PHOENIX -- With the Pirates down in the eighth inning Friday against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field, Derek Shelton opted to lift his catcher, Austin Hedges, in favor of pinch-hitter Josh Palacios. It's not the first time Shelton has made that swap late, and every time it has meant that Jason Delay was about to enter the game at catcher.
That wasn't the case Friday, though. Palacios went out to right field, but not wanting to lose Henry Davis' bat in the lineup late, Shelton opted to have Davis move from the outfield to catch the eighth inning.
For as anticipated a catching debut this has been, the inning itself was quite routine, even if Davis did wear a foul tip. But after a couple weeks of just playing right field, he's on the scoreboard as a catcher defensively again.
"I've caught my whole life until here, so it's the longest break [catching I've had,]" Davis said following the Pirates' 7-3 loss.
After catching throughout the first part of the minor-league season, Davis was promoted to the Pirates last month because of his bat, not his glove. There was still plenty of work that needed to be done before the Pirates felt comfortable giving him a chance to catch in a game. While one inning doesn't mean that opinion has changed, it does show the position is back on the table.
"He did a good job," Shelton said. "We had a situation where we hit Palacios and wanted to keep him in a game that was a deficit game. I thought he did a nice job."
There's still work to be done, but the Pirates have maintained that they think Davis can be a catcher in the future. It's a viewpoint shared by Shelton and one of the people who has helped Davis get back behind the plate.
“I believe he can," bullpen catcher and catching coach Jordan Comadena was telling me. "To Henry’s credit, his makeup and just how he’s wired and driven, he’s going to be good at whatever he puts his mind to. The way I look at it, the receiving part of the game is something that can be taught. It can be improved upon. It’s something that if you want to dive into it, work at it and are real passionate about it, you’re going to get better.”
Comadena and major-league field coordinator Mike Rabelo have been two of the main instructors for Davis behind the scenes to improve at his chosen position. Comadena already has an impressive track record for helping to develop defensive catchers. In 2019, he and Jacob Stallings pioneered a weighted ball program that helped turn Stallings from being barely a major-leaguer to a Gold Glover. Last year, Delay went from almost hanging up his jersey for good to the team's backup now because of his defensive work.
Getting Davis up to snuff for the majors leagues is his latest challenge. Davis possesses the arm for the position and has taken some serious strides when it comes to calling the game and other intangibles of the sport this year, but the issue is his actual receiving skills. The general consensus is right now they aren't MLB-regular worthy, and not near the level of what Hedges and Delay bring.
But Comadena thinks those shortcomings can be improved.
“A lot of the tangible qualities that you can’t teach are things he already possesses," Comadena said. "The fire, the hyper-competitive demeanor, the leadership qualities, his energy. Those are things that are valuable at any position, especially as a catcher."
So there's work to do. The good news is grinding to get better is where Davis excels. He already has his fair share of hitting and outfield work to improve there, but the team also incorporates more and more catcher coaching.
"It's pretty simple," Davis said about managing the workloads. "I just try to do the best I can. It's not focusing necessarily on the result, it's focusing on the process every day. If I'm working my tail off in pregame, then I just get to enjoy the game, play as hard as I can."
"He wants to work,' Comadena said. "He’s very receptive to feedback and to observation and asks a lot of good questions. Wants to know why, so you’ve got to have information ready for him when questions come up."
So what's he been working on? Well, there's a list.
The main thing is simplifying his stance. For example, Davis catches on his right knee, so Comadena and Rabelo have focused on the left knee, getting it in the right position to lower his center of gravity. If he does that and hinge his chest out, it should allow him to be more athletic while trying to grab low strikes. Shortening up his glove load before pitches would help him do that. Also, they want him to set up his glove first at the bottom strike zone and then move the glove down lower. That positioning should give him the ability to rip a low pitch back into the zone. Davis also will ask questions, like how he should position himself so the ball will funnel into his body?
“The majority of the work is prioritizing hammering the bottom of the zone," Comadena said. "Edge to edge, that bottom rail. Just putting his body in a position to make an efficient, strong move in the bottom of the zone. The posture stuff, the stance stuff is the biggest thing.”
A lot of this is not new. Rabelo lives close to Davis in the offseason and the two connected this winter. Other information was brought up to Davis in spring training.
But for the first time, the Pirates have substantial data on Davis' catching abilities, both good and bad, because of the minors that can guide the coaching. Injuries limited Davis' catching time in the minors the last two years. This is the first time they have a large sample of internal data.
"Part of it is using the data that he’s accrued over the course of this season in the minor leagues and looking at his maps and his numbers and [seeing] where can we be better?" Comadena said. "What does the game need to tell us we need to improve at? So a lot of this is predicated on watching the games, getting feedback from the games and using that information to help gear our work now to when he is back, thrust into a position when he is catching regularly. He’s going to be in a little better position to meet those demands.”
Catching regularly is the goal. The Pirates aren't going to shy away from Davis getting spots to catch like he did Friday. There are still more drills and build up to be introduced and accomplished before he becomes an everyday option behind the plate.
But even an inning behind the plate Friday seems to be proof that he's trending in the right direction.
“He’s going to get better," Comadena said. "I think in time he’ll be a very good major-league catcher.”
