Pirates surprise by taking Louisville catcher Henry Davis with No. 1 overall expend in MLB Draft

Jul. 12—The Pittsburgh Pirates saved all americans in the baseball world guessing over who they’d expend out with the No. 1 overall expend factual up unless the originate up of the MLB Draft on Sunday night at Denver’s Bellco Theater.

The Pirates ended the suspense by selecting Louisville catcher Henry Davis, addressing their finest organizational need with their high different. Pirates total supervisor Ben Cherington mentioned that after worthy debate in their draft room, the membership settled on Davis by the pause of Saturday night.

“We did now not expend him because he became a catcher,” Cherington mentioned. “But, I know one in the whole lot he feels strongly about is helping guys around him and completely the pitchers, so we’re concerned about that. All americans is aware of that is main to our pitching pattern to enjoy catchers who are drawn to that. We took him because he became the pinnacle participant on the board. That is where he became finally of the focus on, and (we are) in truth livid to enjoy him with the Pirates.”

The Pirates handed on a pair of prep shortstops who had been ranked the draft’s high two possibilities by Baseball The United States in Jordan Lawlar of Dallas Jesuit and Marcelo Mayer of Eastlake High College in Chula Vista, Calif., as successfully as heralded Vanderbilt factual-handers Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. Davis became regarded as a high-5 prospect in most mock drafts and believes he is in most cases a franchise cornerstone for the Pirates.

“That is the concept,” Davis mentioned. “I mean, going there and meeting with all of them, all americans in the group, it became sure they’re all chasing the identical thing, and they’re chasing greatness for the Pirates. They study the imaginative and prescient where they’re going to also also be enormous, they’ll get hold of World Series, and loyal being ready to make a contribution a teeny bit going toward that aim, I am large livid. I am ready to trudge.”

Davis, 21, of Bedford, N.Y., is regarded as one in all the pinnacle hitters in college baseball, a factual-handed pull hitter with energy who has loyal athleticism in the encourage of the plate and became a finalist for the Buster Posey Award, given to varsity baseball’s high catcher. A first-crew All-American, the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder batted .370 (68 for 184) with 9 doubles, 15 house runs and 48 RBIs in 50 video games as a junior, leading the ACC with a .482 on-scandalous share. Davis also threw out 13 of 28 baserunners (46%) attempting to earn in 2021, and 40% (25 of 63) in his three-year occupation.

“Obviously, the college performance speaks for itself,” Cherington mentioned. “We take into consideration he can get hold of. All americans is aware of he is going to place the work in to raise out that. (Davis is) loyal a learner, how worthy he retains bettering and has accomplished that since excessive college. That you simply can presumably be obviously making a wager on capability at the pinnacle of the draft. That you simply can presumably be also making a wager on the actual person. We feel in truth loyal about the actual person.”

Davis is the seventh catcher to be taken first overall in MLB Draft history, becoming a member of the likes of Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins in 2001 and Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles in 2019. Danny Goodwin became chosen with the No. 1 overall expend twice, first by the Chicago White Sox in 1971 and then by the California Angels in 1975.

Before the draft, MLB Network analyst Dan O’Dowd mentioned Davis has work to raise out defensively but believes his maturity level and capability to self-evaluate are main at the position.

“I in truth like him,” O’Dowd mentioned. “He is got enormous management trends. And the bat is successfully above moderate. I deem his desire to get hold of and the athleticism that he has if whoever takes him gives him of endeavor to settle in at that position … I deem Henry is going to be a extraordinarily loyal main league catcher and a middle-of-the-lineup bat.”

It became the fifth time in franchise history that the Pirates had the pinnacle expend in the draft however the predominant time they selected a catcher No. 1 overall. Their outdated No. 1 overall picks all had been college avid gamers: infielder Jeff King of Arkanas (1986) and pitchers Kris Benson of Clemson (1996), Bryan Bullington of Ball Impart (2002) and Gerrit Cole of UCLA (2011).

The Pirates enjoy drafted seven catchers in the predominant round, most fair no longer too long in the past in 2013 when they selected Reese McGuire from Kentwood High College in Covington, Wash., who became traded to Toronto in the Francisco Liriano deal in 2016. They even enjoy landed the likes of Steve Nicosia (1973), a member of their 1979 World Series champions, a three-time All-Star in Jason Kendall (1992) and Pine-Richland’s Neil Walker (2004), who remodeled to 2d scandalous and played on three wild-card teams from 2013-15.

“I deem I in truth enjoy the capability to be one in all the uncommon catchers who impacts the ball on either aspect,” Davis mentioned. “That’s what I strive for. … That is the course I study myself going down.”

The Pirates drafted a shortstop final year, taking Slash Gonzales of Contemporary Mexico Impart No. 7 overall. Gonzales has since moved to 2d scandalous. They took factual-handed pitchers with their varied 5 picks in 2020.

The first expend in the draft has a slot cost of $8,415,300, and the Pirates enjoy the draft’s highest pool, at $14,394,000, for signing their picks. They’ve 5 of the predominant 102 picks in the draft, with the predominant expend of the 2d round (No. 37), a Compensation B expend (No. 67) and the predominant expend of the third (No. 72) and fourth rounds (No. 102).

“Within the slay, we want to signal the avid gamers we expend, and so, it’s continuously going to be recordsdata we want to share,” Cherington mentioned. “But we wished to raise out factual by the project first, which became to basically debate the heck out of that high community. We did that. We did enjoy a community of avid gamers in truth close collectively. Within the slay, Henry became on high of that community. We had him listed first. So as we engaged in the conversations, you launch up there. We enjoy no longer signed him. We enjoy no longer agreed. But we expend him with some self assurance and hope that we can.”

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Overview workers author. That you simply can contact Kevin by e-mail at [email protected] or by Twitter .