Davis’ teammates not surprised at all
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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
Just before the Altoona Curve left for their 14-day road trip a few weeks ago, catcher Henry Davis was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Now, the Curve are back home and Davis isn't in Indianapolis anymore, he's in Pittsburgh where he made his Major League debut this pat Monday night against the Cubs.
That Davis is already in the big leagues is far from a surprise for his former teammates and coaches, it was expected.
"It's not surprising. I mean, the kid, he owns the zone, he does his homework," Curve hitting coach Jon Nunnally said. "He's prepared every single day for what he needs to go out and do that night."
That preparation has now morphed into playing right field regularly which is a position Davis got more and more time at later in his time with Altoona.
With the Pirates having confidence in both Austin Hedges and Jason Delay, right field became the place Davis could get to the Majors the quickest.
"Any opportunity to get Henry into the lineup, at some point, it makes sense," Altoona manager Callix Crabbe said. "I knew at some point it was going to happen soon. He texted me right when it happened, and I was obviously excited for him. It was cool watching him play Monday night."
For fellow catcher Dylan Shockley it was surreal to see him playing for the Pirates after playing with him for the first half of the season.
"It's just like wow, that's pretty cool," Shockley said. "If the Pirates are looking for a guy that can definitely help with the hitting side of things, he's definitely the guy."
Offensively Davis has been close to Major League ready most of the season, but it's his defense that's held him back, though his growth behind the plate has still been solid.
He still has room to grow defensively as a catcher and now, he will get to develop behind Hedges who currently leads the Major League in defensive runs saved.
"His work ethic is through the roof," Shockley said. "He's by far the hardest worker I've ever met. To be on the same team with him, he definitely pushed me through my limits, but definitely this year with his catching it got a lot better this year. It was cool to see him progress the way he did."
Davis' work ethic and competitive desire will follow him for years to come and those intangibles are among many that have come to expect daily from him.
"He does all the stuff he's supposed to do," Curve pitcher Brad Case said. "When it came to the games, we always knew we were going to get three hard hit balls from him in a game and that usually helps the team win."
As a pitcher, Case routinely worked with Davis both in games and on the side and got to see up close what the Pirates have found to be strengths for Davis.
"He's always been super committed, really good at communicating back there," Case said. "He hears our plan and we go out there and try to execute it. That's not something he necessarily had to grow in, he's always been that way. And from the pitching side of stuff, we all really appreciate that."
Communication is only part of the development for Davis, but the physical aspect involving blocking and work around the plate were areas for improvement entering the year and very quickly improved.
"His blocking got a lot better," Shockley said. "He was starting to trust blocking a lot more instead of going to the pick and that was one thing he was primarily focused on."
Davis is still very raw behind the plate and that will still be an area of development behind the scenes, but what matters now is that he gets consistent reps and is in the lineup regularly. The Pirates know what they have in Davis and would be wise to have him in there daily.
"He's going to be prepared to play that game every single night and he's always out there to win. By any means, he wants to win games," Nunnally said.