The Braves have announced that they have traded relievers Hunter Stratton to the Pirates to catch Joey Bart. Atlanta designated backup catcher Sandy León with an assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The Braves designated Stratton for assignment yesterday. He will replace the 40-year-old Bart of Pittsburgh but will not join the MLB team, as the Bucs have opted to play for Triple-A Indianapolis.
Bart is on the 10-day disabled list working back from an infection in his left foot. He hasn’t played in an MLB game since May 9 but was on minor league conditioning last week. Atlanta will put him directly on the big league roster, as they chose to hold third baseman Jair Camargo back to Triple-A Gwinnett this afternoon.
It’s a homecoming for 29-year-old Bart, who grew up less than an hour from Atlanta and played his college football at Georgia Tech. He has been part of the elite Yellow Jackets anglers for the past few decades, since Matt Wieters would be #1 overall Vahn Lackey. Bart went second to the Giants in 2018, making him the most-drafted player in school history to date.
His draft pedigree makes him the most popular of the two players in today’s trade. Bart hasn’t developed into the franchise backstop many scouts expected, however. He hit .219/.288/.335 in parts of four seasons in San Francisco. Among that lackluster production and Patrick Bailey emerging as a Gold Glove caliber outfielder, the Giants traded him to Pittsburgh at the start of the 2024 season.
That change of scenery initially seemed to stimulate Bart’s work. He hit .265/.337/.462 over 80 games and opened the following season as the starting catcher in Pittsburgh. His numbers backed up a bit the following year, as he posted a .249/.355/.340 line in a career-best 332 plate appearances. Bart opened this season with a split behind the plate with a former first-round pick Henry Davis. The Bucs are up Andy Rodríguez from Triple-A when Bart went on the injured list five weeks ago.
Rodríguez, also a young talent who has missed most of the past two seasons due to injury, has taken a leading role. He is hitting .267/.413/.467 with three home runs in 76 plate appearances. The Pirates could have selected Davis, who has a .138/.242/.285 line in 150 outings.
Davis’ results at the plate have been poor, but he hit the ball harder and showed more solidity at the plate in May than he has in his MLB career. It seems the Pirates expected him to turn up better numbers later and didn’t see much to gain by returning to Triple-A. More importantly, Davis has developed a strong relationship with him Paul Skenes and has caught all 15 ace games this year. They obviously didn’t want to interrupt that routine.
Bart, who hit .259/.290/379 in 21 games before the injury, has no choice and will not be demoted without being waived. The Bucs are already burning the bench for a defenseless player Marcell Ozuna in the list. They could choose Billy Cook and they went with three catchers, but they would have left captain Don Kelly with limited flexibility.
Instead they chose to trade Bart to the Atlanta team which has cycled with backups ever since Sean Murphy he broke his finger five weeks ago. They were also outside Drake Baldwin few weeks but received him on Monday. It’s going to be the Baldwin-Bart duo that holds up for the foreseeable future.
Pittsburgh is in dire need of bullpen help, especially on the right side. Stratton isn’t a great solution but he provides a deep arm that can bounce between PNC Park and Indianapolis over the next few seasons. He will be a familiar name to Bucs fans, as the 29-year-old has spent nearly a decade with the organization.
The Pirates drafted him in the 16th round back in 2017. Stratton made his debut six years later and posted a 4.30 earned run average in 52 1/3 innings over three seasons. Pittsburgh picked him up last July and traded him to Atlanta as a major league cornerback Titus Dumitru and money considerations. The Braves cycled him up from Gwinnett in the second half last year.
Stratton has spent all but two days on minor leaguers this season. He has a 4.38 ERA while walking over 14% of opposing hitters in 21 2/3 innings. Stratton has shown better control at the MLB level, where he has a 3.75 ERA over 60 career appearances. He works in the 96 mph range with his fastball while throwing a low-90s cutter and mid-80s slider — more or less the same repertoire he had during his debut with Pittsburgh.
Atlanta is also cashing in on Pittsburgh’s books. Stratton is not yet eligible for compensation and will make at least the league minimum for any time he spends on an MLB roster (minimum while in Triple-A). Bart makes $2.53MM, about $1.3MM of which is owed at the end of the season. The Braves take that, plus a 20% premium because it’s above the luxury tax line. Bart will be eligible for the final settlement out of next season.
The trade pushes the veteran León off the active roster after six weeks. He will continue to be sidelined for the next few days, where he will resign and be released. León has appeared in 21 games this year and has four hits, all singles, while striking out 18 times in 44 plate appearances. He’s a respectable linebacker and game manager but offers so little offense that he’s been a depth player for the organization over the past few seasons.
Photo courtesy of Scott Galvin, Imagn Images.
