Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants have a new everyday catcher. You might have heard of him.
Behind the plate for Thursday’s anointing that also will include a game will be Joey Bart, the former No. 2-overall pick whose time — at long last, after months of questions and unsatisfying answers and struggling big-league catchers and “development” and “progress” becoming the buzzwords that set so many fans off — is now.
“Just wanted to bring him up when we had conviction that he was ready to take the job and run with it and not be in a situation where every game and every at-bat was going to be a referendum on his readiness,” Farhan Zaidi said on a Zoom call. “And we just feel like with his progress, he’s at that point now.”
There’s “progress” again, which kept the 23-year-old stuck in Sacramento for 26 games to start this season, during which their catchers hit a combined .180. Tyler Heineman and Chadwick Tromp have done nice, professional jobs, their pitchers happy with the games they’ve been calling as the rookies adjust to a much different game, but neither has the ceiling Bart possesses. The Giants had not made a corresponding move yet before the Oracle Park matchup with the Angels to balance the roster.
Whoever his complement will be, Bart will be the everyday catcher and probably will not get many looks at first, where he has taken ground balls at the alternate site. Zaidi praised Bart’s at-bats against righty pitching, and catcher will be one of the rare positions that will not have a steady platoon.
Bart has been waiting for any nibble and now will get a feast. Fans have been shouting for him; his own now big-league teammates have been softly campaigning for the catcher who gives the Giants the best chance to win.
Sure, this move is about the future. But it’s also about now, the Giants 10-16 a week and a half before the trade deadline in a season where any sort of run can mean sneaking into the playoffs.
Zaidi did not want Bart feeling as if he has to carry the offense — and with a surging offense that has won two straight, he hopes he won’t feel that pressure. But Bart will be stepping in as an immediate threat with his bat.
“The defense is really good, but he’s the type of guy who gets your attention when he’s got a bat in his hands,” said Zaidi, whose Giants will have control over Bart through the 2026 season because they delayed calling him up. “We saw it a lot back in February and March in spring training, and saw it a lot in camp as well. It’s just exciting seeing him in the batter’s box.”
This will be the first time Bart has seen major league pitching after just 87 plate appearances in Double-A last year, having broken his hand twice that stunted his development. But the Giants are comfortable they’ve given him quality pitching to see in Sacramento, and Bart has impressed every step of the way.
It will get complicated next year, when there is no guarantee the NL will have the DH and Buster Posey will be returning to a position that Bart may have staked a claim. But for now, there is a happy prospect debuting at home, the Bart train finally here.
Zaidi had talked with Bart on Wednesday afternoon, then reached out again that night. Bart thought it was a follow-up from the earlier talk.
“He was probably thinking, ‘I gotta have another 20-minute conversation with this guy,’” Zaidi said.
Instead, Gabe Kapler and Scott Harris were also on the line. The wait was over. The Giants have a new catcher.