Henry Davis, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft, is one step closer to the majors.
The Pittsburgh Pirates promoted the 23-year-old catcher, ranked the No. 3 prospect in their system by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, to Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday, a source confirmed to the Tribune-Review.
Davis had a .284/.433/.547 slash line with seven doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 27 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 41 games at Double-A Altoona, with almost as many walks (32) as strikeouts (35). The 6-foot, 220-pounder played 30 games at catcher, seven in right field and four as designated hitter for the Curve.
After batting .207 with eight doubles, four homers and 18 RBIs in 31 games with Altoona last season, when he missed two months with a fractured left wrist, Davis wasn’t shy about expressing his displeasure when he was assigned to start the season at Double-A.
“I think everybody’s goal in our system is to be in Pittsburgh,” Davis said in April. “I don’t think anybody will be happy at any affiliate, you know what I mean? Our goal is to play in Pittsburgh. Our goal is to win in Pittsburgh. So it’s OK to be (ticked) off, but it’s about how you channel that. If you let that control how you play and if you let that control your conduct, shame on you. But if you say, ‘You know what? I’ll show them, and I’m going to work as hard as I can to be so good that there’s no choice but for me to be in Pittsburgh,’ I think that’s a great attitude.”
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said the club wanted to separate Davis and Endy Rodriguez, who is ranked their No. 1 prospect by Baseball America and No. 2 by MLB Pipeline, so each could serve as his team’s primary catcher. Rodriguez is batting .247/.341/.396 with five doubles, three triples, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 38 games at Indianapolis, playing 32 games at catcher, four as DH and two at first base. Rodriguez also has experience playing second base and left field.
“We anticipate they will be on the same team again at some point,” Cherington said May 24. “We want to give both those guys every opportunity to develop as baseball players — catchers first — in a way that puts them in a position to make the biggest impact on the Pirates long-term, whenever that starts. … That’s the goal.”
