Joey Bart of the Pittsburgh Pirates leaves the game due to injury

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Pirates lost starting catcher Joey Bart to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday at PNC Park after he left the game due to injury.

Bart hit a groundout to Reds second baseman Jonathan India, scoring third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the bottom of the first inning. As he ran past first base, he stopped and appeared to be in pain immediately after coming off the base bag.

The Pirates took Bart out of the game and had Connor Joe play as his backup hitter. Bart was the designated hitter as Yasmani Grandal started the game at catcher for the Pirates. The team announced that Bart was experiencing soreness in his left thigh and that the medical staff was treating and examining him to determine the severity of the injury.

Bart joined the Pirates on April 2 as part of a trade with the San Francisco Giants, while right-handed pitcher Austin Strickland went the other way. The Pirates had both Jason Delay and Grandal injured at the time, and Bart was competing with Henry Davis for time at catcher.

He had a solid first season in Pittsburgh with a .273 batting average, 53 hits in 194 at-bats, a .349 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. He also has eight doubles, 12 home runs, 38 RBIs, 18 walks with 55 strikeouts and five hits by pitch.

Bart played for Georgia Tech from 2016-2018 and had a great 2018 season, leading the ACC with a .359 batting average and earning ACC Player of the Year honors.

The Giants selected Bart with the second pick in the 2018 MLB Draft and signed him for a bonus of $7,025,000, the highest for an outfield player.

He played sparingly with the Giants over four seasons, totaling 162 games from 2020-23, and posted a batting average of .219/.228/.335 with 100 hits, 16 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 38 RBIs and 32 walks with 178 strikeouts.

Grandal is the only healthy catcher on the roster and if Bart is out for some time, the Pirates will have to bring in a catcher from the minor leagues, most likely Davis.

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