Joey

Bart

No word yet on how much time Bart will miss. The 29-year-old backstop heads to the injured list ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. It’ll be Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez handling the catching duties in his absence.

The 29-year-old backstop capped off the scoring for the Pirates in this one, ambushing a first-pitch slider for a 380-foot (109.5 mph EV) solo shot that increased the Pirates’ lead to 4-2. He also singled. With his two-hit effort, Bart is now slashing .220/.259/.360 with a pair of long balls and just four RBI on the season.

The Pirates were hoping for contact with one out and the automatic runner on in the 11th, so they sent up Bart, even though he was just 2-for-14 with seven strikeouts this year. And he struck out. Davis has nine starts to Bart’s five this year as the Pirates wait and hope that one of their catchers will eventually heat up. Davis is hitting .194/.286/.290 in 35 plate appearances.

Quite the barnburner of a catching competition in Pittsburgh this spring. Bart is 5-for-34 with 16 strikeouts and a .392 OPS. Henry Davis homered today, pushing him all of the way up to .138 with a .631 OPS in 36 plate appearances. Endy Rodríguez actually did hit this spring, going 8-for-26 with two homers, but the Pirates demoted him anyway. Rafael Flores Jr., who was the return in the David Bednar deal with the Yankees, has also been sent down after going 2-for-25. The Pirates will just keep rolling with Bart and Davis for now and will likely let the hot hand, should one ever emerge, dictate playing time.

Bart made $1.75 million last season in his first year of arbitration. With Henry Davis showing few signs of stepping up and Endy Rodriguez having big problems staying healthy, Bart is again in line for a lot of playing time behind the plate in Pittsburgh. He hit .249/.355/.340 in 332 plate appearances last season, as his 20 barrels produced just four home runs.

Bart will sit out his second straight contest with left wrist discomfort. It’ll be Henry Davis behind the plate on Wednesday evening in Cincinnati.

Top prospect Rafael Flores will handle the catching duties on Tuesday night in Cincinnati with Bart getting some extra time off to rest and recover.

Bart also homered in his previous start, and the big game today gave him a .700 OPS for the first time since May 22. It was worth wondering a month ago if he’d be phased out of the Pirates’ plans for 2026, but he seems more likely to stick around now. After all, both Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez will still have an option year remaining and a whole lot to prove next spring.

Bart’s power has been non-existent for the majority of 2025, but he reminded that there is some raw pop in that right-handed bat with a three-run blast off Matthew Boyd. It’s just the third homer over the season, however, and he’s slugging just .322 in his 89 games with the Bucs this season.

Adding an extra catcher at this point suggests that maybe Joey Bart or Henry Davis is dealing with a minor injury, but there’s been nothing yet to indicate that’s the case. The Pirates might just want to take a brief look at Flores, who needed to be added to the 40-man this winter anyway. The 24-year-old, who was acquired from the Yankees for David Bednar, hit .281/.363/.459 with six homers in 36 games for Indianapolis. He’s probably not good enough defensively to become a starting catcher, but the Pirates don’t have much to lose by giving him a look.