Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart (back) is back behind the plate and catching left-hander Andrew Heaney and will bat cleanup in Thursday's series finale against the visiting Washington Nationals and right-hander Trevor Williams at PNC Park. Bart will return to action after missing the last five games due to lower-back soreness. With the 28-year-old backstop returning, Henry Davis will head to the bench. As long as his back injury doesn't bother him again, Bart will move forward as the Bucs' primary catcher, especially after starting the season strong at the plate. Before tweaking his back, Bart had gone 11-for-40 (.275) with a home run, five RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base. The former first-rounder has gone hitless in just two career at-bats against Williams.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart (back) remains out of the starting lineup for Wednesday's contest against the visiting Washington Nationals at PNC Park. It's the fifth straight missed game after he came down with lower-back soreness late last week. With Endy Rodriguez (finger) landing on the injured list on Tuesday, Henry Davis will make another start behind the plate to catch left-hander Bailey Falter while batting ninth against Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker. The Bucs finish their series with the Nats on Thursday, but if Bart isn't ready for Friday's series opener in Pittsburgh against the Cleveland Guardians, he may land on the injured list. Davis, the former first overall pick in 2021 out of Louisville, has struggled to find his footing offensively in the big leagues and has gone 2-for-13 so far in 2025. He'll be a poor DFS play on Wednesday and has never faced Parker in his career.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart (back) is set to undergo testing before Tuesday's contest against the Cincinnati Reds. Bart has been held out of the starting nine since being removed from Friday's contest with a back injury. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status, as he may need to be placed on the injured list if he has not made any progress. As a result, Henry Davis will get another start behind the dish and bat ninth. Through his first 11 games of the campaign, Bart was productive at the plate, holding a .282/.378/.436 slash line with one double and one home run. He held a 4:14 BB:K and swiped one bag. Last summer, Bart enjoyed similar success in Pittsburgh, posting a .265/.337/.462 slash line with 13 home runs across 80 games. Fantasy managers in two-catcher formats should continue to stash Bart on their roster while he remains sidelined.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart (back) is still on the bench for Monday's series opener against the visiting Washington Nationals at PNC Park. Endy Rodriguez will do the catching for right-hander Paul Skenes and will bat sixth versus Nationals right-hander Brad Lord. While Bart hasn't played since being pulled from Friday's game against the Cincinnati Reds with lower-back discomfort, he's expected to be available off the bench on Monday. It's good news and means that the 28-year-old should be able to avoid a stint on the injured list. Henry Davis started behind the dish the last two games with Bart out, but the Bucs will give Rodriguez a shot on Monday. When healthy, Bart should be Pittsburgh's primary catcher after starting the year hitting .275 (11-for-40) with a homer, five RBI and four runs scored. Rodriguez will be a low-upside DFS play with just eight hits and no homers in his first 45 at-bats in 2025.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart (back) is out of the starting lineup for the second straight day on Sunday against the division-rival Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Henry Davis, who was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday, is making the start behind the plate. He will catch right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski and bat ninth against Reds right-hander Hunter Greene. Bart is battling lower-back discomfort, and it remains to be seen if he'll be ready to return for Monday's series opener against the visiting Washington Nationals. Davis went hitless in three appearances on Saturday against Cincinnati and just hasn't been able to put it all together offensively in his 100 big-league games since his debut in 2023, as he's slashed .190/.280/.304 with a .585 OPS. He has never faced Greene in his big-league career.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart (back) is out of the starting lineup ahead of Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. Bart will take a seat here after being forced to exit early during Friday's game due to lower back discomfort. For now, fantasy managers can consider Bart as day-to-day, but it wouldn't be shocking if he's forced to land on the injured list. Henry Davis will start behind the plate and bat ninth versus left-hander Andrew Abbott. Fantasy managers should check back on Sunday for another update on Bart.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart (back) was removed early during Friday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. Bart was pulled out of the contest due to lower back soreness. Endy Rodriguez took over behind the plate for the rest of the game. The team has already said Bart is considered day-to-day, so it doesn't appear to be a serious injury. Possibly, Bart is forced to miss a game or two, which would mean more playing time for Rodriguez behind the plate. This doesn't sound like something that is going to force Bart to land on the injured list.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart hit a walk-off single with the bases loaded that made it all the way to the warning track in the 2-1, 13-inning victory over the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday in the series finale at PNC Park. Bart finished the game 2-for-5 with the game-winning RBI and a strikeout. The 28-year-old backstop was involved in a scary collision with first baseman Endy Rodriguez in the top of the eighth inning, but both players ended up being OK and stayed in the extra-inning contest. Bart entered Wednesday's series finale with the Cardinals hitting .265 (9-for-34) with a homer, double, triple, four RBI, a stolen base, four runs scored, four walks and 13 strikeouts in 39 plate appearances over 10 games played. He will continue to be Pittsburgh's primary catcher after hitting a career-high 13 homers in just 80 games in his first year with the team in 2024.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart went 2-for-4 with a triple, a homer, two runs, and two RBI in an 8-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Bart ripped a two-out bomb in the first inning to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead over the Cardinals on a blast that traveled 411 feet with an exit velocity of 106.2 MPH. The veteran catcher is off to a quiet start in 2025 with that being his first homer of the campaign. Bart hit a career-high 13 homers in just 253 at-bats in 2024, his first season with the Pirates. If he can show some more consistency at the plate, Bart could emerge as a quality fantasy catcher moving forward.
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart will take a seat on Sunday for the series finale against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. With Bart resting, Endy Rodriguez will do the catching for left-hander Andrew Heaney and will bat sixth against Marlins right-hander Max Meyer. This will be Bart's first day off of the year after starting each of the team's first three games of the season, going 4-for-12 with an RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored. Rodriguez, who had the day off on Saturday, went hitless in six at-bats with four strikeouts in the first two games of the series, so he'll be searching for his first hit in 2025 on Sunday. It won't be easy, as Meyer is on of the best young arms in the game when he's healthy. Rodriguez has never faced Meyer in his career and will be cheap for DFS lineups but without much upside.
