The Red Sox may shock everyone by selecting Henry Davis
The 2021 MLB Draft is tomorrow night and the whispers are swirling like crazy. It’s felt pretty clear who the top choices are going to be but not so much in where they’ll fall. Every mock Draft that hits the news cycle seems to shuffle them around to the different squad picking early. For the Red Sox, they’ve been heavily tied to both Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker over the last year, but they could shock the world and go another route.
While going with either of the Vandy Boys will surely be a wise move by Chaim Bloom, there’s another need that is going untalked about for Boston. Louisville catcher Henry Davis is gaining a lot of momentum as the hours tick by and we very well could see him make his way to Fenway Park. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bloom go this route, especially if the two pitchers are off the board. Hell, he may pull the trigger if just Leiter is gone by the fourth selection as Rocker has seen his stock fall dramatically in recent months.
Some of you may be curious as to why I believe Chaim may go with a catcher instead of adding to the pitching staff, well, I’ll tell ya. Davis is one hell of a player on both sides of the game as he can mash the ball to the freakin’ moon while also being able to command things from behind the plate. As it stands right now he’s the highest-rated position player in tomorrow’s draft and could be a more than solid pickup for the Red Sox.
We all love Christian Vazquez, but the clock is ticking in more ways than one for Boston’s charismatic backstop. He has the ability to become a free agent after this season but a 2022 club option makes that highly unlikely. Even if the Red Sox activate his option, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent come 2023 with few options behind him in the pecking order. Connor Wong has shown he can hang, at least for Nathan Eovaldi, but he’s the closest to the big leagues.
Selecting Davis tomorrow night would instantly boost a position that may get weakened very soon and with his ability he could be a factor sooner rather than later. While I think Vazqy will be around at least for next season, it’s hard to tell what Bloom will want to do with his catcher as the veteran will be 33-years-old by the end of the 2022 campaign. He may want to bring in Davis and have him study under Christian alongside Wong until both can take the mantle in 2023.
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Yesterday, the FanSided MLB team did a Mock Draft of the first round and I was given the task of managing the fourth pick. As Leiter was taken before I could get to him, I had to rethink my plan of attack and after some deliberation with BSI’s Sean Penney, I went with Davis. A guy of his talent and skill would make any team that drafts him better, and it felt like the right choice. Had Kumar had a better 2021 I would’ve gone with him but I couldn’t say no to the Lousiville stud.
Through 50 games in 2021, Davis slugged an impressive .370/.482/.663/1.145 with 15 homers, 48 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. That kind of power and speed is what I want from my catcher especially considering Vazqy is the current team leader for swiped bags. The Red Sox are going to need to address the position soon and they may as well start that process tomorrow night. Get Davis here and get him working as soon as you can so he’s more than ready when the opportunity presents itself.
Tomorrow night offers a very rare opportunity for the Red Sox to draft very high in the order. It took an absolutely miserable couple of years but it very well could be worth it. While I think it’s going to be damn near impossible to snag one of the Vandy Boys, I think Chaim Bloom would be a genius for selecting Henry Davis. A player of his caliber would fit right in with this crop of guys and he could learn from one of the very best in the game today.