Pirates Address Reason Behind Joey Bart Trade
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates made the decision to move on from a catcher who played an important role this season in their first big trade.
The Pirates traded catcher Joey Bart to the Atlanta Braves on June 18, bringing back former Pirates right-handed relief pitcher Hunter Stratton in return, who the Braves designated for assignment prior.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington spoke on the trade on The Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan about the trade and why they made it.
Cherington said that they decided to go with catchers Endy Rodríguez and Henry Davis for the future, with their offense and defensive capabilities.
Bart had no minor league options left, so instead of DFA'ing him, Cherington and the Pirates began searching for a trade for him, sending their catcher back to near his hometown.
“Basically as we knew Joey was headed back, we looked at Joey, Endy and Henry and ultimately decided that the best balance of offense and defense, if we pick two out of those three, which what we were going to have to do, the best balance of offense and defense in our estimation was to go with Endy and Henry and as we determined that, we started looking for a potential trade of Joey," Cherington said.
“Like all three guys. It was not an easy decision. Happy that Joey’s gonna get an opportunity where he grew up on a really good team. It made sense to us for now to stick with Endy and Henry now on the major league team.”
Pirates Showing Trust in Rodríguez, Davis
The Pirates brought Rodríguez up after Bart went on the 10-day injured list with a left foot infection, that he was set to return from.
Rodríguez took advantage of his opportunity, particularly at the plate, slashing .250/.393/.426 for an OPS of .819 in 26 games, 17 hits in 68 at-bats, three doubles, three home runs, eight RBI and 16 walks to 20 strikeouts.
His play, which came after missing almost two whole seasons with right elbow injuries, is having him split catching duties with Davis, after not knowing if he could catch consistently after multiple surgeries.
Davis hasn't had the same success at the plate, slashing .136/.238/.280 for an OPS of .518 in 49 games, with just 18 hits in 132 at-bats, four doubles, five home runs, 17 RBI and 14 walks to 32 strikeouts.
His defensive work is what's keeping Davis around, with Cherington remarking that Davis has been unlucky on offense for most of the season.
Cherington said they kept both players for their combination of offense and defense, while also seeing them as long-term solutions at catcher, with their youth and potential.
“Confidence is always really high," Cherington said on both catchers. "They’re very different players, very different people, as you know. So that’s I think is part of what the upside is for us is that they’re very different players and very different people, which we hopefully benefit from the combination.
“There are gonna be days where it makes for Endy to be in there, there’ll be days it makes sense for Henry to be in there.
“Henry obviously brings that defensive element of the game, shut down the running program from another team, toughness. Still believe he’s hit into some bad luck this year, obviously the offensive numbers aren’t there, but quality of contact is quite a bit better than it was last year. Still believe he’s gonna find a run of a little bit more offensive success.”
“And Endy’s just a switch-hitter, threat from the left side, super athletic, high energy, high positivity.
“So we just like the combination of the skills, combination of the personalities and they’re two guys that have a chance to be Pirates for a while too. There’s some benefit, value to us in investing in those guys at the major league level.”
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.