Pirates Acquire Former No. 2 Pick Joey Bart From Giants

The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired catcher Joey Bart from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right-handed pitcher Austin Strickland. Bart had been designated for assignment by the Giants on Mar. 31.

To make room on the roster for Bart, right-handed reliever Colin Selby was DFA’d.

Bart was drafted with the second pick in the 2018 draft after an excellent career at Georgia Tech. After he was drafted, Bart immediately landed as one of the game’s top 100 prospects and peaked as high as No. 14 by MLB Pipeline in 2020.

Bart’s status as a prospect never quite translated to the big leagues while with the Giants. He never was able to carve out a significant role in San Francisco, accumulating a career-high 291 plate appearances in 2022.

In parts of four seasons with the Giants, Bart appeared in a total of 162 games and brings a career .219/.288/.335 slash line to Pittsburgh. He has 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 38 RBIs.

His minor-league career has been much more successful. In five seasons in the Giants’ system, Bart has slashed .279/.350/.485 with 56 doubles, 46 home runs and 166 RBIs in 264 games.

Bart also put together an excellent spring training in the Cactus League in 2024. The 27-year-old hit .414 with a .975 OPS in 15 games.

Bart had a strong reputation as a defender from his days as a prospect, though like his offense, his skills behind the plate haven’t quite translated to the majors. The backstop has a subpar pop time and has graded average at best in terms of pitch framing. He’s caught 19% of attempted base stealers and has accumulated minus-six defensive runs saved.

The Pirates are certainly hoping a change a scenery will unleash some of Bart’s upside.

Strickland was drafted by the Pirates in the eighth round of last year’s draft from the University of Kentucky.

The right-hander didn’t appear in a game with the Pirates’ organization after being drafted. For his collegiate career, Strickland finished with a 7-7 record and a 5.28 ERA across 54 appearances/six starts.

Selby made his major-league debut last season with the Pirates. He went 2-2 with a 9.00 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched across 21 appearances.

It’s the second trade of the day for the Pirates, who traded left-hander Jackson Wolf to the San Diego Padres for infield prospect Kervin Pichardo.