3-1-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
There is a new “Pirate Generation” arriving soon in Pittsburgh. We’ve SEEN it now! Or, after yesterday’s game, at least heard it. Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler, Anthony Solometo and Jackson Wolf will soon join the ranks of Quinn Priester, Liover Peguero, Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales – you’ve been hearing about prospects as part of the rebuild for the past 4 years. The “reinforcements” are on the way but, as the title of the article states, whom will these up-and-comers look to as the leader – both on the field and in the clubhouse? Who will be their captain?
A handful of teams have quote-unquote Captain(s) on their respective teams. Jason Varitek, David Wright, Derek Jeter – and now, Aaron Judge – have all borne a ‘C’ on their jerseys. It’s not common, certainly not like it was years ago. The Pirates have actually only had four captains in their storied history and they covered a span of just over 2 decades – all of whom you probably know as a Pirates fan.
Dick Groat was named the team’s first captain in 1962, his final year before a trade to the St. Louis Cardinals. Bill Mazeroski took the mantle from 1963 through 1972. After him, Pops himself – Willie Stargell – was captain from 1973 until 1982, and finally, for 1983, Bill Madlock.
And that was it. Now, “Mad Dog” Madlock had some issues that extended beyond the baseball diamond, likely contributing to his captainship being revoked and not annointed on another player but will he be the final one to ever wear the black and gold?
If you were to pick a presumptive “Captain” for the Pirates, you likely would steer the choice toward veteran Andrew McCutchen. Cutch, however, seems more the Teddy Roosevelt type to “speak softly and carry a big stick” while the name I have in mind is more of a “speak loudly and also the big stick thing” type of leader.
Ok, hear me out here! I’m not ordaining Henry Davis as the next team captain quite yet but I am going to argue that his success and leadership could be the biggest trigger for the team’s success – especially if he can stick at catcher.
It’s not hard to argue that the Pirates have been lacking in offensive power behind the dish the past few years. Looking back to the 2013-15 teams, Russell Martin posted the third highest fWAR among all catchers in the 2013/2014 seasons. Francisco Cervelli’s 5.9 fWAR in 2015 was only behind Buster Posey (6.8) among MLB catchers.
Over the past five years, the Pirates have employed a slew of solid defenders behind the dish but with extremely sub-par upside with the bat. Per FanGraphs (thanks Yark for doing the legwork here), the Pirates catching corps has posted an MLB-worst -131.4 offense since the start of 2019 despite being the 4th best defensively at 89.2.
This can be attributed – at least in part – to former Pirates like Austin Hedges and Jacob Stallings, who had above-average defensive acumen while their skill with the bat was lackluster. But, with the team looking to open its window of contention, having a 2-way backstop – or even one above average offensively – would go a long way towards helping this team be successful.
We haven’t gotten to see much of Davis at the dish, much less behind it. As of now, March 1, 2024, he has caught only 2 MLB innings outside of Spring Training and posted a measly .653 OPS over 255 plate appearances with the Pirates in 2023. Keep in mind, however, that he was dealing with a hand injury which hampered his power, impacted his swing and dissuaded the Pirates from using him more as a catcher.
Looking to his track record in the minors, he has played in 122 total games, 536 plate appearances and posted a .286/.415/.532 triple slash with 25 home runs, 24 doubles and 20 stolen bases. His defense has always been a concern but something he has been working on basically all of the off-season – recruiting a number of other players along the way. And reports we’ve been hearing out of camp this spring have been pretty positive regarding his improvement and development in the role while we’ve gotten to see the bat show up already.
Between this rah-rah team spirit move, his post-draft message to Termarr Johnson in 2022 and his sheer determination to will this team forward into contention, it is hard to not like the guy. The catching job is his to lose with Endy Rodriguez out for the year but he’s looking to be a different ‘C’ with this team.
Whether the Pirates ever bring back the title of Captain or not is irrelevant. For all intents and purposes, Davis is a leader for this up-and-coming group of players – Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Anthony Solometo and Jared Jones, among others – who could be greatly impactful in opening the contention window for Pittsburgh. But it all starts with the man behind the dish.
O, Captain! My Captain!
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 
Glad I make an informal habit of scrolling through posts here now and then, because I otherwise would’ve missed this intriguing topic and insight I hadn’t considered. Thanks, Michael!
I think it’s likely to go how you noted at the end: still no official captains but clearly demonstrated leadership from Davis. It is odd to me how baseball has eschewed captains while football and hockey have consistently embraced them. The vicious cycle of turnover in MLB likely influences that heavily: By the time a guy’s inheriting that mantle, he’s very likely within a couple years of the end of team control, whereas football and hockey often have long captaincies (e.g., Crosby).
If forced to pick a captain now, yeah, I’d go with the easy answer in McCutchen.
And highly encouraging stats on the catchers’ offense–literally nowhere to go but up, a potentially enormous catalyst in this build!
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