The Pirates added to their catcher pool again Tuesday, acquiring former No. 2 overall Draft pick Joey Bart from the San Francisco Giants.

Going the Giants way is right-handed pitcher Austin Strickland, the Pirates’ eighth-round pick last year. He did not appear in a professional game with the organization.

Catcher Jason Delay is expected to go on the injured list as the corresponding move to add Bart to the Major League roster. Right-hander Colin Selby was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

Bart, 27, was once considered to be the heir apparent to Buster Posey in the Bay Area, but failed to consistently find his footing. While he made the Giants’ Opening Day roster, he was designated for assignment on March 31.

In parts of four seasons with the Giants, he slashed .219/.288/.335 with 11 home runs, 16 doubles and 38 RBIs.

It appeared Bart was trending in the right direction in 2022 when he hit 11 home runs and posted a .660 OPS and 92 wRC+ in 2022, but he got off to a slow start in 2023 amid back and groin injuries and was sent to the Minor Leagues for the majority of the season. His results with Triple-A Sacramento were encouraging, where he hit .248 with six home runs, 28 RBIs and a .750 OPS in 60 games.

Bart did improve his defensive metrics last season, being worth two framing runs and one caught stealing above average, according to Baseball Savant. However, his career defensive metrics are not as kind, being worth -6 Defensive Runs Saved, according to Fielding Bible.

There are two trains of thought with this trade, the first being that the Pirates still believe he has some upside and a change in scenery might help. At Georgia Tech in 2018, he was the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year. That obviously hasn’t been indicative of his time in the Majors, but there was a reason why he was the No. 2 pick in 2018.

The second thought is the Pirates’ catcher room is a bit beat up at the moment. Yasmani Grandal has not appeared in a competitive game in a month as he recovers from plantar fasciitis. The hope is that he can start his ramp up for the season in the next couple weeks. No word yet on how long Delay is expected to be out, but it does look like Bart will have some runway to prove himself worthy of a spot.

Back in Spring Training, Ben Cherington said he did not anticipate carrying three catchers for an extended period of time, so it does raise questions of what the Pirates will do when either catcher gets healthy.

Earlier this week, catcher Ali Sanchez, who was with the team in Spring Training, opted for free agency after being outrighted off the roster.

Selby, the corresponding 40-man roster move, went 2-2 with a 9.00 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 24 innings as a rookie in 2023.