Braves acquire catcher Joey Bart from Pirates for pitcher Hunter Stratton

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Pittsburgh Pirates for right-handed pitcher Hunter Stratton on Thursday night.

Atlanta made room for Bart on the 40-man roster by designating catcher Sandy Leon for assignment. The Pirates assigned Stratton to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Bart was batting .259 with two homers, six RBIs and a .670 OPS in 21 games with Pittsburgh. He grew up in the Atlanta suburbs and played college ball in the city at Georgia Tech before being selected second overall by the San Francisco Giants in the 2018 amateur draft.

The NL East-leading Braves (46-27) already have two fine catchers in 2025 NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin and 2023 All-Star Sean Murphy, but Murphy is on the 60-day injured list with a broken finger.

Stratton appeared in one game with the Braves this year and pitched a scoreless inning. He played for the Pirates from 2023-25 before getting traded to Atlanta last July.

León was batting .091 with zero RBIs in 21 games this season.

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