Joey Bart

Born on December 15, 1996, Joseph Andrew Bart is an American professional baseball catcher who plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The sportsman began his career with the San Francisco Giants, remaining with them until being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2024. During Bart’s early years, he demonstrated a knack for baseball that was clearly evident in his university years and carried through to his professional career.

Joseph Andrew Bart was raised in Buford, Georgia, where he attended Buford High School and started playing as the catcher for the school’s baseball team from his freshman year. His junior year was marked by impressive stats which included a .556 on-base percentage and a .859 slugging percentage. However, his performances dropped slightly in his senior year as opponents learned to pitch around him. In spite of this, Bart’s team were victorious in the Georgia Class 4A State Championship in his senior year, ranking 8th in the MaxPreps National Poll.

After high school, Bart chose to pursue his baseball career at the Georgia Institute of Technology playing for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He initially juggled his education with a major in business administration and his baseball career. During the summer of 2016, after his freshman year, Bart played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL), during which he was named a league all-star.

In his sophomore year, his name was included in the Johnny Bench Award watch list. He encountered a slight setback when a finger injury forced him to miss the last 11 games of his sophomore season.

Despite this, Bart was able to represent the United States in the national collegiate baseball team and later return to the CCBL to play with the Harwich Mariners. His junior year saw him being named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Baseball Player of Year. He also won the coveted Johnny Bench Award, a testament to his prowess as a catcher.

When the 2018 MLB draft came around, the San Francisco Giants selected Bart as the second overall pick. The signing bonus he received was the most substantial ever given to a position player. After his signing, the Giants sent Bart to their Scottsdale, Arizona facility, followed by a placement with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League.

The Giants invited Bart to spring training in 2019 and 2020 consecutively. But, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 minor league season was cancelled. Subsequently, the Giants assigned Bart to their alternate training site.

August 20, 2020, was a special day for Bart as he was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He debuted against the Los Angeles Angels and managed to secure his first career hit, a double, off of Julio Teherán.

Throughout 2021, Bart continued to show promise in his performance. He continued playing with the Giants until 2024 when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates where he continues to display his catching prowess. With years ahead of him, Bart looks forward to further developing his skills and bringing his teams to success.