2021 Bowman’s best

Collectors can find prospects, rookies and veteran players in the Bowman baseball cards. In particular, top prospect cards are many collectors’ favorites. There are several series under the Bowman brand. The Bowman’s Best is a good series for fans to find top prospects. A few weeks ago, I got some packs of 2021 Bowman’s Best.

I was looking for top prospects or rookies in this set. And, very luckily, I found a Henry Davis refractor card.

Henry Davis was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 2021 MLB draft. The Pirates used the 1st overall pick to select him. The Pirates definitely believe that he has strong potential to make it into the big league or become a star player. And, I’m just wondering whether the Pirates made the right decision.

 

When we look at the franchise history, the Pirates used to select 5 players with the No.1 pick in the MLB draft. These players are Jeff King, Kris Benson, Bryan Bullington, Gerrit Cole and Henry Davis. Three of them are right-handed pitchers.

Jeff King was the first overall pick in the 1986 draft and he made it into the big league in 1989. In his rookie season, he hit .195/.266/.353 with 5 home runs and 19 RBI over 75 games. In total, he spent 8 seasons with the Pirates and he batted .258/.320/.417 with 99 home runs and 493 RBI. His best season in the Pirates uniform was 1996. In that season, he slashed .271/.346/.497 with 30 home runs and 111 RBI. King was traded to the Royals after the 1996 season.

In 1996, Kris Benson was drafted first overall by the Pirates. Benson made his MLB debut on April 9, 1999. He tossed 196.2 innings in his rookie season and posted a 4.07 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The next season, he posted career-highs in ERA, strikeouts, innings pitched and games pitched. In 2000, he owned a 3.85 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over 217.2 innings. In total, Benson spent 5 seasons with the Pirates and tossed 782 innings. He was traded to the Mets on July 30, 2004.

Moreover, the Pirates selected Bryan Bullington with the first overall pick in 2002. He made it into the big league in 2005. However, Bullington pitched for the Pirates for only 18.1 innings and didn’t earn a win in the Pirates uniform.

Finally, the Pirates decided to select Gerrit Cole with the first overall pick in 2011. On June 11, 2013, Cole made his MLB debut. In his rookie season, he threw 117.1 innings with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Cole spent 5 seasons with the Pirates. During these 5 years, he had a 3.50 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP over 782.1 innings. His best season in the Pirates uniform was in 2015, when Cole earned 19 wins with a 2.60 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Cole was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in 2015. In January 2018, Cole was traded to the Astros.

Henry Davis was drafted first overall by the Pirates last year and the Pirates definitely believe his potential. Jeff King, Kris Benson, Bryan Bullington and Gerrit Cole did make it into the big league in the Pirates uniform. However, among them, only Gerrit Cole became an All-Star. Let’s see when Henry Davis will be called up and whether he will be an All-Star in the future.