The Pirates select Henry Davis first overall in the 2021 MLB Draft

With the first pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, the Pirates have selected Henry Davis, a catcher out of Louisville.

This is Davis’ second draft, first entering in 2018 out of high school and just barely making Baseball America’s Top 300. But now after three years of college ball for the Cardinals, Davis has found himself at the top of the draft class, and for good reason. He has been noted to have one of the cleanest swings in this year’s class, as well as some of the best raw power. He spent this spring annihilating the ball and crushed 15 home runs, ending the season with a .370 batting average and a 1.145 OPS. His keen baseball eye and grasp of the strike zone makes his shine amongst all of offensive standouts this year.

The aspect of Davis that everyone doesn’t seem to agree on is his defensive future. But we’ve seen players who started their college careers with a different position than what they ended with be wildly successful, cough-cough-Jacob-deGrom-shortstop-cough-cough. The 21-year old has some trouble blocking and moving behind the plate, and his pitching framing skills have seen a dip from his freshman year. While still having a strong arm, Davis could bounce from the backstop to the outfield, depending on how he grows in the minors.