Not sure what Henry Davis would accomplish with more PA's. Three years in college, and now with the Pirates since 2021, he has had 400+ MLB PA's. The bat has just not developed and his BA is below .200 without much power. Endy Rodriguez had a good year in 2023 and missed 2024 due to elbow surgery. He's feeling his way back in 2025 and trying to get back to his comfort zone at the plate.
Bart will remain our No. 1 Catcher and Endy would be my pick as the backup as a Switchhitter, who can also play First Base and Left Field. The Pirates are at the point where they have to make some tough decisions and this is one of them. Endy should be returning soon from the foul tip laceration of his finger.
Davis's 430 plate appearances are over 3 years. His first stint as he was learning a new position, 2nd was injury ridden, and his 3rd is still extremely small sample size. He surely hasn't done well but with his greatly improved defense, I'd want to get him a longer look.
Endy needs consistent playing time which is available in Indy, after missing last year.
Bart needs to show he is more than a short side platoon behind the dish.
In my opinion Bart and Davis need to be pretty much splitting time in the majors until one grabs the reigns. If neither do Endy should be a good option for a look. If they all take steps forward, great.
Huge agree on that Ashcraft take, and I’d add Burrows with him. Maybe non traditional pen guys since you typically think of good fastball dudes with light repertoires but leaning on each of their secondaries could help the fastball play up in 1-2 inning stints.
Hank Davis is strong as a damn ox. His poor exit velos track hand in hand with the newer statcast metrics on contact quality. Just doesn’t square the ball up very well. Would lead the league in pop ups if he were a starter.
Some pitchers should follow the Earl Weaver philosophy of breaking in through the bullpen. Get them settled in the bigs, go from there. Especially these two who need their innings monitored.
I like these 10 Observations articles.
Also... of course everyone is talking about Ash and the pen and voila! Pretty nice outing last night.
-BB
Not sure what Henry Davis would accomplish with more PA's. Three years in college, and now with the Pirates since 2021, he has had 400+ MLB PA's. The bat has just not developed and his BA is below .200 without much power. Endy Rodriguez had a good year in 2023 and missed 2024 due to elbow surgery. He's feeling his way back in 2025 and trying to get back to his comfort zone at the plate.
Bart will remain our No. 1 Catcher and Endy would be my pick as the backup as a Switchhitter, who can also play First Base and Left Field. The Pirates are at the point where they have to make some tough decisions and this is one of them. Endy should be returning soon from the foul tip laceration of his finger.
Davis's 430 plate appearances are over 3 years. His first stint as he was learning a new position, 2nd was injury ridden, and his 3rd is still extremely small sample size. He surely hasn't done well but with his greatly improved defense, I'd want to get him a longer look.
Endy needs consistent playing time which is available in Indy, after missing last year.
Bart needs to show he is more than a short side platoon behind the dish.
In my opinion Bart and Davis need to be pretty much splitting time in the majors until one grabs the reigns. If neither do Endy should be a good option for a look. If they all take steps forward, great.
Endy hasn’t played in the OF since 2022 in Greensboro.
Probably for a reason
Also believe he is historically not great against lefties. So he’s really a one sided switch hitter.
Huge agree on that Ashcraft take, and I’d add Burrows with him. Maybe non traditional pen guys since you typically think of good fastball dudes with light repertoires but leaning on each of their secondaries could help the fastball play up in 1-2 inning stints.
Hank Davis is strong as a damn ox. His poor exit velos track hand in hand with the newer statcast metrics on contact quality. Just doesn’t square the ball up very well. Would lead the league in pop ups if he were a starter.
Ultimately, yeah, probably the same for Burrows too.
But if I had to pick one to stick in the rotation longer, it’s Burrows.
Although, I am at least intrigued to see if they are going to give Ash a start here
Some pitchers should follow the Earl Weaver philosophy of breaking in through the bullpen. Get them settled in the bigs, go from there. Especially these two who need their innings monitored.
I like this as long as they are beginning with 3 to 5 innings stints.
Before the injuries last year, that’s the kinda route I was hoping for with Ashcraft
Tommy Pham takes issue with your second point.