Things had been going so well for Henry Davis in his introduction to professional baseball.
The 21-year-old catcher, whom the Pirates selected with the first overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, started his post-draft season in the Florida Complex League. He played in two games, went 3 for 7 with a homer and two doubles and was quickly moved up the ladder to High-A Greensboro.
In his first at-bat there, he smoked a ball off the wall in left-center field, rounded second and headed to third for a triple, then kept running toward home. He was thrown out, but it was about as exciting as a first appearance with a new team could be.
That was the leaping-off point, as the Pirates’ top-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline played in six games overall, going 5 for 19 with two home runs and that triple.
But now, he’s on the shelf, and possibly done for the season. The Grasshoppers placed Davis on the seven-day injured list Tuesday with a right oblique strain. Pirates director of sports medicine said Tuesday that Davis is still going to undergo an MRI, and the Pirates will wait for those results to give Davis a full timeline for a return to health.
“They're in Asheville, North Carolina, at the present time,” Tomczyk said. “We had a follow-up MD exam today. We're still in the process of learning. We'll probably get further diagnostics in the coming days to get a true prognosis, but that is correct. Henry Davis unfortunately sustained a right oblique strain.”
Including Wednesday, Greensboro has just 17 games remaining. While Tomczyk is hesitant to put a firm timeline on Davis, he did acknowledge that oblique strains in position players typically take around 4 to 6 weeks to heal.
If that is the timeline, then Davis would only return if the Greensboro made the postseason.
“That's what we generally see with obliques in position players,” Tomczyk said. “They could take up to 28 days. Right now, that's why we're learning more about the MRI. That will help us get a true, definitive prognosis, but what we know now is he sustained a right oblique and he's on the 7-day IL, so at least he won't be active for 7. At this stage we anticipate it being a bit longer.”
Roansy Contreras not expected to return this week
On Sunday, general manager Ben Cherington said the expectation was for right-hander Roansy Contreras to throw a live batting practice session early this week and return to game action shortly thereafter. It seems that timeline has been pushed back a bit.
Due to inclement weather in Altoona, the Pirates’ No. 6-ranked prospect had his first live batting practice session pushed back one day last week. Now, Tomczyk says Contreras is expected to face live hitters in a simulated game or live BP setting again later this week and early next week before returning to the mound.
“Hopefully the weather continues to not be inclement and be nice, and he continues down that path of throwing live again later this week,” Tomczyk said. “All indications are that we're working and building back up towards game competition to finish the season.”
Brubaker to IL
Right-hander Bryse Wilson (arm fatigue) was activated from the injury list and started Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
To make room for Wilson, the Pirates moved right-hander JT Brubaker to the 10-day IL with a right thumb contusion. Tomczyk and manager Derek Shelton concurred that the injury didn’t appear to be too serious, but it happened in Brubaker’s first at-bat Tuesday, when he got jammed and punched a ball toward the right side of the infield.
Brubaker was all right Tuesday, as he ended up throwing five shutout innings on 92 pitches, earning his first win since late May.
“We've talked about workload, volume management,” Shelton said. “I think the one thing we thought with this is it gives him a few extra days because we have the off-day [on Monday], so he would have been bumped back a day. So I think it just bumps him back a couple more, which for the workload part of it, it's fine. The bigger component for us is work in between. We want him to be able to work on the breaking ball in between and how he grips it. If two days from now he was throwing a side and couldn't grip it, it would just be unfair, in terms of his development."
Further updates
• Tomczyk says left-hander Sam Howard has reacted well to his rehab appearances with Class AAA Indianapolis. Howard will make another appearance there in the coming days, but Tomczyk says the Pirates are having frequent conversations in regards to an MLB return date.
• Right-handed reliever Blake Cederlind, who has not pitched this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, has progressed out to 75-foot long toss off flat ground.
Chen promoted
The Pirates promoted pitcher Po-Yu Chen from the Florida Complex League to Low-A Bradenton. Chen signed with the Pirates for $1.25 million in October and had a 0.69 ERA in 26 FCL innings — lowest in that league and the seventh best among any rookie-ball pitcher.
Across those six starts, Chen had a 0.69 WHIP with a .191 batting average against, no walks and 29 strikeouts. When he signed with the Pirates, FanGraphs considered Chen the 22nd-best international prospect available.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: August 25, 2021, 9:56 p.m.
