Henry Davis has been heating up at the plate in Triple-A.
The 2021 first overall pick entered Friday night’s game in Indianapolis with a .295/.347/.500 line since the start of July, with four home runs. He went 2-for-3 with a homer on Friday, in a 6-0 victory.
Standing out the most for Davis has been his decrease in strikeouts. Since the All-Star Break, Davis has a 16.7% strikeout rate, while still hitting for power, and getting on base at a .343 rate.
This wasn’t the case for Davis all season. He put up monster numbers in his first run through Triple-A this year, batting .296/.436/.642 in May and early June. That came with a 24.8% strikeout rate. He’s struck out 39.2% of the time at the Major League level this year, elevated by a 57.9% rate after being called back up, following the hot hitting in May.
Davis carried those strikeout issues back to the minors, with a 45.9% strikeout rate in his first nine games. He hit .219/.324/.469 heading into the break during this strikeout-prone stretch.
The question for Davis going forward is where will he play at the big league level?
Joey Bart’s Breakout
On Friday night, Joey Bart hit his tenth homer of the year for the Pirates at the Major League level.
The 2018 second overall pick looks like he’s finally breaking out as a guy who could be a starting catcher in the big leagues. Bart has a .267/.349/.514 line this year, albeit in a small sample of 166 plate appearances.
At this point, Bart should be getting regular time behind the plate, and starting as the designated hitter when he’s not catching. The defense from Bart isn’t great, but it is passable with this offense.
The Pirates have Bart under team control for three more seasons. They’ve got the rest of the year to confirm that his production is more than a small sample. If he continues hitting, he should occupy one of the catching spots in the big leagues next year.
The 2025 Catching Combo
Endy Rodriguez is the best long-term catching option the Pirates have. Out for the season with Tommy John, Rodriguez has recently been hitting as he begins his return. He could get into minor league games by the end of the year as a designated hitter.
While he doesn’t have the power potential of Bart or Davis, Rodriguez has much better defense behind the plate, along with better contact skills. He didn’t fully show that in his MLB debut, batting .220/.284/.328 last season.
Rodriguez should get a catching spot, due to his defense and contact potential. A combination of Rodriguez and Bart would give the Pirates a more productive version of what they’ve got right now in Bart and Yasmani Grandal. They’d see an upgrade offensively over Grandal, and the defense from Rodriguez might be better at this point.
Bart is a perfect example of why the Pirates shouldn’t be giving up on Davis any time soon. Bart is having his breakout in his age 27 season, while Davis is only in his age 24 season. If Davis continues to hit in Triple-A this year, he should also get a look at the Major League level in 2025.
The Pirates could carry three catchers, but they’d need to find alternative positions.
Bart has spent time as the designated hitter this year. Davis played in right field last year, but that didn’t go well. If he and Bart split time as the designated hitter, it would cut into the playing time of Andrew McCutchen, assuming the Pirates are bringing him back in 2025. McCutchen has been one of few above-average hitters on the team, so he should be welcomed back in some role.
Rodriguez has spent time at first base in his career, and the Pirates don’t have an option at first for the 2025 season. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to rotate the catchers in at first base, but that would require more than Rodriguez. It would likely require giving Davis a first baseman’s mitt for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Such a move for Davis would be no different than what the Pirates have done with other players. For example, Nick Yorke played his first game in center field this week, after previously spending most of his minor league time at second base, and getting 233.2 innings in left field. Yorke was a first rounder in 2020, and was acquired by the Pirates at the trade deadline.
The Pirates have an option at second base in Nick Gonzales, while also having a super utility player in Isiah Kiner-Falefa. It makes sense to try Yorke at different positions, to allow him a path to big league playing time.
It makes just as much sense to try Davis at other positions. The catching position looks just as strong without Davis as the second base position does without Yorke. Now that Davis is starting to settle into a more promising hitting groove in Triple-A, he could spend some energy diversifying his defensive focus.
The Exception to the Rule
For an organization that tries almost every prospect at multiple positions, Davis has been the exception.
Davis had two games in right field at the end of 2022, and he did move to right field in 2023 with Rodriguez behind the plate. Outside of the two games in right field, he spent all of 2022 and 2024 splitting between catcher and DH.
By comparison, Rodriguez played first base and left field in 2021, along with catching. He got time at first base, second base, and left field in 2022, but excelled when he moved exclusively behind the plate. Even after the breakout season in 2022, when it looked obvious that Rodriguez was the best catcher in the system, the Pirates moved him around. He spent time at first base in 2023 at the Triple-A level, and even got two innings in the majors.
Rodriguez could work into the first base mix. Bart could work into the DH mix. Davis would be the same as Bart, unless the Pirates find a secondary position for him. That might make it easier to carry three catchers, while getting all three bats into the lineup as much as possible.
Roster Moves
The Pirates added Domingo German to the major league roster on Friday night, while optioning Hunter Stratton to Triple-A. Stratton has been one of the better relievers of late, but the Pirates clearly needed innings. German was needed for multiple innings after a rare off night from Mitch Keller, as the Pirates lost 9-5 to the Dodgers.
To make room for German, the Pirates designated Josh Walker for assignment. The left-hander was recently placed on the injured list in Triple-A, after being acquired in a minor trade at the deadline.
In the minors, the Pirates activated RHP Khristian Curtis and LHP Magdiel Cotto off the injured list in Bradenton.
Pirates Prospect Watch
Bubba Chandler threw seven shutout innings in his Triple-A debut on Friday night. Nick Yorke extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Sammy Siani picked up multiple hits for the seventh game in a row. J.P. Massey threw four shutout innings for Greensboro. Read about all of Friday’s minor league action in the latest Pirates Prospect Watch:
https://piratesprospects.com/2024/08/pirates-prospect-watch-bubba-chandler-throws-seven-shutout-innings-in-triple-a-debut.html
