PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – In the span of a year Joey Bart has been dropped by one team and quickly earned the respect of another. Not because he was a first-round pick, rather it is what he does every day.
You saw a different side of Bart after the walk-off hit on Wednesday. Not him already at work or still there when his teammates leave, rather him celebrating with them and caught by Hannah Mears of Sportsnet Pittsburgh yelling about his chest hair and his gut being out.
It was a release for the player. Some outward joy for someone normally dialed in spending hour upon hour at the ballpark, even at home, working on his craft.
“He's probably the first person here every day,” said Pirates pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski. “You have full trust in the guy who really puts in the work day in, day out.”
“All we want is someone who is prepared and in the fight with us,” said Pirates pitcher Colin Holderman. “That’s definitely Joey-first one in, last one out. He’s put in the work. He’s at home on his laptop doing scouting reports. That’s what it takes, it’s like the quarterback of the football team, he’s the most prepared.”
That would mesh with what the Pirates manager said about his starting catcher.
“I think he takes pride in how the game plan's gonna go, how the work's gonna go,” Shelton said. “I think the one thing that stands out about Joey is he doesn't wanna be surprised. He would rather be over-prepared and I think that's one of the reasons he spends so much time doing that kind of prep work.”
Bart said he’s always been that guy doing the prep work. He said that is how he was raised. It’s how he learned the game and it’s the lessons he took as he went through different levels of baseball.
“I don’t want to go out there and out anybody in a situation unless I feel fully confident in it and I take that seriously,” Bart said. “I also enjoy it, I really do. I enjoy the preparation of the game and being ready and just trying to be the best I can for the guys on the mound, for myself in the box, all the way across the board.”
It goes back to the trust that the 26-year-old Mlodzinski discussed earlier. You won’t see pitchers shake off many, if any, of the signs coming from Bart. They know when he puts down a sign, it comes after tireless work to prepare for that pitch. He’s studied not only the pitcher’s game, but the entire roster for that moment. And really it starts before then, taking his notes, pairing that with the coaching staff, and then being able to easily communicate it with the pitcher.
That gives the pitchers freedom to not overthink, to just go out and freely execute.
Bart says he gets grief often from his teammates. That he needs to go home or come in later. It’s just not how the 28-year-old operates.
“I’m here in Pittsburgh, I want to win,” Bart said. “I’m going to do everything I can on my part to make that happen.”