Three years later, Pirates finally get their man in Davis

NEW YORK -- The Pirates tried to draft Henry Davis once before.

It was three years ago, when he was wrapping up high school at Fox Lane in Bedford, N.Y. The day before that draft started, the Pirates reached out. They were the only team to contact him on the final day. They wanted to take him on the second day of the draft, but only if they knew he would forgo his commitment to Louisville. They came with an offer in hand.

“I can promise that's a lot less than what it would take to get me out of college,” Davis recalled telling the Pirates at the time, talking to reporters via Zoom Sunday, although he wouldn't reveal the dollar figure.

Sunday, the Pirates had another chance to get Davis and selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft. 

“What we’re really excited about is, as we’ve known him since high school… [is] seeing how much he’s gotten better since then and continues to get better,” Ben Cherington told reporters Sunday night. “And his desire to get better. The time we’ve had around him recently, just how interested he is in finding new challenges and pushing himself to get better. He’s really excited about that process.”

In a class where there was no consensus top prospect, Davis was not considered as the best player available by any outlet. FanGraphs had him the highest at No. 2 -- and No. 39 overall on their new top minor-league prospects list -- with Baseball America pegging him at No. 4 and MLB Pipeline at No. 5. 

He was, however, “at the top of our board,” Cherington said.

“The college performance speaks for itself,” Cherington said. “We believe he can catch. We know he’s going to put the work in to do that. Just a learner, how much he keeps improving and has done that since high school. You’re obviously betting on talent at the top of the draft. You’re also betting on the person. We feel really good about the person.”

Offensively, the 21-year-old Davis might very well be the best hitter in this draft. He hit .370 with nine doubles, 15 home runs and 48 RBIs for Louisville as a sophomore this season and was a semifinalist for the 2021 Golden Spikes Award, which goes to the nation’s best amateur player. His .482 on-base percentage ranked first in the Atlantic Coast Conference. FanGraphs gave his power a potential future 70-grade, the best out of any draft prospect. Based on the 20-80 scale, that is considered borderline elite.

And while the Pirates did not draft based on positional need, catcher is a very sore spot within the organization. Of their top 30 prospects going into the draft, only one was a backstop -- Endy Rodriguez at No. 25. Davis will join 2020 first-rounder Nick Gonzales and right-hander Quinn Priester at the top of the Pirates’ prospect list, giving the weakest part of the farm system a tremendous upgrade.

That is assuming Davis can stick at catcher. While he has the strongest arm out of any amateur catcher available to draft, his blocking and framing skills are a concern.

A source who had been evaluating draft prospects for a National League club told DK Pittsburgh Sports Sunday that the source believes Davis does have room to grow defensively. Cherington feels the same.

“We really believe he can catch,” Cherington said. “He’s obviously strong. He’s tough. He has arm strength. Has some feel for game-calling. He’s really worked at the blocking and receiving. I think he would acknowledge there’s still work to do there. Part of what we like about him is he’s so honest about that. He has gotten better. He’ll continue to get better with good practice and coaching. We feel really good that he has the ability to be a good major league defensive catcher.”

While he could theoretically play another position, like first base or the outfield, Davis is set on staying behind the dish.

“It’s very important to me,” Davis said. “I love to catch, I love being able to contribute every pitch, 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.”

Growing up, Davis looked up to Yadier Molina and Buster Posey, striving to perform and lead championship teams as they did. Now, it’s Will Smith of the Dodgers, another young catcher and world champion.

The desire to be like them fuels his work to stick at the position, and in general.

“I’m never really comfortable with any part of my game, let alone just catching,” Davis said. “I just think potential for improvement really excites me. I think the way I’m going to go about it and work hard on every single day on that aspect of my game is going to pay off, and the results will show, and I’m going to be a catcher for a long time.”

Davis will be entrusted with helping to develop the Pirates’ stable of young pitchers, ranging from Priester to recent high draft picks Carmen Mlodzinski, Brennan Malone, Jared Jones and more. Managing a pitching staff has been one of the organization’s main valued traits in a catcher, and one that helped Jacob Stallings become a starter at the MLB level despite never being an everyday guy in the minors.

“I know one of the things he feels strongly about [the catching position] is helping guys around him and certainly the pitchers, so we're excited about that,” Cherington said. “We know that's important to our pitching development to have catchers who are interested in that.”

Davis has experience working with highly rated pitching prospects. Last year, the school produced two pitchers who went in the first round, Reid Detmers and Bobby Miller. It was at Louisville that he began to learn how to manage a pitching staff.

“Learning how to handle a staff for years under [pitching] coach [Roger] Williams and under the coaches,” Davis said. “Just getting to know the different personality types, how to get the most out of each guy is something I take a lot of pride in. Really proud of our pitching staff and the relationships I have with them. I mean, they made me better, and I hope I made them better, too.”

Last month, Davis and Cherington’s paths crossed again at the draft combine. Davis saw an opportunity to help the game grow for future players by participating in the new event. Cherington saw a player who was going to go with one of the first picks on day one of the draft trying to get better.

“I think the fact that he went to the combine just speaks to who he is,” Cherington said. “He didn't have to do that; he was going to go high in the draft, anyway. He wanted to challenge himself to go down there and put himself out there against teams again and get to know people better. I really credit him for that. I think it speaks to who he is, willingness to do that and willingness to take on a challenge.”

So while Cherington wasn’t with the organization when the Pirates first tried to draft him three years ago, he saw what the scouting team did.

Now Davis is going to be a centerpiece of Cherington’s build towards the future, and perhaps the start of something great.

"It was clear they’re all chasing the same thing. They’re chasing greatness for the Pirates," Davis said. "They see the vision where they can be great, they can win World Series, and just being able to contribute a teeny bit going toward that goal, I’m super excited. I’m ready to go."