Davis will primarily play right field to give Pirates 'best chance to win'

Henry Davis had a suspicion that he was about to be told he was being promoted to the majors. He wasn't in the lineup Sunday and Endy Rodríguez was catching the day game after a night game.

When Class AAA Indianapolis manager Miguel Perez called him in for a meeting shortly before the game, that suspicion grew.

Perez wanted to review video of Davis playing right field. The Iowa Cubs' stadium, Principal Park, has an elevated right field wall like PNC Park, and the two went through how Davis played his new position. In the middle of the conversation, Perez said he was thirsty and asked if Davis could get him a water.

When he opened the fridge, he saw a note telling him he was going to the big leagues. While he was drafted first overall less than two years ago, the wait for that moment certainly felt long enough.

"Obviously I wanted to be here, but I had something to do every day, so I was preoccupied, I guess," Davis said at the podium of PNC Park's press conference room Monday afternoon. "Do everything I can every day to be here, and now I do everything I can to help the Pirates win."

Put the emphasis on "everything," including moving positions. Right field has always been in the mix for Davis this year, usually playing out in the field once or twice a week while catching the other days. Now that he's in the majors, he's going to be used almost exclusively as an outfielder for the time being.

"That's not to say that he won't catch in games at certain points, but, it's not going to be as much early on," Derek Shelton explained. "He's going to play right field."

It's a move that seems to go against the grain of how the Pirates have operated for most of these last four years. Davis had spent just two weeks in Indianapolis before his promotion and defense was certainly the focus on his time in the minors, ranging from the mechanics of the position to the intangibles of calling a game and managing a pitching staff.

Davis is still very much viewed as a catcher long-term, but the immediate need of another bat in the lineup is taking precedent. The team feels Austin Hedges and Jason Delay have played a large part in their improvement this year. They don't want to take them out of the mix.

"We're talking about two of the top 10 receivers in the game, so guys that are elite at what they do, which is really important when you're also helping educate, along with Rabs and Jordan, with those other guys. So, the fact that Hedgy has done that, I think, is extremely helpful. I think we've seen it with Jason. So, I think we'll continue to see help in the development with Henry in that regard."

Therefore, right field is the best option for Davis now.

"I think, short-term, our priority is to give ourselves the best chance to win the game," Ben Cherington said. "Tonight, we feel like Henry in right field gives us the best chance to win tonight."

Even though the Pirates are fresh off of a six-game win-less road trip, they sit just 2.5 games out of first place near the midpoint of the season. Since trades are rare at this this time of year, they went internal to improve the major-league club.

"We've got an opportunity in 2023 in our division, and we've got to give ourselves the best chance to take advantage of our opportunity," Cherington said.

Davis has made clear that his preference is at catcher -- he told me back in spring training that he only brought a catcher's glove to camp -- but is on board with doing whatever it takes to help the team win. And while it's a small sample size, he has shown good feel for the position:

"I’m sure I’ll be practicing and getting acclimated to how the ball bounces off and being ready to field my position best I can when I’m out there," Davis said. "Do my best, listen to the coaches and other outfielders, any advice they would have."

So if right field is the best way to give the Pirates a chance to win their first division since 1992, Davis and the team are going forward with the aggressive call up.

"One of the reasons we're calling Henry up is because we think he can help us win games," Shelton said. "I think, publicly, people are very aware of our prospects and are excited about them. So, when one gets to the big leagues, it's really important and we've seen that over the last couple of years that have come to the big leagues. But most importantly, and the reason we called him up, is because we think he can help us win."