RISK: Pittsburgh Pirates Place FAITH in Henry Davis—Will He DEFY Doubters as Starter?

18 comments

1. I have no issue with Henry being the starter

2. I think it is apparent that most, perhaps a significant majority, if FA signings AND extensions are not successful. Many are simply acceptable or adequate. Many are horrendous in both categories, to the extent that teams are hamstrung for long periods of time. It's not just Rendon, but also Corbin, Glen Davis, Miguel Cabrera, Votto, Kris Bryant, and hundreds more. Never sign a free agent coming off a career year and, rarely (I mean rarely) extend any player. They are sucker bets from owners who can't help themselves. Accordingly, there will be no 2027 season as the low- and mid-revenue teams MUST view the upcoming CBA as a survivability issue. This is a redline.

3. Great show, Gary. Davis won't get more than sixty percent of the starts at catcher, even if he starts to hit. What about Cruz? How much time do you give him starting in center field?

4. By all accounts, Davis is an extremely hard worker and great person and, after making his way to the majors as a bat-first project, he devoted all of last season to improving defensively. And he made huge strides in that department. With that in mind, I'm not going to give up on him until I see whether he improves this season — and it wouldn't take much. He's still fairly young, and he's hardly the only Pirate batter who regressed under the current hitting coaches. I'm still willing to be patient a while longer.

5. Austin Hedges 11 year career and still going, .185 career average, $26M earnings. Henry is Hedges at a minimum with hitting upside.

6. Hank has made a great transition defensively as a catcher. Surprisingly the offense has been such a fail with the bat. His college/minors numbers would make you believe he would have hitting success. Has such a good work ethic. Hopefully he finds the answers. That he gets the help necessary for success at the mlb level. And that it is with the PBC.Pulling for him!

7. After watching your interview with Scott Seabol, Davis checks all the boxes needed to develop into an MLB hitter. He has not consistently shown this in games. And I am nowhere near an expert on understanding what Henry needs to show everyone why His bat was a major reason He was a 1:1.

   I have "faith" that Davis will learn what the game has to teach Him. Hopefully, it doesn't cause the fans to completely sour of his keeping a spot on the roster.

8. When he was drafted everyone said his defense will hold him back and that he was a RF or 1b.. well other than me 🙂 His bat is a 30-40hr guy if he figures it out. but so is jack.

9. Remember when Cruz was called up? He hit a HR that was off his shoelaces. His "swing box" was 8" larger that the strike zone.

   We have watched him mature in the batter's box far beyond what his raw talent allowed him to excel. Like many of the Bucco stars, Cruz was forced into a place he wasn't ready to experience success.

   Would anyone want to get rid of a Cruz hitting .240 with 20-25 HR's and is a league average center fielder?

10. Where is it stated Davis is a starter or" part of competition for three positions"?

11. Gary ever hear of Jackson Merrill (SD) center fielder? Just think were this team would be if we pick him over Henry. Another reason this organization is what it is. Davis was a save money pick. Again……..

12. Defensively he was actually a better catcher than Patrick Bailey he just didn’t have enough qualifying innings to be eligible for the gold glove

13. Im giving Henry Davis this year to at least get to .200 then Im hoping off this Offensive Black Hole. Maybe it will happen for him one day but obviously its not working here in Pittsburgh for whatever reason? I think its fair he gets this entire Season but then Im pivoting to Flores.

14. Let's say that Davis has a Catcher ERA of 3.50 and nobody else is below 4.50? Some degree of offensive liability can be tolerated if the rest of the lineup is solid

15. I believe. He has talent. He works hard. He will breakout.

16. Henry should get one more shot to breakout if he is still not hitting by June pull the plug

17. I don’t know if he will ever produce or not, but I definitely believe there is talent there. I do think he was somewhat of an overdraft but we did that for a reason, and he was widely regarded as having first round talent. We’ve seen flashes of it here and there, I really hope he gets it together because a catcher who can actually hit, especially with as much as he has worked on his defensive and receiving skills, would make a big difference in this lineup. Major difference. And he seems like a very good young man who works very hard I hope for the best for him.

18. In NFL the players used to be owned by the teams . Now with the cap teams like Browns can make record breaking expectations to keep relevant. Salaries in MLB keep rising and gives all power to big money teams