This story was excerpted from Justice delos Santos’ Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

As Henry Davis sat in Peoples Natural Gas Field's media room, he was asked how he felt about beginning the season with Double-A Altoona as opposed to Triple-A Indianapolis. He said, in essence, that he would control what he could control.

Several minutes later, Davis was asked if he was worried his teammates would be disappointed -- that they wouldn’t embody that same mentality. Over the next minute, Davis exhibited the intangibles that come with being a potential face of the franchise.

“I don’t know if it should be disappointing. You can be pissed off. You can be passionate about it. You can care. Everybody in this locker room should be upset that they’re here. I think everybody in the Triple-A locker room should be upset that they’re there. I think everybody’s goal in our system is to be in Pittsburgh. I don’t think anybody will be happy at any affiliate, you know what I mean? Our goal is to play in Pittsburgh. Our goal is to win in Pittsburgh.

“So, it’s OK to be pissed off, but it’s about how you channel that. If you let that control how you play and if you let that control your conduct, shame on you. But, if you say, ‘You know what, I’ll show them and I’m going to work as hard as I can to be so good that there’s no choice but for me to be in Pittsburgh,’ I think that’s a great attitude. There’s no shame in saying that.

“I want to be in Pittsburgh right now. Right now. And I think everybody in the locker room feels the same way. So, it’s OK for it to sting a little bit, but what are you going to do about it?”

When Davis was promoted to Altoona last season in early May, he appeared destined to, at the very minimum, begin this season with Indianapolis. He mashed at High-A Greensboro, slashing .341/.450/.585 with five home runs in 22 games, then homered in his second plate appearance with Altoona.

Then, the left wrist issues happened. Davis went on the injured list twice over the summer and ended up playing only 31 games for Altoona last season, an injury that stemmed from one of the 20 pitches he was hit by. The wrist injury continued to bother Davis even when he returned; across 136 plate appearances with Altoona, Davis slashed .207/.324/.379 with four home runs.

The backstop wasn’t merely playing with minor soreness. At the beginning of Spring Training, Davis told MLB.com that he was playing with a fully broken hook, or hamate, in his left wrist, causing a sharp pain whenever he made certain movements. When asked about his wrist on Monday, Davis said he feels “locked in.”

The primary reason that Davis is beginning the season with Altoona is so he and Endy Rodriguez, the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect who is beginning the season with Triple-A Indianapolis, can both catch full time. At some point, however, Davis and Rodriguez will both make their way to Pittsburgh, and when that day comes, the Pirates will have to figure out how to get both Davis and Rodriguez in the lineup.

Read more on Davis and Rodriguez here.

To prepare for that day, Altoona manager Callix Crabbe said he will play Davis in right field once per week to begin the season. Last year, when Davis and Rodriguez were both at Altoona, Davis spent two games in right field. Davis said he’s putting all his effort into improving as a catcher -- catching is the reason he’s here, after all -- but added that he still wants to sharpen that tool.

“I think no matter what, it comes down to no matter what assignment I have, I’m going to do to the best of my ability, and I want to be as prepared as possible,” Davis said.