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Number one overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in last weeks Major League baseball draft, Henry Davis climbs the dugout steps at PNC Park before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Sunday, July 18, 2021. The Pirates signed the 21-year-old catcher on Sunday, a week removed from taking him with the first overall pick in the draft.
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Amid hot start, top pick Henry Davis trying to 'keep perspective'

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Amid hot start, top pick Henry Davis trying to 'keep perspective'

ST. LOUIS — The night of the MLB draft, after the selections had stopped and much of the fuss had died down, Henry Davis was still brimming with excitement. Inside the Bellco Theatre in downtown Denver, the No. 1 overall pick came face-to-face with an MLB legend.

That’s when Ken Griffey Jr. delivered some words that Davis won’t soon forget.

“Emotions were still going a little crazy at that time,” Davis said. “Right after the draft, he said, ‘Welcome to the club.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty special.’ ”

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Only a few weeks into his pro career, Davis is proving to be a worthy member of that group. Entering play Friday, the no-nonsense catcher from Louisville had eight hits in his first 19 professional at-bats (.421) over six games between the Florida Complex League and his time with High-A Greensboro.

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Arguably the best college hitter in the 2021 draft class, Davis has put three balls over the fence, nearly had an inside-the-park home run — it wound up a triple when he was thrown out at home — cranked two doubles and knocked in seven runs.

It has been a dream debut, for sure, although Davis isn’t about to start digging himself.

“It’s good to get off to a good start,” Davis told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’m really more focused on helping the team win games. We had a good week last week. Need to finish out the week strong this week.”

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Meeting with reporters last week over Zoom, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Davis expressed a desire to get going with the many talented arms the club has stashed at High-A Greensboro.

That wasn’t the sole reason he was promoted after just two rookie-level games, Cherington explained, but it was certainly a factor.

Asked about his desire to learn about Quinn Priester, Carmen Mlodzinski, Tahnaj Thomas, Davis said it was all about establishing a rapport with guys he expects to catch for years to come and figuring out as quickly as possible what makes them tick.

“I think a very important part about being a catcher is knowing a pitching staff and knowing how to get the most out of them, knowing what I can do to help them succeed, what they’re doing when they’re at their best and how to get them back on track when things are not going their way,” Davis said. “The more experience I can get with these guys, the better off we’ll all be down the road.”

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It’s like that for the Pirates’ draft class as a whole, which is obviously headlined by Davis. By signing him under slot value, the Pirates were able to spread their pool money around and wound up with five of the top 100 available players according to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.

Davis said he got to know the four high-schoolers at Pirate City and really likes them. They apparently talked about the direction of the Pirates and the part they will inevitably play in bringing better, brighter days to Pittsburgh.

“We all bonded really well,” Davis said. “We all had that same feeling where, this train’s moving in the right direction. We all want to be a part of moving it that way. There’s definitely a good feeling.”

Life is good these days for Davis, the quintessential baseball rat. Not that he shirked his studies at Louisville, but playing baseball for a living has been his goal since he was a little kid. Now, he actually gets to do that and loves every second of it.

Davis said that isn’t lost on him. While others are forced to toil at jobs they may hate, he gets paid a lot of money to do something he would almost assuredly do for free.

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, so just trying to keep perspective and understand how lucky I am in the grand scheme of things to be able to do that every day,” Davis said.

Fitting in with the Grasshoppers has been relatively easy, Davis said, a credit to his teammates and coaches there. It’s also a credit to Davis, whose humility and workmanlike attitude are hard to miss and easy to respect.

He has little interest in making himself bigger than the team or letting his good (and new) fortune get to his head. In probably the least shocking outcome possible, Davis simply wants to go to work every day and do whatever he can to help his team win games.

“The main focus is to not get caught up in where or when I’m playing because I don’t really control that,” Davis said. “Just take my same approach because no matter what level, it’s the same game.”

What has he learned about his short time in pro ball?

“Don’t try and be somebody you’re not,” Davis said. “Don’t try and change who you are to acclimate to a new level. Like I said before, just go about your work the same way and play the game the same.”

For Davis, there’s only one way to do that — hard. Stuff like chugging around third and trying for an inside-the-park home run and working his tail off to handle and support his pitchers.

Also, the lack of batting gloves. Watching the videos of Davis’ exploits that inevitably pop up on social media, his bare hands jump out. He’s a throwback in that he’s always hated batting gloves, for reasons that are tough to explain.

“I just never wanted to wear ‘em,” Davis said. “I just didn’t like ‘em. I don’t think I ever really tried ‘em until some really, really cold games in New York. It felt a little soft, so I took ‘em off. It’s personal player preference. I just don’t really like it.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

First Published: August 20, 2021, 10:01 p.m.

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Number one overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in last weeks Major League baseball draft, Henry Davis climbs the dugout steps at PNC Park before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Sunday, July 18, 2021. The Pirates signed the 21-year-old catcher on Sunday, a week removed from taking him with the first overall pick in the draft.  (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)
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