Joey Bart Continues to Be a Saving Grace for Pirates’ Catching Depth
p/c: AP
To describe the Pittsburgh Pirates’ catching situation in 2024, it would be enough to put your brain into a mental pretzel.
It started with Endy Rodriguez, who was expected to be out for all of ‘24, with a UCL injury.
Wanting to push Henry Davis at catcher, the Pirates opted to sign veteran backstop Yasmani Grandal, to a one-year deal for $2.5 million. The 35-year-old Grandal would miss most of spring training, as he dealt with plantar fasciitis. Davis had a strong, performance in the spring anyway, and was named the Pirates’ Opening Day catcher.
It’s been a struggle for the former first overall pick in the bigs, as he slashed only .153/.267/.235, in 102 plate appearances. Currently, Davis is at AAA Indianapolis - trying to work his way back.
The Pirates would make an interesting trade on April 2nd, with Joey Bart being acquired from the San Francisco Giants, for pitcher Austin Strickland. The move was no doubt in response to the Grandal injury.
Several years ago, Bart had been the Giants’ best catching prospect in the organization, as well as a consensus Top 50 prospect in the minors.
Unfortunately for Bart, things weren’t clicking for him, as he posted a slash line of .219/.288/.335, in parts of four seasons with San Francisco.
With the Pirates desperately needing offensive production at catcher, Bart has been a revelation, posting an impressive, .825 OPS. His 131 wRC+ would be fourth highest among MLB catchers, if he had qualified for enough plate appearances.
In 122 at-bats with the Bucs, Bart has hit seven homers. Of those seven, two of them are grand slams, which he did on May 23rd and July 9th. Bart would become the first Pirates catcher to hit multiple grand slams in the same season since Tony Pena in 1984.
Behind the plate, Bart has been decent enough, as he’s put up a 23% caught stealing, which is right around league average at 22%. In addition, he’s only allowed two passed balls.
Bart is a saving grace for the Pirates this year, when it comes to the catching position. The irony is that the offense he’s shown is what Davis was suppose to provide. With the exception of being the personal catcher for Paul Skenes, Grandal is no longer a regular starter. Obviously, a 47 wRC+ is clear enough evidence. And although Jason Delay is probably the most well-rounded, defensive backstop of the four, offensively, he doesn’t produce enough, to be a in a starting role with Pittsburgh. At the end of the day, Bart has been the best of the bunch this year.
For the Pirates, another perk they’ll have with Bart is plenty of team control. He will be first time arbitration eligible this offseason, and won’t be a free agent until after the 2027 season.