Joey Bart

28-Year-Old CatcherC

Pittsburgh Pirates

2024 Stats

AVG

.265

RBI

2025 Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

Bart looked to be the latest example of the difficult transition from top catching prospect to reliable fantasy contributor, as he was designated for assignment by the Giants on March 31. However, he ironically resurrected his career at the expense of Henry Davis after being acquired Pittsburgh and served as the primary backstop for long stretches of the campaign. He earned those plate appearances by showcasing his power, highlighted by a 9.4 percent barrel rate and 111.5 mph max exit velocity. While not as flashy, equally important was Bart's improved infield flyball rate (6.5 percent compared to career 13.0 percent rate) and strikeout rate (25.9 percent compared to career 32 percent). That skills growth likely means Bart will have a role in 2025, but the path isn't as clear as would be anticipated. The Pirates are likely not ready to give up on the aforementioned Davis and will welcome back a healthy Endy Rodriguez (elbow). Regular at-bats at DH are possible if Andrew McCutchen isn't back or takes on a lesser role. If Bart finds his way into regular playing time, he has the chance to be a poor man's Cal Raleigh or Shae Langeliers, but the way this offseason progresses will provide more answers. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

From Preseason

Overall Rank

Dynasty

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'2"

Weight 238

DOB 12/15/1996

Born Buford, GA

College Georgia Tech

Drafted 1st Rd 2018 SF

Top of depth chart at catcher

CPittsburgh Pirates

December 16, 2024

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on Dec. 10 in an interview on MLB Network that Bart will enter 2025 as the favorite to start at catcher, The Bucco Beat reports.

ANALYSIS
The Pirates acquired Bart shortly after Opening Day and he eventually emerged as the team's primary catcher, slashing .265/.337/.462 with 13 home runs over 280 plate appearances. Endy Rodriguez will be back from elbow surgery and Henry Davis is still around, so Bart will have competition for playing time behind the plate, but he'll enter the season with a leg up for the starting job.

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Batting Stats

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2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

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2023 MLB Game Log

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2022 MLB Game Log

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2020 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2022

+4%

OPS vs LHP

2024

+36%

OPS vs LHP

2023

+33%

OPS vs RHP

2022

+3%

OPS vs RHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022vs Left	.720	220	24	11	25	1	.235	.300	.420
Since 2022vs Right	.689	448	57	13	50	1	.234	.313	.377
2024vs Left	.996	74	10	5	11	0	.333	.405	.591
2024vs Right	.730	208	28	8	34	0	.241	.313	.417
2023vs Left	.457	50	4	0	1	0	.196	.240	.217
2023vs Right	.606	45	5	0	4	0	.220	.289	.317
2022vs Left	.648	96	10	6	13	1	.182	.250	.398
2022vs Right	.665	195	24	5	12	1	.231	.318	.347
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Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2022

+13%

OPS at Home

2024

+4%

OPS at Home

2023

+24%

OPS on Road

2022

+34%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022Home	.740	340	49	13	41	0	.246	.321	.420
Since 2022Away	.657	328	32	11	34	2	.223	.296	.361
2024Home	.815	151	24	7	27	0	.261	.338	.478
2024Away	.781	131	14	6	18	0	.269	.336	.445
2023Home	.476	52	5	0	2	0	.184	.231	.245
2023Away	.592	43	4	0	3	0	.237	.302	.289
2022Home	.762	137	20	6	12	0	.254	.336	.426
2022Away	.569	154	14	5	13	2	.180	.260	.309
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Stat Review

How does Joey Bart compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.30

BB Rate

7.8%

K Rate

25.9%

BABIP

.321

ISO

.198

AVG

.265

OBP

.337

SLG

.462

OPS

.799

wOBA

.351

Exit Velocity

88.1 mph

Hard Hit Rate

33.2%

Barrels/PA

6.0%

Expected BA

.247

Expected SLG

.431

Sprint Speed

22.6 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

47.5%

Line Drive %

18.2%

Fly Ball %

34.3%

Prospect Rankings History

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Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

Bart had what amounted to a lost season in 2023 when he really couldn't afford one. The former top prospect lasted just one game before going on the injured list with a back issue and then made another trip to the IL in May with a groin strain. Bart was returned to Triple-A Sacramento once recovered and didn't make it back to the big leagues until September (and even then it was just for a brief four-game stint). The 27-year-old managed just a .528 OPS in his 95 plate appearances with the Giants and a .750 OPS with only six homers at Sacramento didn't inspire much confidence, either. A change of scenery might be in order for Bart after the Giants added Tom Murphy to pair with Patrick Bailey.

The retirement of Buster Posey opened the path to a starting role for Bart, but the young catcher was unable to take advantage and had a .215/.296/.364 slash line with 11 home runs and 25 RBI in 97 games. He had a 38.5 percent strikeout rate but made strides defensively and was above average behind the plate. Barring a standout performance in spring training, Bart figures to open 2023 splitting catching duties with Roberto Perez (who signed with the Giants in January), and he'll need to significantly cut down on the strikeouts to have any real chance of maintaining an everyday spot in the lineup.

With Buster Posey retiring, Bart's path to big-league at-bats has never been clearer. However, he has a 31.6 K% and 6.1 BB% in 396 plate appearances between Triple-A and the majors, and he is entering his age-25 season. Even for a catcher, those plate skills are pretty poor, and Bart projects as a batting average drain in the short term. He has plus raw power and hit 10 home runs in 67 games at Triple-A last year, but he still hasn't hit a long ball in 35 MLB games. Bart improved as a defender last year and will compete with another strong defender in Curt Casali for playing time, barring a post-lockout acquisition of a better option.

Bart was in way over his head last season, as he was not only making a huge jump in terms of the quality of pitching he was trying to hit, but he was learning to be a big-league catcher without much of a support system. Buster Posey opted out of the season, so there wasn't a vet for him to lean on. Bart only had 22 games under his belt at Double-A, so he shouldn't have been expected to excel on offense, even under the best of circumstances. He hit the ball hard 48.4 percent of the time, per Statcast, but every other aspect of his offensive debut was poor. He has plus raw that should manifest much more in games this season, even if it might be a couple years before he hits for a solid batting average. The trouble with betting on a post-hype breakout in redraft leagues is that he could very well open the year at Triple-A to continue honing his craft on both sides of the ball.

Bart, who is a plus defensive catcher, is a better real-life prospect than a fantasy one, but his 60-grade game power certainly makes him appealing for fantasy purposes as well. He performed better the higher he climbed, slashing .314/.411/.581 with a 12.1 BB% and 21.8 K% in 31 games at Double-A and the Arizona Fall League after logging a 116 wRC+ as a 22-year-old in the Cal League. Bart's line drive rate has been below average and his 30.0 Hard% was not great, given his age/level, but he uses the whole field and has not struck out so much that he would project to hit for a harmful batting average in the majors. Hand and thumb injuries limited him to 89 games, but the No. 2 overall pick from 2018 accomplished enough in his first full season that he should open the year at Triple-A. Buster Posey and Brandon Belt are under contract through 2021, but Bart should still debut sometime this summer.

Track down any trustworthy pre-draft scouting report on Bart, who went second overall last year to the Giants ($7.025 million bonus), and phrases like "fringe-average hit tool" or "power-over-hit" will pop up. The power was on full display in pro ball (13 HR in 228 PA), but he also hit .294 with a 20.6 K%. So, either every trusted evaluator was wrong about his ability to hit for a high average, or a high-pedigree 21-year-old hitter feasted on low-level pitchers in a small sample. It is likely the latter, as he barely walked (5.7 BB%) and over 50% of his hits went to the pull side. Even so, a high-end defensive catcher with 30-homer pop whose playing time will never be at risk only needs to hit .235 to be a perennial top-five fantasy catcher. Case in point: Salvador Perez hit .235 with 27 home runs last year and finished tied for third in earned auction dollars at the position. That seems like a median outcome for Bart, and there is a chance he blows past that.

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Idle Saturday

CPittsburgh Pirates

September 28, 2024

Bart isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees.