PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – We had all heard about ‘expected this’ and ‘expected that’ when it comes to seeing more from 2021 first-round pick Henry Davis. Monday it was a second home run in three games and this one was the game-winner in a 2-1 series opener against the Cubs.
"Hit it, squared it up, pretty pumped," Davis said.
Heading into that at bat Davis was flirting with the batting average dipping below .130, but that wasn’t concerning him. It had irritated him, but much like the expected batting average stat was telling, Davis believed it’s turning for him.
“Process-wise, it’s definitely been the best month I’ve had in the big leagues,” Davis said after the game. “It’s super frustrating to not have the results that I thought would line up with those over the course of time. Just trying to stay diligent, work hard and be prepared.”
And what allowed him to not let that frustration take over?
“Honestly, the only thing that I think helps is it’s a new game every day,” Davis said. “I’m trying to help the team win any way that I can.”
His manager agrees.
"The thing is, the approach gets him to hit it there,” Don Kelly said of the 413-foot home run to left field. “We haven't seen too many yanked, pulled foul balls recently. So his approach is through the middle and he is going to catch some out front and drive it to left with his approach being through the middle.”
“I think that it's worked really well for him here recently, trying to stay up the middle, which doesn't mean that you can't hit a home run like he did today. He certainly can."
Kelly said Davis has power to all fields and they’ve seen it in batting practice, his ability to drive the ball. The second-year manager called it ‘tremendous’ what he was able to do in the seventh inning on Monday.
Davis said the goal this year was to ‘hit the ball harder and strike out less’. It’s been better in May, just had not seen the results. Davis is just two for his last 23, but both of those hits are home runs.
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“I’ve hit some balls well that have been caught,” Davis said. “I’m just keeping my head down and working as hard as I can every day.”
The 26-year-old said he’s lucky to be in baseball in his era because he can go home and watch his at bats. He can see the velocity and the indications that it will work in the future.
“It was cool, huge homer, won us the game,” said starting pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski. “He’s somebody that works his ass off. He’s here early every day. To see him get rewarded is a good feeling, for sure.”
He had waited and waited for positive results and now a game-winning homer has all feeling good.
Catcher seeing signs, now results after big home run to beat Cubs
Catcher seeing signs, now results after big home run to beat Cubs
