Farhan Zaidi has had 21 months to plot how he would one day tell Joey Bart that he was coming to the big leagues. True to his nature, the Giants president of baseball operations decided to have a little fun with the top prospect.
Zaidi called Bart in earlier in the day on Wednesday to check in and see how he handled life in the alternative camp. When he later recalled with manager Gabe Kapler and general manager Scott Harris, Zaidi did not immediately reveal that the conversation was about giving Bart the long-awaited promotion.
“He probably thought, ‘Should I have another 20-minute conversation with this man?'” Zaidi said Thursday, laughing.
That second conversation changed Bart’s life, and brought him to the big leagues, probably for the better. Zaidi said Bart will be the daily catcher after checking every box on the alternative site. He has made rave reviews for his game-calling and pitch-framing, and in recent weeks he has made notable strides against right-handed pitchers.
That, Zaidi said, explains part of the “why now” of it all.
“The timing of this would always be the type of situation where we just continued to gather information and come to a consensus as a group,” Zaidi said. “(That is) between people in Sacramento who looked after him every day and our group in the front office thinking about how he would fit in, and our experiences from the past with young players, although he was apparently in fairly rare air is in terms of its status. “
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Bart was the second overall pick in 2018 and is the best Giants prospect to reach the major leagues since Buster Posey, a man he might one day replace. For now, the Giants are looking forward to the two teaming up in 2021, which is part of the reason Bart worked on the first base in Sacramento.
For the next five weeks, however, he’s almost a catcher and one who will bust Kapler’s peloton behind the plate. Bart will start on Thursday night against left-hander Jose Suarez against the Los Angeles Angels and should be a game against southpaws. But he will also see a lot of right-handers. The Giants did not immediately announce a corresponding roster ban on Tyler Heineman or Chadwick Trump.
“From an offensive standpoint, that was probably one of the things we were looking for the most in Sacramento, the consistency and quality of at-bats versus right pitching,” Zaidi said.
[RELATED: Why Bart move helps Giants in 2020]Bart increased left-handers to two levels last year, but he also hit 10 homers against right-handers. In all, he reached the big leagues, after having played just 130 big league games, which was a concern for the front office when Bart tore up a camp in July. Bart missed time out twice last year with a hand injury.
“We came into the year with a strong sense that his development was not complete, and that was not through his own fault,” Zaidi said. “Obviously, the unfortunate injury last year limited his ability to work through the system.”
That was communicated to Bart early on, and the Giants maintained throughout July – even after Posey opted – that Bart was not an option for opening day. Zaidi said Bart treated it “incredibly well”, knowing that promises had been made at the other end.
“We were going to keep an open mind to his progress and call on him this year if his progress was good and we thought the timing was right,” Zaidi said. “That’s where we are today.”
