Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The first cuts came, and Joey Bart didn’t have to leave. He will not be around the major league team for too much longer — the Giants have made it clear they want the star catching prospect to begin the season in the minors — and so he’s soaking in every interaction, every lesson.
But there’s one thing he hasn’t been able to learn.
“Terrible,” Bart responded, asked how his Spanish is.
He didn’t have trouble communicating with Enderson Franco in a mound visit Saturday, though, Franco with a decent handle on English, plus, “Pitcher language, everyone understands that. One, two, three, sliders, fastballs, runners on second.”
It’s a language he’s been able to share with the top pitchers the Giants have to offer. He can catch Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. He can try to steal strikes with Trevor Gott or Tyler Rogers on the mound. He can get acquainted with the caliber of stuff he will see whenever his phone rings.
“The competition, seeing higher-level arms, that’s valuable experience,” Bart said Sunday before the Giants played the Mariners at Scottsdale Stadium. “Just working with really good pitchers — I feel like that makes you better, makes you have to step your game up a little bit.”
Bart’s game has reflected the competition level. If the Giants need to see much else from the 23-year-old’s bat, they would need a microscope. In 19 plate appearances, Bart has gotten on base 10 times. He’s 7-for-16 with two home runs and a double, both dingers hit the opposite way, outside pitches that he can stroke to right-center.
The glove has impressed, too, though that’s been the biggest focus of camp for him.
Bart has enjoyed working with bullpen coach Craig Albernaz, whom he hadn’t had much time with until these few weeks of camp. The Giants want to see better framing skills, and the 2018 second-overall pick is responding to the angles Albernaz wants him to receive the ball.
“It’s definitely an area of my game I have to improve on a lot. That’s going to be really the main focus moving on now is trying to steal some pitches for those guys on the mound,” Bart said recently.
Those guys on the mound Bart relies upon the most for feedback. He’s working alongside one of the most revered catchers of all time, Buster Posey earning rave reviews from just about any pitcher who’s thrown to him. Sticking around in camp is giving Bart the opportunity to catch 100-mph heat, to see Kevin Gausman’s splitter, to begin the process of getting in tune with the pitchers he wants to catch every day. He called the experience “very important.”
“At the end of the day, I want to be the best for them. I want us to be on the same page, so they can have their best performance,” said Bart, who added: “You’d rather see a good pitcher with great stuff than someone else who’s easier to catch. You always want to challenge yourself.”
He has passed every test thus far. Though maybe there’s hope for one more lesson.
“I’ll teach him Spanish, he can teach me how to hit,” Mauricio Dubon chirped.
