Braves, Pirates – Atlanta traded catcher Joey Bart to Pittsburgh for reliever Hunter Stratton, with the Braves clearing a 40-man spot by designating backup Sandy León for assignment. Bart, on a left-foot injury recovery path, is expected to be activated directly to Pittsburgh’s
When the Braves’ transaction line moved, it did it with a familiar baseball rhythm: a trade, a roster squeeze, and a player counting down the days until he can get back on the field.
Atlanta announced it has traded reliever Hunter Stratton to the Pirates in exchange for catcher Joey Bart. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Braves designated backup catcher Sandy León for assignment. The Braves had designated Stratton for assignment yesterday. Once the swap is completed. Stratton will replace Bart on Pittsburgh’s 40-man but won’t join the MLB club right away. The Pirates optioned Stratton to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Bart’s route back to the majors runs through rehab. He is on the 10-day injured list working back from an infection in his left foot. He hasn’t played an MLB game since May 9. and has been on a minor league rehab assignment for the past week. Atlanta will presumably activate Bart directly onto the big league roster after clearing roster mechanics. and the team has already optioned third catcher Jair Camargo to Triple-A Gwinnett this afternoon.
For Bart, this deal comes with a geography that hits close to home. The 29-year-old grew up less than an hour from Atlanta and played college baseball at Georgia Tech. He was part of a run of high-end catchers for the Yellow Jackets over the past couple decades. spanning from Matt Wieters to potential #1 overall pick Vahn Lackey. Bart was selected second overall by the Giants in 2018, making him the highest drafted player in school history to date.
His pedigree carried bigger expectations than his early results. Over parts of four seasons with San Francisco, Bart hit .219/.288/.335. Scouts had expected a franchise backstop, but Patrick Bailey’s emergence into a Gold Glove caliber defender changed the equation. The Giants traded Bart to Pittsburgh at the beginning of the 2024 season.
The change of scenery brought a different start. Bart hit .265/.337/.462 over 80 games and opened the next season as Pittsburgh’s starting catcher. The numbers held up again slightly as he posted a .249/.355/.340 line across a career-high 332 plate appearances.
This season, Bart began in a split behind the plate with former first overall pick Henry Davis. When Bart went on the injured list five weeks ago, the Pirates promoted Endy Rodríguez from Triple-A to take on the catching role.
The sequence matters: Stratton is already headed to Triple-A after landing on Pittsburgh’s 40-man spot. while Bart—still on the 10-day injured list after an infection in his left foot—has to work his way back to the majors after missing time since May 9. One roster spot is being cleared. another is being shifted. and both teams are betting that the timing of returns will outweigh the interruption.
More to come.
Braves Pirates Joey Bart Hunter Stratton Sandy León Jair Camargo Triple-A Indianapolis Triple-A Gwinnett left foot infection injured list