Pirates catcher Joey Bart does on-field gender reveal for pitcher Braxton Ashcraft just before his start

Pittsburgh Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft likely took the mound against the Washington Nationals with more butterflies in his stomach than normal. It wasn’t necessarily the opponent that added stress to Ashcraft’s start, it was what his catcher was about to reveal. Ashcraft and his family decided to hold an on-field gender reveal ahead of the pitcher’s start Thursday.

In order to do that, they decided to include Pirates catcher Joey Bart in the festivities. When Bart took the field for Ashcraft’s first-inning warm-up pitches, the catcher was going to wear a colored armband to reveal whether the Ashcrafts were having a boy or a girl. Bart took the field wearing a pink armband, drawing a celebration from Ashcraft’s wife and family in the stands.

Joey Bart is wearing a pink arm sleeve as the gender reveal for Braxton Ashcraft and his wife as they’re expecting a baby girl pic. twitter. com/dP382uKGai — Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 16, 2026 Bart seemed to genuinely enjoy the moment too.

As he put his facemask on, the broadcast caught him with a huge grin on his face. The on-field gender reveal isn’t necessarily new, but this version of it was unique. Back in April, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt wore pink laces on his shoes to let his brother and sister-in-law know they were having a girl .