Pirates' Henry Davis Provides Glimmer of Hope
PITTSBURGH – Henry Davis had often tempted critics to call him one of the biggest draft busts in Pittsburgh Pirates’ history.
The 26-year-old catcher has played 212 major-league games since 2023, hitting .180/.263/.296 with 17 home runs in 738 plate appearances. Davis has improved defensively, but his offense hasn’t matched expectations for a 2021 first overall pick.
Yet when it seems time to write Davis off, he delivers. On Friday night, he hit two home runs, scored three times, and drove in three runs to lead the Pirates to a 9-1 win over the NL Central-leading Reds at PNC Park, snapping a five-game losing streak.
It was only Davis’ second career two-homer game and the first time he drove in three runs. He entered with a .154 batting average.
So, with that in mind, what got into Davis and made him look more like Henry Aaron than Henry Davis?
“I don’t know, but I like it,” Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said with a grin. “He had great at-bats, stayed through the middle.”
Davis hit home runs in the fourth and fifth innings—a solo shot to center to make it 4-0, and a two-run homer to left after an eight-pitch at-bat in a four-run fifth, making it 8-0.
“I think the second at-bat was really impressive, the at-bat in total,” Kelly said. “Being able to foul off that many pitches and stay on a slider and catch it out front and drive it to left.”
Davis’ home runs had exit velocities of 105.8 and 103.7 mph. With those swings, he seemed to channel a month’s worth of frustration.
“Felt really good,” Davis said. “I’ve hit homers in the past with the swing not right, but seeing my barrel work through the middle of the field … I’ve been doing it in batting practice for a while. Old, bad habits have been taking over in the game. To see it happen, to take a fastball to the middle of the field, really felt good.”’
Spoken like a true catcher, Davis said the home runs were secondary to pitchers Mitch Keller , Justin Lawrence , and Evan Sisk combining on a three-hitter. In turn, Keller appreciated Davis’ performance.
“I don't think there's anybody in here that works harder than him on the catching side and the hitting side,” Keller said. “I'm not in the (batting) cage with him, but the guy cares a lot, just about his craft and everything he does. To see him put in that work and just to have a game like tonight, it's really cool. Hopefully, this can just springboard him forward into a really good season. Super happy for him.”
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