Joey Bart DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

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.

Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on MLB Network that catcher Joey Bart has taken the pole position at catcher heading into the 2025 season. Bart couldn't get going with the San Francisco Giants and was picked up on waivers by the Pirates early on in 2024. The low-cost move worked out for the Pirates, as Bart eventually became the team's starting catcher and finished with a .265/.337/.462 slash line with a career-high 13 home runs, 45 RBI and 38 runs scored in 282 plate appearances over 80 games played. The 28-year-old is in pole position for the starting job in 2025, but he'll need to continue playing well to hold off both Endy Rodriguez (elbow) and former first-rounder Henry Davis. The power and hard-hit skills are the draw with Bart, and it was a nice sign that he lowered his strikeout rate in 2024. However, he'll need regular playing time to be fantasy relevant.

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart is out of the starting lineup ahead of Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-handed slugger will get a breather after starting in each of the last two games. In his absence, Yasmani Grandal will do the catching and bat seventh versus right-hander Freddy Peralta. Grandal is underachieving with the bat this season and isn't a viable fantasy option for Wednesday's slate. The expectation is Bart will be back in the lineup following Wednesday's game.