PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Simply put, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said at some point they knew they were going to move Henry Davis up. Now they’ve done it, how are they going to make it work as their second (Endy Rodriguez) and third best prospects (Davis) each are catchers and now on the same team?
“They'll split time behind the plate and they both have a secondary position that they'll get in the lineup at,” Cherington said. “I anticipate for Henry that would be right field and Endy probably first base. So, they'd be in the lineup at their secondary position on some days and then splitting time behind the plate.”
While they likely will split that down the middle (AAA plays six games a week), they will adjust as the season continues. What is interesting about Cherington mentioning Davis in right and Endy at first is the organization doesn’t have sure-fire prospects at either of those positions.
That doesn’t mean they are looking to move either player from behind the plate. Cherington said long-term, the best outcome for the Pirates and for both of them would be to be major league catchers.
“If they can do the things they're capable of doing offensively and handle the defensive responsibilities at catcher, that's a massive impact,” Cherington said. “So longer term, that's our focus. We see all the time that (in the) short term on a day-to-day basis we do all kinds of things to put the team in the best position to win tonight. So that's a balance. We always balance of short term and long term. The long-term outcome, in our opinion, is that they're both catching a lot of games in the major leagues.”
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible that either could be called up to primarily play an alternate position. Cherington admitted any player at Triple A could be promoted to help the big-league club and if they needed a short fix, Davis or Rodriguez could play another position. Again, catcher is where they want both.
Cherington wouldn’t say if stellar offense or defense would lead to a quicker trip to the majors. Don’t expect either player to come up to Pittsburgh soon, barring injury.
“This will be a chance for Henry to play in Triple-A,” Cherington said. “He hasn't done that yet. It is a different level of baseball and fully expect him to compete there and do well. It's important for him to experience that. As far as Henry's concerned, that's an opportunity for him to get that opportunity. It's a new group of teammates, a chance for him to connect with a new group of teammates. That team's been playing well recently.”
“With Endy, it's just a continuation, continue to work on the stuff. He's trending in a good direction. Not surprisingly, he's working his tail off and getting into a good spot defensively. The bat's starting to heat up. He's always been a leader on the teams he's been at.”
There was also a firm mention from the Bucs GM they are happy with the pair of catchers they currently have in Austin Hedges and Jason Delay.
“Our catching, on this Major League team, has been a part of our improvement,” Cherington said. “We believe our catching tandem is making an impact, is helping our pitching and is contributing to the overall improvement of the team, helping us win games. We're mindful of that, also.”
“Down the road, if there's ways to improve the team, that's something we have to be open to and thinking about all the time. Overall, we feel good about the catching group that's in the major leagues and we're excited to see what Henry and Endy do together in Indy.”
So are the fans, but they are more excited to see them come to Pittsburgh. That doesn’t seem to be imminent.