Perrotto: Joey Bart Adds New Wrinkle to Old Pirates Question

It is funny how things work out in baseball.

A year ago, one of the biggest questions surrounding the Pittsburgh Pirates was who their catcher of the future was. Was it Henry Davis or Endy Rodriguez?

Now, Rodriguez is sitting out the season while rehabbing from Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery. Davis is at Triple-A Indianapolis.

And the catcher of the future might be a player who wasn’t even in the organization.

That would be Joey Bart. The 27-year-old is certainly the catcher of the present.

The Pirates acquired Bart from the San Francisco Giants in a waiver trade during the first full week of the season and he is living up to the promise he showed during his collegiate days at Georgia Tech.

Bart provided one of the Pirates’ few bright spots Sunday when he hit a two-run home run in a 10-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners at PNC Park. A day earlier, Bart’s two doubles helped the Pirates defeat the Mariners 7-2.

Bart set a career-high Sunday with his 12^th home run of the season. The five-year veteran’s previous best came two years ago with the Giants. Bart did not homer in a combined 65 games during the 2020, 2021 and 2023 seasons with San Francisco.

Furthermore, the 12 homers have come in just 56 games and are accompanied by a .277/.351/.532 slash line. He has driven in 36 runs, 11 more than third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes had despite playing in 40 fewer games.

The success Bart is having was unexpected when the Pirates sent minor-league pitcher Austin Strickland to the Giants on Aug. 2 for him. After washing out in San Francisco, it was fair to wonder if Bart would be a short-term fix with the Pirates until Jason Delay, backing up Davis, returned from a knee injury.

Instead, Bart is playing like someone who will be with the Pirates for the long term. He is living up to the hype that surrounded him in 2018 when he was picked second overall pick by the Giants in the amateur draft as the heir apparent to seven-time All-Star Buster Posey.

So, why has Bart blossomed with the Pirates? Manager Derek Shelton says there are multiple reasons.

“No. 1, it’s time. Not everything happens on the clock that everyone wants it to be,” Shelton said. “No. 2, I think he has made some adjustments. And those adjustments, we’re seeing the fruits of. But No. 3, it goes to opportunity, and that goes to time. And we’re seeing the player that a lot of people thought when he came out of Georgia Tech was going to break onto the scene and this is the guy he’s going to be.

“But it takes time. I mean, the big leagues is not linear. It does not go like ‘alright, you get drafted, you’re good, now you go to the big leagues and succeed.’  I wish it happened that way. It’d be a whole heck of a lot easier to manage if it happened that way. But it just doesn’t. And I think we’re seeing the hard work he’s put in, and then an opportunity.”

Bart’s breakthrough has caused an interesting dilemma. Rodriguez should be healthy when spring training begins next February and Davis is tearing up Triple-A with a .313/.408/.573 slash line and 12 homers in 51 games at Indianapolis after bombing in the big leagues for a second straight year.

Rodriguez gives the Pirates options because of his versatility as he also played first base, second base and all three outfield spots in the minor leagues. It is easy to project Rodriguez as the Pirates’ opening-day first baseman next year.

Davis was a disaster in right field as a rookie last year and might be best utilized as the designated hitter. However, if Andrew McCutchen decides to play again next season – and all signs are that he will be back in 2025 – then there would be few DH at-bats for Davis.

It will be interesting to see how it all works out, but Bart has added another element to the catcher of the future conversation.