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.
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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Pirates' Joey Bart: Idle Saturday
Rotowire
Bart isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees.
After tallying six hits over his last five games, Bart will take a seat Saturday against Luis Gil and company. Yasmani Grandal will start behind the dish while batting seventh.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Resting Wednesday
Rotowire
Bart is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Brewers.
Bart will grab a breather Wednesday after starting at catcher in both of the past two games. Yasmani Grandal will replace Bart behind the dish.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Sitting Saturday
Rotowire
Bart is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against Cincinnati.
Bart will give way to Yasmani Grandal behind the dish Saturday against Rhett Lowder and the Reds. Bart is 8-for-39 (.205) with a home run and five RBI in his last 12 games.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Absent from lineup
Rotowire
Bart is not in the lineup for Thursday's game in St. Louis.
Bart started each of the first three games of the series (two at catcher, one at designated hitter), but he'll take a seat for the finale. Yasmani Grandal will be behind the plate and bat eighth.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Taking seat Saturday
Rotowire
Bart isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Saturday's game against Kansas City.
Bart will grab a seat on the bench Saturday after going 1-for-3 with an RBI during Friday's loss in the series opener. Yasmani Grandal will fill in behind the dish and bat seventh.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Resting up Monday
Rotowire
Bart is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Marlins.
Bart will get a breather for the series opener after he started at catcher in Sunday's series finale versus the Nationals while going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Yasmani Grandal will spell Bart behind the dish and will bat seventh.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Reaches base twice in return
Rotowire
Bart went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored across both games of Saturday's doubleheader against the Nationals.
Bart was activated from the injured list Friday but didn't return to the lineup until the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The Pirates have a crowded rotation at catcher that also includes Yasmani Grandal and Henry Davis, though Bart has hit well enough this season to also get looks as the team's designated hitter.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Sitting for nightcap
Rotowire
Bart isn't in the Pirates' lineup for the second game of Saturday's doubleheader versus Washington.
Bart went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored during a loss in Game 1, and he'll now take a seat to conclude Saturday's festivities. Yasmani Grandal will fill in behind the plate and bat seventh.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Runs bases Tuesday
Rotowire
Bart (hamstring) ran on the basepaths before Tuesday's game against the Cubs, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Bart has been on the injured list since Aug. 26 due to a strained left hamstring, and Tuesday appears to be the first time he's done any sort of running since then. He's expected to rejoin the active roster before the end of the season, though it's still unclear how close he is to a return.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Officially lands on 10-day IL
Rotowire
The Pirates placed Bart on the 10-day injured list Monday with a left hamstring strain.
Bart suffered the injury during Sunday's game against the Reds while attempting to beat out an RBI groundout. The severity of the strain is not known, though general manager Ben Cherington expressed optimism that Bart's injury is "minor" and won't keep him from returning from the IL this season, per Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates recalled Henry Davis from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Bart's roster spot, and Davis should share catching duties with Yasmani Grandal for the duration of Bart's absence.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Scores twice
Rotowire
Bart went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored Friday against the Reds.
Bart has seven multi-hit performances across 18 starts in August, which has translated to a .304/./351/.565 line. He also has five home runs, 14 RBI and 14 runs scored in that span and should continue to serve as Pittsburgh's primary catcher to close the season.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Sitting out Friday
Rotowire
Bart is absent from the lineup for Friday's game against the Mariners.
It's a routine day of rest for Bart, who had started each of the previous seven contests (four at catcher, three at designated hitter). Yasmani Grandal will do the catching Friday.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Stays hot at plate
Rotowire
Bart went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run, a double and an additional run scored Thursday against the Padres.
Bart's two-run blast in the seventh inning was his ninth of the season and gave the Pirates their first lead of the game. It was the third homer and fourth multi-hit game in the last seven starts for Bart, who has wrestled the No. 1 catcher's job away from Yasmani Grandal while starting 14 of 19 games since the All-Star break. Bart is batting .327 with three homers, nine RBI and 10 runs scored during that stretch.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Homer among three hits in loss
Rotowire
Bart went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Astros.
Bart got the Pirates on the board when he took Framber Valdez deep in the second inning. Over 10 games since the All-Star break, Bart has gone 11-for-33 (.333) with three extra-base hits and four RBI. The catcher is up to a .262/.350/.475 slash line with seven homers, 24 RBI, 17 runs scored and no stolen bases over 43 contests this season.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Resting Tuesday
Rotowire
Bart is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Bart will yield to Yasmani Grandal behind the plate Tuesday after catching back-to-back games. Prior to the All-Star break, Bart seemed to supplant Grandal as the Pirates' preferred catcher, and he's caught three of Pittsburgh's first five contests coming out of the break.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Idle Saturday
Rotowire
Bart isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Saturday's game against the Phillies.
Bart went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts during Friday's win, and he'll sit down Saturday while Yasmani Grandal gets the nod at catcher and bats ninth.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Blasts three-run homer
Rotowire
Bart went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Sunday against the White Sox.
Bart started seven of the last nine games behind the plate for Pittsburgh heading into the All-Star break. He's gone only 4-for-21 in that span, though two have been home runs while also tallying seven RBI and five runs scored.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Not starting Saturday
Rotowire
Bart isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Saturday's game against the White Sox, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Bart went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored during a win in Friday's series opener, and he'll now take a seat while Yasmani Grandal starts behind the plate.
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Pirates' Joey Bart: Lifts grand slam in rout
Rotowire
Bart went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Tuesday's 12-2 win over the Brewers.
Bart blew the game open in the sixth inning with his grand slam, and the Pirates never looked back. It was just his third hit over seven games since he returned from a month-long absence with a left thumb sprain. Bart is slashing .241/.330/.468 with five homers, 17 RBI, nine runs scored and three doubles across 91 plate appearances this season, and he's gaining playing time over Yasmani Grandal -- Tuesday was Bart's fourth straight start.
