For all of the work Henry Davis has done in the batting cage trying to find his way out of a funk at the plate, the Pittsburgh Pirates catcher got some simple but sage advice from a baseball lifer.
After taking early batting practice Thursday, it was a conversation with Gene Lamont that led to a breakthrough. What the 78-year-old special advisor to Pirates manager Don Kelly asked Davis made him laugh.
How much do you think about what the pitcher’s going to throw you?
A lot, Davis said, sharing that it was the focus of his approach.
Lamont told him to stop doing that.
“Pitches down the middle have been good to hit for a long time,” Lamont told Davis. “Just try and get one of those.”
When Cincinnati Reds left-handed reliever Brent Suter grooved a 2-2 four-seam fastball down the middle, Davis drove it 373 feet at a 100.4-mph exit velocity for a two-run home run to left field in the seventh inning of a 7-0 win Thursday night at PNC Park.
“Yeah, just swing at a ball down the middle,” Davis said. “Pretty simple approach.”
Davis also singled off Reds starter Brady Singer in the fourth inning, hitting an elevated sinker on the outside corner for a 104.8-mph exit velocity. The two-hit game was the first for Davis since June 7, when he also singled and homered in a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was a long time coming, given that Davis has shown indications of barreling the ball and has lived up to his reputation as one of the team’s hardest workers by taking early batting practice. That finally carried over to a game.
“That was great. He’s been hitting the ball well. A lot of hard contact, just not a lot to show for it,” Kelly said. “For him to get the two knocks and hit that one out was great.”
Davis entered the game with a .164/.249/.267 slash line in 59 games, which served as a source of frustration — especially because of his expected numbers. He had an expected weighted on-base average of .324 — a 75-point difference — and an expected slugging percentage of .421, which is 152 points higher than the actual. His expected OPS (.745) is 200 points higher than the actual, which increased to .544.
“I really do feel like I’ve hit the ball a lot better than it shows,” Davis said. “That’s part of the game. Obviously, it doesn’t help your team win, whether you hit it hard or not, if they catch it. So, seeing a couple land felt pretty good.”
It allowed Davis to exhale and, perhaps more importantly, smile after catching a shutout in which Paul Skenes pitched six scoreless innings to extend his streak of consecutive scoreless starts at PNC Park to five.
Davis is not only working on hitting the ball better, more consistently and committing to that approach but “keeping my head on straight when things might not go the way I want them to.” That’s particularly true for Davis, who is always trying to seek a competitive edge.
“We live in a crazy era that people can actually see all the information on how well you hit the ball and all that stuff — but it doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t really help your team win and, obviously, that’s the goal here,” Davis said. “I know when we do what we need to do here, I’ll be a driver in that.”
Davis is learning that his indefatigable work ethic can be counterproductive when he tries to overcompensate for his scuffles at the plate. And studying the expected outcomes didn’t provide promise.
“Honestly, it makes it worse,” Davis said. “I’d much rather be lucky, much rather not hit the ball well and get lucky than hit it well and get unlucky. Because, again, it just doesn’t help your team win.”
That’s what drives Davis more than anything. As a No. 1 overall pick in 2021, he wants to be a catalyst for the Pirates to become a contender. Defensively, he’s improved to the point that he serves as Skenes’ personal catcher. Offensively, Davis knows there’s a long way to go.
“When I trust in the process, when I hit the ball hard and hit the ball in the air, they will land,” Davis said. “Whether it happens in the short term or the future, just know that that’s indicative of success and to trust the process and the work I’m putting in every day even when the balls don’t fall. It’s nice to be able to impact both sides of the game.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
