Braves acquire Joey Bart from Pirates for Hunter Stratton

ATLANTA -- The Braves acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Pirates for right-handed pitcher Hunter Stratton on Thursday night.

Atlanta made room for Bart on the 40-man roster by designating catcher Sandy León 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 No. 2 by the San Francisco Giants in the 2018 amateur draft.

The National League 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 to 2025 before getting traded to the Braves last year.

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