how to talk to umpires and what he calls “the dude on the mound.” It’s something Kendall did for Baker when both were with the Oakland A’s organization in 2005-06.

“That’s what you aspire to,” Davis said. “You aspire to be there for your team, catch a lot of games, catch a lot of games in Pittsburgh. He’s done that, so, as much as I can, I’m gonna take everything he says and try and make myself not Jason Kendall but if I can put a little bit of Jason Kendall in Henry Davis, I can be in a good spot.”

Altoona Curve manager Kieran Mattison, who coached Henry Davis for 8 games at High-A Greensboro last year, knows what to expect from the Pirates’ top catcher prospect. pic.twitter.com/74E2hRI0Px

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 10, 2022

Curve manager Kieran Mattison coached Davis last season at Greensboro, where he played eight games before suffering a season-ending oblique injury. Mattison is taking a hands-off approach to handling the hype surrounding Davis, who is treating every step of his career seriously by trying to soak up knowledge like a sponge.

“Just let him go man and be a guard rail for him and guide him and give him the help he needs to grow. He’s a student of the game, so we’re gonna be in a good spot,” Mattison said. “It’s very important, and he takes it very seriously to manage the game behind the plate. Even last year, when he was he was out, he was asking a lot of questions. We had a lot of good conversations about the game, how to manage a pitching a staff, how to manage this or that type of situation, how you slow the game down.

“We had a conversation again today, and he’s like, ‘I’ve been really paying attention to those moments when when I need to go out and speak to the pitcher or if we’re not on the same page, recognize I need to a call timeout instead of waiting until the pitcher gets hurt.’ He’s doing a good job of learning those things and he’s learned really fast.”

Pirates right-hander Duane Underwood Jr. noticed as much when he pitched the sixth inning for Altoona on a rehabilitation assignment after spending the first month of the season on the injured list. Underwood couldn’t help but notice Davis’ smarts when he chatted him up after the outing and gave feedback about what he saw from behind the plate.

“Just from our short stint today, he’s a great baseball mind,” Underwood said. “You can tell he’s really into the game. You can tell he wants to win. You can tell he’s a great competitor. Then the home run he hit, that was impressive. Guy’s got juice.”

Underwood was even more impressed with how Davis reacted when he met him on the mound. Davis showed no signs that he had just homered. Instead, he engaged Underwood on how they should attack hitters. Davis showed the makings of a future cornerstone behind the plate.

“You can tell when a guy’s a big leaguer,” Underwood said. “He’s got a lot of great qualities. Obviously, he’s trying to solidify his game working through the minors but, I mean, he got drafted last year and he’s in Double-A. That should tell you a lot. This isn’t an easy league to get through and he’s already having some early success so I think it’s going to be for him just crafting that game and sharpening that blade so when it is time for him to come up, he’s going to help us win ballgames.”

Whether that’s by getting hit by a pitch or crushing one, Davis is ready to take his share of compliments and earn some respect along the way.