{"id":108259,"date":"2025-10-10T21:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=108259"},"modified":"2025-10-10T21:07:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T01:07:40","slug":"pirates-face-decision-on-arbitration-eligible-catcher-joey-bart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/10\/pirates-face-decision-on-arbitration-eligible-catcher-joey-bart\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Face Decision on Arbitration-Eligible Catcher"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Pirates have nine players eligible for arbitration in 2026, the most interesting of whom is catcher Joey Bart<\/a>. On Monday, Matt Swartz of MLB Trade Rumors released his salary projections<\/a> for these nine. Swartz is a baseball economist, which seems like a cool job. It\u2019s unknown whether he\u2019s a Keynesian or a Monetarist. Nevertheless, he\u2019s usually fairly accurate with his arbitration projections. Eight of the decisions seem cut-and-dried. Pitcher Colin Holderman<\/a> and outfielder Jack Suwinski<\/a> need to move on, while pitcher Yohan Ramirez<\/a> and his 5.40 ERA can be replaced with a less expensive option. The other five will be kept. But what to do with Bart?<\/p>\n

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Sep 11, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Jalen Beeks (left) and catcher Joey Bart (14) celebrate after defeating the Miami Marlins at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pirates Face Decision on Arbitration-Eligible Joey Bart<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On April 2, 2024, the Pirates acquired<\/a> Bart from the San Francisco Giants, who had designated him for assignment, in exchange for minor league pitcher Austin Strickland<\/a>, hoping to draw out whatever the Giants saw in the right-handed batter when they made him their first-round draft pick (second overall) in the 2018 June Amateur Draft. Bart rewarded the Pirates’ faith with a career year, hitting .265\/.337\/.462, 13 HR, and 45 RBI in just 80 games. He had the best slugging percentage and second-best on-base percentage (OBP) on the team.<\/p>\n

Although he led the Pirates with the best OBP in 2025, Bart regressed to a stat line of .249\/.355\/.340, 4 HR, and 30 RBI in 93 games. His defense has been subpar. Across 2024 and 2025, he\u2019s been charged with -5 Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA) and -10 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). He\u2019s caught just 18.3 percent of would-be base stealers. He doesn\u2019t get high marks as a pitch framer, either. Per FanGraphs, Bart has cost the Pirates 4.3 Framing Runs (FRM) in the two years.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Henry Davis<\/a>, the first overall draft pick in 2021<\/a>, made great strides defensively in 2025. After having a rough time behind the dish in 2024, this year he was credited with 5 FRAA, 8 DRS, and 0.5 FRM while nabbing 28.3 percent of would-be base thieves. Davis\u2019s \u201ccatcher ERA\u201d was 2.91 compared to Bart\u2019s 4.84. Of course, Davis has an advantage here as Paul Skenes<\/a>\u2019 personal catcher. But if we take Skenes out of the equation, Davis is still better by 1.60. Davis continued to struggle with the bat, however, hitting .167\/.234\/.278, 7 HR, and 22 RBI in 87 games.<\/p>\n

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To expand on this, ERA by catcher for all of 2025:<\/p>\n

Henry Davis: 2.91 ERA (652.1 IP)
\nJoey Bart: 4.84 ERA (633.2 IP)<\/p>\n

Now…Davis catches Skenes, so that skews it a bit…so let’s take out all innings pitched by Skenes…<\/p>\n

Henry Davis: 3.26 (489.1 IP)
\nJoey Bart: 4.86 (628.1 IP) https:\/\/t.co\/aSHGRm0nkp<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jim Rosati \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f (@northsidenotch) September 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n