The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Louisville catcher Henry Davis with the first pick in baseball’s amateur draft on Sunday night.
In a draft without a clear-cut top prospect, it remained unclear who the Pirates would go with until the selection was announced.
Regarded as the best college hitter in the draft, Davis exploded at the plate this year, hitting .370/.482/.663 with 15 home runs and more walks than strikeouts (31 to 24) over 50 games. Known as a defense-first catcher coming out of high school, Davis hit .280 with three home runs as a freshman in 2019 and was hitting well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The No. 4 player on ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel’s top 200 draft board, Davis has top-shelf arm strength, which McDaniel grades as an 80 on the 20-to-80 scale, although the rest of his defense needs work.
Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington said the club decided to pick Davis on Saturday night. His scouts were impressed not just by Davis’ abilities, but also his eagerness to learn and hunger to improve.
“He checks a lot of boxes,” Cherington said. “We’ve had a lot of fun getting to know him.”
There had been speculation the Pirates would go with one of the top high school shortstops, Marcelo Mayer or Jordan Lawlar at No. 1. Davis said the Pirates informed him he would be the top pick only an hour before the draft.
“I really wanted to share with my family, but I didn’t because I was told not to,” he said.
He described the past 24 hours as “frustrating, because you don’t really control anything, but exciting at the same time, your next big step in your career is about to begin. I’ve done a lot of hard work to get here. Everybody in my life has helped me get where I’m at now and I’m excited to keep going.”
The Texas Rangers grabbed Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter with the second pick, landing a right-hander with a mid-90s fastball and two overpowering breaking pitches. Leiter is the son of former big league All-Star pitcher Al Leiter. His repertoire could play near the top of a big league rotation. He was 11-4 with a 2.13 ERA with the Commodores, including a no-hitter against South Carolina. He struck out 179 in 110 innings.
This was Texas’ first pick under first-year general manager Chris Young, a longtime big league pitcher who came to the organization determined to help the farm system better develop pitching. Leiter was at the top of the Rangers’ board.
“Jack is someone we’ve zeroed in for a while,” Young said. “He fits everything we’re trying to accomplish as an organization.”
The Detroit Tigers went with Oklahoma high school pitcher Jackson Jobe at No. 3, a year after taking Arizona State slugger Spencer Torkelson with the top pick. Jobe’s dad, Brandt, is a PGA golfer who now competes on the Champions Tour. Jobe was expected to be the first high school pitcher drafted after going 9-0 with a 0.13 ERA at Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City. He has a deep pitch mix, including a slider that was considered among the best in the draft class.
The AL East-leading Boston Red Sox picked fourth and selected the left-handed-hitting Mayer, who has drawn comparisons to Los Angeles Dodgers star Corey Seager.
“I did see it coming,” Mayer said of his slide to the Red Sox. “I knew they were high on me. I’m just super blessed to be part of the organization.”
Mayer hit 14 homers his senior year at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California, one shy of the school record set by 2000 No. 1 pick Adrian Gonzalez. Marcelo batted .392 with 45 RBIs and 46 runs.
The Baltimore Orioles followed with Sam Houston outfielder Colton Cowser, who impressed with his talent and performance despite playing at a smaller college. He was named Southland Conference player of the year after batting .374 with 16 home runs, 52 RBIs and 61 runs scored.
Lawlar went at No. 6, to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Kansas City Royals turned in the night’s first true surprise when they reached for Connecticut pitcher Frank Mozzicato with the seventh pick. The 18-year-old left-hander was projected by most experts as a fit for early in the second round.
Among the loudest cheers came when the hometown Colorado Rockies, selecting eighth, took Pennsylvania high school outfielder Benny Montgomery, a speedy player with a chance to add strength to his 6-foot-4 frame.
Right-handed pitcher Sam Bachman followed at No. 9, landing with the Los Angeles Angels.
Leiter’s Vanderbilt teammate, right-hander Kumar Rocker, was taken 10th overall by the New York Mets. Rocker was once considered a candidate to go first overall but slid down draft boards following an inconsistent spring.
The Pirates picked first overall for the first time since taking Gerrit Cole in 2011, by far the most successful of their four previous top selections. Their other top picks were infielder Jeff King (1986) and right-handers Kris Benson (1996) and Bryan Bullington (2002).
“I want to win, a competitor,” Davis said. “I’m going to do everything I can to help this organization get where it needs to be.”
Davis becomes the second Louisville catcher drafted in the first round in recent years after Dodgers catcher Will Smith, and also becomes the second catcher drafted first overall in the past three years after the Orioles took Oregon State backstop Adley Rutschman in 2019. Before that, the last catcher drafted first overall was Joe Mauer, taken by the Minnesota Twins in 2001. Only three others catchers have gone with the first pick — Steve Chilcott in 1966, Mike Ivie in 1970 and Danny Goodwin, who was twice drafted first, in 1971 and 1975.
The first pick in the draft has a slot value of $8,415,300, and it’s possible the Pirates worked out a pre-draft deal with Davis to sign for less than that in order to save money for later in the draft. Pittsburgh’s total pool for the draft is $14,394,000, the highest in the draft. The Astros, who lost their first- and second-round picks as a penalty for their sign-stealing scandal, have the smallest pool at $2,940,600.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced the selections from Denver’s Bellco Theater. Major League Baseball moved the draft from its longstanding June slot to July’s All-Star weekend in an effort to better showcase its future stars.
After the league slimmed the draft from 40 rounds to five last year in response to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s event will go 20 rounds spread over three days.
The draft opened Sunday night with the first 36 selections on tap. Fans were allowed to watch the event in person for the first time, and a smattering of onlookers booed loudly when Manfred took the stage. Previous drafts were held at MLB Network’s studio in Secaucus, New Jersey, which had room for only media and small groups of friends and family.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
