Pirates' Former Top Pick Has Most To Prove In Spring Training
Time is of the essence for Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Henry Davis.
Pittsburgh isn't without its options behind the plate either with the emergence of Joey Bart and the return of former top prospect Endy Rodríguez. With how crowded things are behind the plate and Davis struggling during his stints in the big leagues in 2023 and 2024, MLB.com's Alex Stumpf listed him as the Pirates player with the most to prove in Spring Training this year.
"Joey Bart had a solid 2024, Endy Rodríguez is back from elbow surgery and Jason Delay is a more than capable glove-first catcher," Stumpf writes. "That leaves Davis in a tough spot if he doesn’t produce in 2025. He’s shown he can crush Minor League pitching, but struggled mightily at the plate in 2024 (a .453 OPS in 122 trips to the plate). Earning a job out of camp would help put that year behind him."
Henry Davis taking BP on day 2 here at Pirate City pic.twitter.com/LlwkHrFSc2
— Andrew Destin (@AndrewDestin1) February 13, 2025
The difference between Davis' performance in the minor leagues and big leagues has been night and day. The right-handed hitting catcher has played 99 games in the big leagues across the last two seasons and has posted a -2.0 Wins Above Replacement while slashing .191/.283/.307 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs.
Across 181 games in the minor leagues, Davis has been a completely different player, slashing .290/.409/.535 slash line with 38 home runs and 124 RBIs. Because of that upside Davis has shown, Pirates manager Derek Shelton believes the 25-year-old catcher will soon pan out for Pittsburgh.
"The big leagues is hard, and there's times that you have to make adjustments,"Shelton said. "It's not just in Henry Davis' case, but I think we've seen it throughout the course of the game, especially over the last five or six years, where guys have been pushed to the big leagues pretty quickly, and then all of a sudden they have a little bit of struggle and everybody panics. Well, there's no panic. We know he's going to be a good player. We know he's going to be a good hitter.
If Davis struggles again this season with Bart and Rodríguez in tow, it'll likely be tough for him to carve out a consistent role in 2025. But if Davis can turn the corner this year, Pittsburgh could boast three solid options behind the plate.
