Joey Bart Leading Race for Pirates Catcher
Catcher has become a position of depth for the Pittsburgh Pirates heading into the 2025 season.
One reason for that was the emergence of catcher Joey Bart last season. After failing to live up to expectations as the San Francisco Giants' No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, Bart was designated for assignment and eventually traded to the Pirates at the beginning of the 2024 season. Bart found a second life with a strong first season in Pittsburgh.
As a result, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Bart is set to get another shot to replicate his success to begin the 2025 season over former top prospect Endy Rodríguez and 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis.
"I think you start with Joey because he did it in 2024 and earned that," Cherington said at the Winter Meetings in Dallas." [He] was a really steady performer for us [on] both sides of the ball. [I] feel like there's still even another level for him. The timing worked out [and there was] probably a little bit of luck involved with the timing when we were able to get him. [We were] thrilled with the outcome and thrilled that he's a Pirate."
Bart, 28, put together the best season of his MLB career, setting career highs in every major hitting stat with 13 home runs, 45 RBIs and slashed .265/.337/.462 over 80 games. If it weren't for a thumb injury in May costing Bart a month of the season and a hamstring injury landing him on the 10-day injured list near the end of August, he might have strung together an even better first season in Pittsburgh.
Things could get crowded with Rodríguez set to return after nearly missing all of the 2024 season due to surgery to repair his UCL. The Pirates' former top prospect played in 10 games before he was shut down out of precaution due to soreness in his right arm. Before making his big league debut in 2023 and playing 57 games, Rodríguez was the No. 35 ranked prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline.
Rodríguez, 24, batted .200/.284/.328 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in the big leagues in 2023. The switch-hitting catcher hit 25 home runs in his last full season in the minor leagues in 2022.
Davis, 25, has struggled to stick in the majors for an extended period of time due to struggles at the plate and injuries. The former No. 1 overall pick looked the part in the minor leagues, batting .299/.396/.540 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs in 59 games last season. Davis has been unable to maintain that success in the big leagues, as across 99 games that span the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Davis has batted .191/.283/.307 with 8 home runs and 29 RBIs.
Delay, 29, is the fourth catcher on the Pirates' 40-man roster. He spent most of last season in Triple-A Indianapolis, amassing 1 homer and 16 RBIs and he slashed .283/.357/.355. Delay had 15 at-bats for Pittsburgh last season, hitting 1 home run and driving in 3 runs while slashing .200/.333/.400.
Too much depth can never be bad, especially at catcher given the wear and tear that comes with playing the position. Cherington believes his team can trust all four catchers. but Bart's performance last season earned him the first shot to be Pittsburgh's primary catcher in 2025.
"With Endy and Henry [and] Jason Delay, we've got some guys fully capable of rounding out that catching and certainly long term, [we] feel really good about it," Cherington said. "We think Joey has earned that. He took the lead this season so going into Spring Training, he's earned that lead horse.
