Hunter Bishop has been thinking about playing for the Giants since he was a toddler; watching Barry Bonds scorch baseballs into McCovey Cove and attending games at Oracle Park with his father and brother. Bishop attending Serra High in San Mateo – the same high school Bonds attended – and smacks the ball from left side of the plate – the same side Bonds hit from.
When you grow up on Barry Bonds, it’s only natural you’d have a heightened level of confidence, right? That’s at least true for Bishop.
“I think every kid who watched Barry Bonds growing up dreams of hitting balls into McCovey Cove, and Barry was the best to ever do it,” Bishop said, according to Henry Schulman. “When we got home I went into the back yard and hit Wiffle balls and pretended to hit balls into McCovey Cove.”
Bishop said he’s a mix of of two of the game’s current best players, and the two likeliest MVP candidates, according to Schulman.
“Both are pretty good players, but I think I have similarities to both of them,” Bishop said. “I think I swing more like Cody Bellinger and run and play defense like Christian Yelich. Obviously those guys are really talented, but I think in the future I can grow into players like that.”
When you hit balls like Bishop did in college at Arizona State University, where he batted .344 with 22 home runs with 61 RBIs in his junior year, it’s hard not to be confident. At the very least, Bishop was ecstatic to find out he was drafted by the Giants:
So happy for this young man!!!!!!!! Hunter Bishop @HunterBishop9 @SFGiants you’re getting a great young man!!!! He hits a little bit too!! pic.twitter.com/Gt2m5txB02
— Zona Baseball – Trent Otis (@Zona_Baseball) June 4, 2019
According to Kerry Crowley, the selection was, “a dream come true,” for him.
https://twitter.com/KO_Crowley/status/1135717213657292801
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