We Need to Talk About the Pirates’ Catching Situation
With the Pirates' current catching tandem struggling mightily, at what point does Pittsburgh look to go in another direction at catcher?
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After being a historically poor offense during the 2025 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have seen a very sizable improvement early this season. With new acquisitions such as Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn delivering, as expected, the morale around the offense is currently higher than ever in Pittsburgh.
However, while players like Lowe and O’Hearn shine, the Pirates do still have some remaining weak points in their offense. Although improved, it’s far from a complete group, and as the season progresses, these weaknesses are beginning to stand out.
The place where these offensive weaknesses have been the most noticeable is at the catcher position, which has seen poor performances from every option they have available. With a pair of former first-round picks behind the dish, the Pirates had far higher expectations for this group, and they’re failing to deliver in a painful way.
The Pirates have had multiple significant rallies killed by the bottom of their order, which isn’t something that can continue if they wish to be competitive late in the season. While no out in baseball is guaranteed, the Pirates’ catchers are failing to deliver in a way that makes it harder for the team to capitalize on scoring opportunities.
These consistent struggles can only persist for so long before the club has to act. With every day that passes, we get closer to a point where tough decisions have to be made. The Pirates’ catcher situation has to be addressed, and in a significant manner.
Stats were taken prior to play on May 7.
Failing to Deliver
When it comes to their offensive production, there’s no shortcutting it: both catchers on this roster have failed to deliver so far this season.
Henry Davis
Beginning with the team’s starting catcher, former first-overall pick Henry Davis, 2026 has been another rough go at the plate. Through his first 29 games, Davis has slashed .156/.253/.273 with two homers and a 49 wRC+. He’s been one of the least-productive players on this roster as a whole.
When digging a little deeper into his slow start offensively, there aren’t many positive metrics to fall back on. It would be different if the underlying numbers suggested that he was making strides, but if anything, they suggest the complete opposite.
As it stands, Davis has posted a lower barrel rate and hard-hit rate than he did in 2025, which is certainly grounds for concern. Without possessing consistent hard contact to fall back on, the foundation for Davis to be a productive player arguably feels further than ever before.
On top of that, the areas where Davis has improved have been marginal at best. For example, Davis has long struggled to keep himself from expanding the strike zone, as his chase rates have been poor throughout his big-league career. They’ve improved ever so slightly, but a 2.6% improvement is nominal considering he’s still chasing at a 31.7% clip.
Davis has been a pleasant presence defensively, though. He boasts a top-five pop time in the sport, which has resulted in some impressive throws behind the plate. Davis is also a good framer who has done well with the ABS, and multiple pitchers on the team seem to favor throwing to him.
However, his defensive strengths can only carry him so far. Davis has never posted a wRC+ higher than 80 across any of his four seasons in the big leagues, and it’s beginning to seem unlikely that this will change any time in the near future.
Joey Bart
After being one of just two Pirates in 2025 with a wRC+ of at least 100, Joey Bart seemed like he could potentially be a decent option behind the plate for this team. After all, he had also performed well the year prior after joining the club via trade.
However, in 2026, Bart’s offense has fallen drastically; it may not be long before the Pirates are forced to act as a result. Through 18 games so far this season, Bart has slashed just .196/.240/.283 with a lone home run and a 43 wRC+. On top of that, his strikeout rate of 36% is the highest it’s been since 2022.
Similar to Davis, the underlying numbers don’t indicate that success will be coming his way anytime soon, either. Bart currently has the lowest barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and average exit velocity he’s had since 2023, which is a super alarming trend.
In addition to this, Bart has gone from a very good four-seam hitter to struggling against them significantly. His whiff rate against four-seamers has ballooned by just under 15%, which is a head-turning number. This quickly becomes even worse due to the fact that Bart has seen four-seamers one-third of the time this season.
Unlike Davis, Bart doesn’t have the defense to fall back on. While he maintains a pop time in the 72nd percentile, he’s either average or slightly below at blocking and framing.
With Bart’s production actively taking a strong step in the wrong direction, the Pirates may have to decide what to do with him sooner rather than later. This level of play from both of their catchers cannot continue, as the Pirates have had multiple rallies killed once their lineup gets to the catcher spot in the order all season long.
Other Internal Options
Now that we’ve laid the groundwork on the struggles of Davis and Bart up until this point, we can take a look at who might be their next choice internally. They currently possess two catchers in Triple-A who could be the next man up, but could either of these players make a significant difference?
Rafael Flores
The first of these two catchers is Rafael Flores, the centerpiece of the deadline deal that sent David Bednar to the Yankees last summer. After making his major league debut with the club late in 2025, Flores could potentially be the first internal choice if the Pirates are looking for a change.
In 31 Triple-A games this season, Flores has slashed .214/.328/.357 with three homers and a 86 wRC+. While these numbers may not produce any strong immediate reactions, Flores’ underlying data is where he begins to stand out.
For starters, Flores’ calling card is his power, which has been a highlight of his game this year. He’s posted a max exit velocity of 109.7 MPH, a number that’s higher than Joey Bart’s to this point. Also, his average exit velocity of 90.1 MPH is higher than both major league catchers have registered.
The main concern is his plate discipline, which may hinder him from becoming a productive major league catcher. For example, he’s posted a zone contact rate below 80%, which is alarming considering the major league average tends to hover around 85%. On top of that, he’s whiffing nearly 40% of the time against four-seamers, which could be detrimental to his success in MLB.
Although Flores still has some very clear holes in his game, it may be worth giving him another shot in the big leagues. Even if it’s just in a bench role, his power potential could raise his ceiling and make him an intriguing possible internal solution.
Endy Rodriguez
A few seasons ago, Endy Rodriguez had played so well in the minor leagues that he had seemingly overthrown Henry Davis as the “catcher of the future.” Unfortunately, due to a string of injuries and bad performances, Rodriguez has fallen out of favor, but he may still have the potential to impact the game if given another shot.
On the surface, Rodriguez’s numbers are far from stellar. He’s slashed .235/.347/.324 with one homer and an 85 wRC+, which isn’t exactly head-turning. Despite this, there are some positive traits in his underlying data.
For example, Rodriguez has put up a max exit velocity of 114.6 MPH, a number that clears both Davis’ and Bart’s hardest-hit batted balls in 2026. When pairing this with a zone contact rate right around the league-average of 85%, and decent discipline, he’s a lot more interesting than he immediately seems.
Unfortunately, he does come with some flaws. For example, Rodriguez’s whiff rate against sliders is barely under 40%, which is quite alarming considering he sees them over 14% of the time. In fact, his metrics against breaking balls as a whole aren’t exactly stellar, which could lead him to be exposed at the next level.
Even though he’s not the fastest, there is still a level of raw athleticism within him, which could be something to fall back on if the bat doesn’t work out. Rodriguez is in a similar position to Davis, too, where the Pirates need to see what they have within him sooner rather than later.
Where Do the Pirates Go From Here?
With a struggling duo of catchers in the big leagues and some interesting traits in their Triple-A options, one question remains: where do the Pirates go from here?
In my opinion, if the Pirates decide to make a move internally, Flores should be the first one up. With an intriguing power profile and the fact that he looked decently comfortable in his little big-league experience last season, he’s worth giving another shot. On top of this, the organization seems to think highly of him, as he was one of the last players remaining during roster cuts in spring training.
As for the major league catching options, if the Pirates choose to dismiss one of their backstops, Bart will likely go first. Without strong defense to fall back on, when Bart isn’t producing offensively, there’s little to no value in his game, which means he’s a lot easier to keep off the field. Also, the organization is far less invested in him than Davis, as he wasn’t their former first-overall pick.
Even if Bart is the first to go, the leash should be shorter than many have expressed when it comes to Davis. The Pirates can only give him opportunities to succeed with little results for so long, as they need someone capable of producing offensively if they want to make a deeper run this year. With four separate seasons of big-league play under his belt with marginal improvements at best, the time to move on may be approaching sooner rather than later.
According to Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski in late April, trade discussions are being had earlier than ever this year. If the market is active, the Pirates could dip their feet into these discussions and potentially pursue an external upgrade through outlets such as the Twins’ backstop, Ryan Jeffers.
Regardless of which direction they choose to take, something has to be done soon. The Pirates can only expect little to no production from their catchers before they have to act, and they should begin exploring options in the near future.
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Written by
Jay Staph, a huge baseball fan and stat nerd, founded and ran his own baseball writing website, BSBWrites, at just 16-years-old. With focal points around prospects,…