Henry

Davis

Incredibly, the slam is just Davis’s second ever extra-base hit with RISP; he was a lifetime .105/.185/.121 hitter with 220 plate appearances in those situations. Tonight, though, he managed to sock a 91.0-mph fastball (Arrighetti’s slowest of the game) 389 feet to left for a no-doubter over the Crawford Boxes. Davis struck out in his other three at-bats tonight before being removed for a pinch-hitter in the ninth. He’s at .143/.239/.294 for the season.

Davis’s fourth homer was a 413-footer to left in his third at-bat of the day. He previously struck out on three pitches and popped up a bunt attempt with no one on base for an out. Davis is hitting just .144/.246/.288 through 119 plate appearances. He has 15 hits in 104 at-bats, which as it happens, is also where he finished at in 2024.

As a team, the Pirates were only able to muster four hits in the contest, so the fault wasn’t all on Davis in this one. He is having an abysmal season at the plate though, slashing a cringe-inducing .141/.248/.239 with two homers and eight RBI in 106 plate appearances.

It will be Rodriguez’s first taste of big league action this year as Henry Davis takes a seat in the day-game-after-a-night-game scenario against RHP Chase Dollander. Rodriguez was hitting .221/.326/.301 for Triple-A Indianapolis in 136 plate appearances. The prospect luster appears to have worn off here after several injuries.

No word yet on how much time Bart will miss. The 29-year-old backstop heads to the injured list ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. It’ll be Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez handling the catching duties in his absence.

The Pirates jumped all over Reds starter Brady Singer and Davis was right in the middle of the action. He walked to lead-off the third inning which helped start a two-run rally and then blasted a 415 foot home run that nearly chased Singer from the game. He added his second homer in the fifth to push the lead out to 8-0 and the rout was on. It has not been a great start to the season at the plate for Davis, but he’s proven to be a strong option defensively and still has that great raw power.

The Pirates were hoping for contact with one out and the automatic runner on in the 11th, so they sent up Bart, even though he was just 2-for-14 with seven strikeouts this year. And he struck out. Davis has nine starts to Bart’s five this year as the Pirates wait and hope that one of their catchers will eventually heat up. Davis is hitting .194/.286/.290 in 35 plate appearances.

Quite the barnburner of a catching competition in Pittsburgh this spring. Bart is 5-for-34 with 16 strikeouts and a .392 OPS. Henry Davis homered today, pushing him all of the way up to .138 with a .631 OPS in 36 plate appearances. Endy Rodríguez actually did hit this spring, going 8-for-26 with two homers, but the Pirates demoted him anyway. Rafael Flores Jr., who was the return in the David Bednar deal with the Yankees, has also been sent down after going 2-for-25. The Pirates will just keep rolling with Bart and Davis for now and will likely let the hot hand, should one ever emerge, dictate playing time.

Bart will sit out his second straight contest with left wrist discomfort. It’ll be Henry Davis behind the plate on Wednesday evening in Cincinnati.

Adding an extra catcher at this point suggests that maybe Joey Bart or Henry Davis is dealing with a minor injury, but there’s been nothing yet to indicate that’s the case. The Pirates might just want to take a brief look at Flores, who needed to be added to the 40-man this winter anyway. The 24-year-old, who was acquired from the Yankees for David Bednar, hit .281/.363/.459 with six homers in 36 games for Indianapolis. He’s probably not good enough defensively to become a starting catcher, but the Pirates don’t have much to lose by giving him a look.