The Pirates announced that right-hander Dauri Moreta has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. To open a 40-man roster spot, catcher Brett Sullivan has been designated for assignment. Sullivan was on the active roster, so the Bucs now have an open spot there. That perhaps suggests that catcher Joey Bart will be reinstated from the IL. The club is off today so that may not be official until tomorrow.
Pittsburgh called Sullivan up last week to add depth behind the plate after losing Endy Rodríguez to injury. Bart has been out since late May, so the Bucs needed a backup catcher behind Henry Davis. Sullivan picked up three starts behind the dish. He went 1-6 with a walk and three strikeouts. It marked his third straight season logging limited MLB action. Sullivan appeared in 40 games with the Padres as a depth catcher in 2023-24. He’s a .204/.250/.291 hitter through 112 plate appearances at the highest level.
This is the second DFA of the season for the 31-year-old Sullivan. San Diego outrighted him off the 40-man roster during Spring Training. They traded him to the Bucs for outfielder Bryce Johnson a couple weeks later in a swap of non-roster players. Sullivan has spent the majority of the year in Triple-A, where he’s hitting .218/.254/.318 in 30 games. He’ll be traded or placed on waivers this week. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he could elect free agency in lieu of an outright assignment back to Indianapolis.
Moreta last appeared in the majors in 2023. The 29-year-old reliever has been on the injured list since undergoing UCL surgery in Spring Training 2024. He’s been on a rehab assignment since late April. Pitchers typically can spend 30 days on a rehab stint but that is sometimes extended for those coming back from elbow surgery. Moreta is evidently healthy but struggled to command the ball on his rehab stint, walking nearly 17% of batters faced. The Pirates will keep him in Triple-A for now as he tries to find more consistency.
While Bart is a decent hitter, his catching skills leave a lot to be desired. Davis should be the everyday catcher. With Bart catching occasionally and platooning at first with Horowitz.
Bart has never played at first base before, it would further hurt the team if they platoon him there with Horowitz
They were counting on Endy to platoon at first base
I agree that the player who should be dfa is Pham, he’s just not a decent offensive player, it will probably be Canario
BART doesn’t play 1B and Henry has hit better this time up… much more productive than BART. BART should be #2 catcher for now or until Henry proves he can’t do it. And Bart isn’t good at all defensively. SF gave up on home after a long time. They know what they were doing.
Hoping padres jump on Sullivan to rejoin the depth. Seeing as they don’t trust Campusano to catch.
The other logical roster move would be to keep Gallagher and dfa pham. Of course cherrington won’t do that. It would be admitting he made a mistake in signing him.
Have you not seems Pham’s work in the outfield?
You’re obsessed.
As long as it’s the Pirates anyway, why not bring in Joey Chestnut, the hot dog eating champion?
It probably won’t help the everyday lineup, but hot dog sales could go up substantially.
Keller, Reynolds, Hayes and Heaney all gonna be gone! Kalefa also!?
Joey Bart’s BB%, K%, Hard Hit Rate, Line Drive Rate, and Exit Velocity are all better than they were last year when he had a .799 OPS. He has, however, hit too many groundballs this year.