BRADENTON, Fla. -- Henry Davis spent a lot of his offseason training by himself, hitting off a self-feeding pitching machine. That’s how he approached his training when he was at Louisville, growing into the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.
Many players will hit with a coach or at a facility. But Davis knows what he’s looking for after a disappointing 2024 season.
“If you’re getting solid backspin to the middle of the field, that’s all the feedback you need,” Davis explained.
The middle of the field is where Davis wants to be, but he barely hit the ball there. He had only 15 hits in 104 at-bats last season (a .144 batting average), and if you divided the field in half with second base being the divider, every one of those hits was to the righty-hitting Davis’ pull side. Most players post better slugging numbers and more home runs to their pull side, but Davis had just one homer and five extra-base hits.
Mechanical issues made it feel like Davis was taking a quick left turn too often. Too often he felt like he was late and the swing was rushed. He pulled the ball more, but it was usually hit lightly or on the ground. It also wasn’t the batted ball profile of someone who was hitting gap to gap in the Minors.
Davis whiffed on more than a third of each category of pitches -- fastball, breaking and offspeed -- and he struck out 45 times in his 122 plate appearances in the Majors. The Pirates optioned Davis to the Minors on May 3, and he did excel after reverting back to his old swing mechanics. While Davis was recalled from the Minors twice, he didn’t get much of an opportunity to prove himself in the Majors again, hitting the injured list with a concussion and left hand inflammation shortly after returning.
Davis continued to work with those mechanics this offseason. He’s less crouched than he was originally, and he is getting his hands to his load quickly. He’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s obvious he took last year’s struggles into consideration when tailoring the swing.
“It’s really back to what I always did,” Davis said. “There’s always room for improvement in the little nuances of hitting and trying to be in the best hitting position you can possibly be to be a tough out. I’m always working, but it’s closer to what I’ve historically done.”
Swing changes could prove to be beneficial, but it might not be the biggest change Davis has made. Last year, Davis changed his goal from being the best player he could be to making the Opening Day team. He succeeded, in large part because he hyper-fixated on proving himself as a catcher. That included months of work, rapidly trying to gain weight after losing 15 pounds to play right field in 2023 and trying to go full speed on everything.
Now, Davis is trying to be more present. If he’s taking batting practice, aim for the middle of the field. If he’s catching a bullpen session, focus on that. Go back to just trying to be the best version of himself rather than what he thinks others want from him.
“I feel like a lot of that takes care of itself if I’m just putting energy into wherever I am,” Davis said. “If I’m in batting practice, focus on driving the ball to the middle of the field. If I’m catching a bullpen, just focusing on being as present as I can be with that pitcher. Just keeping the goal of being the best player I can be and trust that, as it has in the past, that will be indicative of success, rather than putting too much energy into, ‘I need to do everything 110% of what I’m capable of right now.’”
That mindset is usually indicative of success over a 162-game season, and sometimes a hard lesson to learn. And his manager recognizes, and appreciates, that growth.
“One of the beautiful things about Henry Davis is how hard he goes all the time and his ability to take his craft seriously,” Derek Shelton said. “... Last year, he tried to do a little bit too much. The self-awareness and the evaluation process in the offseason and the way he’s been in the first 10 days of camp has been outstanding, and I give a young player like him a lot of credit for being able to realize that.”