Joey Bart

Joey Bart

28-Year-Old CatcherC
Pittsburgh Pirates
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). GM Ben Cherington indicated Bart will enter spring training as the favorite for the No. 1 catching job, but 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 Shea Langeliers, but the way this offseason progresses will provide more answers. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#247
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the Pirates in January of 2025.
Resting Saturday
CPittsburgh Pirates
April 19, 2025
Bart is not in the Pirates' starting lineup against the Guardians on Saturday.
ANALYSIS
Bart has started in the Pirates' last two games after missing time due to lower-back discomfort, going 2-for-7 with two walks and one RBI over that span. He'll be in the dugout for Saturday's contest while Henry Davis starts behind home plate and bats ninth against Cleveland right-hander Ben Lively.
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Batting Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
8
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
2
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+11%
OPS vs LHP
2025
 
 
+20%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+36%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+33%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023vs Left .792 141 15 6 13 0 .278 .348 .444
Since 2023vs Right .716 301 36 8 44 1 .245 .322 .394
2025vs Left .912 17 1 1 1 0 .286 .412 .500
2025vs Right .762 48 3 0 6 1 .293 .396 .366
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
More Splits View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits View Minor League Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+6%
OPS at Home
2025
 
 
+57%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+4%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+24%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .760 239 31 8 34 0 .250 .331 .429
Since 2023Away .718 203 20 6 23 1 .262 .330 .388
2025Home .962 36 2 1 5 0 .310 .444 .517
2025Away .614 29 2 0 2 1 .269 .345 .269
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
More Splits View More Split Stats
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
0.42
 
BB Rate
12.3%
 
K Rate
29.2%
 
BABIP
.429
 
ISO
.109
 
AVG
.291
 
OBP
.400
 
SLG
.400
 
OPS
.800
 
wOBA
.362
 
Exit Velocity
87.6 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
30.6%
 
Barrels/PA
7.7%
 
Expected BA
.223
 
Expected SLG
.459
 
Sprint Speed
22.4 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
41.7%
 
Line Drive %
25.0%
 
Fly Ball %
33.3%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Joey Bart See More
Weekly Hitter Rankings: It's a Marathon
4 days ago
The Giants' offense should benefit from seven home games while Todd Zola also discusses similar favorable situations for a couple other clubs.
NL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
10 days ago
Dan Marcus is subbing in this week to give you the lowdown on a number of NL player recommendations.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Hits Are in a Rut
11 days ago
Todd Zola figures the two Pennsylvania clubs could boost underwhelming MLB offensive numbers by appearing seven times in the coming week.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Red, Blue and White
18 days ago
Red Sox hitters look like strong choices this week with four home games against the Blue Jays followed by an away series at the White Sox.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Spotlight on NL Central
24 days ago
Todd Zola debuts his Weekly Hitter Rankings for the season where a couple teams will be playing seven times over the next seven days.
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.
More Fantasy News
Resumes catching Thursday
CPittsburgh Pirates
April 17, 2025
Bart (back) will start at catcher and bat cleanup in Thursday's game against the Nationals.
ANALYSIS
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Held out again Wednesday
CPittsburgh Pirates
Back
April 16, 2025
Bart (back) remains out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Nationals.
ANALYSIS
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Will go through tests pregame
CPittsburgh Pirates
Back
April 15, 2025
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Bart (back) will go through tests pregame Tuesday to determine his status, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Remains out of action Tuesday
CPittsburgh Pirates
Back
April 15, 2025
Bart (back) remains out of the lineup for Tuesday's contest against the Nationals.
ANALYSIS
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Out again Monday
CPittsburgh Pirates
Back
April 14, 2025
Bart (back) is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Nationals.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Activation incoming
CPittsburgh Pirates
June 30, 2024
Bart, who is on the injured list with a thumb injury, has a locker in the Pirates clubhouse and is set to be reinstated ahead of Sunday's series finale in Atlanta, reports Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
ANALYSIS
The 27-year-old landed on the shelf with a sprained thumb in late May and is ready to rejoin the Pirates after going 6-for-17 over a six-game rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis. Jason Delay no longer has a locker and is set to be demoted, so Bart should split time behind the plate with veteran Yasmani Grandal.
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