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It has taken nearly four years, but Henry Davis is finally starting to look like the player the Pittsburgh Pirates thought they were drafting at No. 1 overall in 2021.
Davis was drafted out of Louisville as a bat-first catcher who needed to work on his pitch framing and defense. Fast forward to 2025, and he has become one of the Pirates' best defensive catchers who struggles to hit Major League pitching – until now, that is.
Over his last seven games, the 25-year-old has a .400 batting average and a 1.078 OPS while striking out at a rate of just 13%. He has continued to shine behind the plate, catching three runners stealing during that same span.
Pirates fans have been burned before, but is it time to hop back on the Henry Davis hype train?
Henry Davis' recent hot streak has Pirates fans getting sucked back in to hype
In 62 games during his rookie season in 2023, Davis slashed .213/.302/.351 with 10 doubles, seven home runs and 24 RBI. He also struck out 69 times and finished the year with a -1.5 WAR. Davis saw more than 419 innings in the field that season but played catcher for only two of them as the Pirates, who didn't trust his defense behind the plate, tried to take advantage of his bat while banishing him to right field.
Davis went back to being a full-time catcher in 2024, and the results spoke for themselves. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Indianapolis but caught 271 1/3 innings over 27 games at the MLB level and steadily improved defensively, earning a .993 fielding percentage with nine assists and two errors. This season, Davis has thrown out five of 18 attempted base stealers (27.8%), and his pop time ranks in the 89th percentile among catchers, according to Baseball Savant.
Davis' most notable improvement, though, has been in the batter's box. After slashing .144/.242/.212 with a .453 OPS in 27 games last year, he is batting .204/.291/.347 with two home runs and six RBI through 20 games this year. His season stats don't jump off the page, but they are more impressive when you consider to his batting average was hovering around .150 just two weeks ago.
It's still too soon to know whether this is a true breakout or merely a good two-week stretch for Davis. Regardless, his recent performance has left Pirates fans wanting to see more of him.
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