The Braves have gotten a reinforcement at catcher.
With backup Sean Murphy on the 60-day injured list due to a broken finger, Atlanta acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Pirates in exchange for righty pitcher Hunter Stratton, the team announced Thursday.
Fellow catcher Sandy León was also designated for assignment by Atlanta to make room on the 40-man roster.
Murphy has been on the injured list since May, and starter Drake Baldwin only returned to the lineup Tuesday following an oblique strain which cost him nearly a month.
Bart, meanwhile, has slashed .259/.290/.379 with two homers and six RBIs this season in 21 games.
He too had been on the injured list, but the Braves activated him from his rehab assignment Friday.
Those marks are a significant improvement from León, who had been hitting .091 at the plate this year in the same amount of games.
Stratton only appeared in one game for Atlanta.
The Braves lead the NL East with a 46-27 record and have a seven-game lead on the Phillies, although they have a recent rough patch, losing six of seven.
Atlanta lost two in Chicago to the White Sox, dropped two of three to the Mets at Citi Field and then lost both home games earlier this week against the Giants.
The Pirates are 38-37 and sit in the fourth place in the NL Central, although they are just one game out of the final NL Wild Card spot.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
