Chris Stewart had a unique feeling in April. It was the first time he had begun a second consecutive season with the same team, working with the same pitching staff and following the instructions from the same manager and coaches. It was a good feeling, he said, but it turned out to be fleeting.

After a taste of being a regular catcher for the first time, Stewart was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Yankees on Monday for a player to be determined. The Pirates will be Stewart’s sixth team in eight major league seasons, and he will presumably back up Russell Martin, as he did for the Yankees in 2012.

Once the Yankees signed Brian McCann to a five-year contract, they had a glut of catchers, including Francisco Cervelli, who is returning from a broken hand and a 50-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug investigation. Stewart became expendable.

The competition to be McCann’s backup will also include Austin Romine, who replaced Cervelli for much of last season, and J. R. Murphy, who impressed the Yankees when he was called up in September. If Gary Sanchez, the Yankees’ top catching prospect, remains in Class AA Trenton, then Romine or Murphy, or both, may be sent to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to catch every day.