Joey Bart shows why it’s too early for Pirates to give up on Henry Davis

When the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired former second overall pick Joey Bart from the San Francisco Giants, they hoped that he could help provide some depth and be viable a backup option to former first overall pick Henry Davis. Now that we’re in the home stretch of the season, Bart has taken over regular catching duties, while Davis floundered so badly that he was sent to Triple-A in favor of Yasmani Grandal.

Many are ready to give up on Davis. But given how well Joey Bart is doing is a prime reason why it’s way too early to do so. Bart is batting .273/.349/.509 with a .369 wOBA, and 137 wRC+. He has been the second-best hitting catcher this year. Among primary backstops with at least 160 plate appearances, Bart ranks second in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+. He also ranks top three in isolated slugging percentage.

Bart is still striking out at a poor rate of 26.9%, but it’s a massive upgrade to how often he struck out in SF. Along with that, he’s upped his walk rate to 9.1%. Bart is making plenty of hard contact, clocking in with a strong 89.8 MPH average exit velocity and 11.2% barrel rate. 

Meanwhile, Davis’ career has not taken off the way many hoped it would. Through 357 plate appearances, Davis is only batting .197/.292/.319 with a .273 wOBA and 68 wRC+. The only silver lining of Davis’ Major League career thus far is his 10.6% walk rate. However, he is striking out at a 30.5% rate and rarely making good contact when he hits the ball. He has a mediocre 88.2 MPH exit velocity and 6.8% barrel rate.

But Bart was only marginally better in San Francisco than Davis is now. Bart hit .219/.288/.335 with a .279 wOBA and 78 wRC+ with the Giants. He rarely walked with a 6.4 BB% and struck out in well over a third of his plate appearances with a 35.4 K%. Bart struggled to make hard contact with an 87.4 MPH exit velocity. The only thing he did significantly better at the plate than Davis so far is make quality contact with a respectable 7.9% barrel rate.

Davis has had a similar or better start to his MLB career in many ways. He walks much more frequently while striking out less often, hits for slightly more power, and hits the ball harder. Both had a very similar wOBA in the .270s and an OPS in the low .600s. However, Davis has only stepped to the plate 357 times, whereas Bart had 503 plate appearances with the Giants before being traded to the Pirates.

The similarities are very apparent. Both were the highest overall picks of their respective draft classes, as well as underslot draft picks. Both were known to have a lot of power potential as draft prospects and throughout their time in the minor leagues. Both struggled in their first handful of plate appearances, but now one has seemingly found their groove.

Obviously, that doesn’t mean Davis is guaranteed to succeed in the Major Leagues. But with how Bart's career has gone, it's a perfect example why the Pirates, nor Pirates fans, should throw the towel in on Henry Davis just yet.