Bart rides 2-HR debut to AFL Hitter of the Week

Giants' No. 1 prospect notched five hits, four RBIs in three contests

September 25th, 2019

MESA, Ariz. -- Joey Bart has been named the Arizona Fall League’s first Hitter of the Week for 2019 after a dominant three-game stretch, during which the Giants’ top prospect went 5-for-9 (.586) with two homers, a double and four RBIs for Scottsdale.

Bart, MLB Pipeline’s No. 20 overall prospect, led all Fall League hitters last week in all three triple-slash categories (.556/.667/1.333). He also finished tied atop the leaderboard in home runs and total bases (12) and posted three walks to zero strikeouts.

Bart hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs in his first AFL contest. He followed his multihomer performance by reaching base four times the next day, going 2-for-3 with a double, and he finished the week with a 1-for-2 performance that included a walk.

“Yeah, that was great,” said Bart about his two-homer AFL debut. “It comes and goes, so I can’t complain at all about it. I’m just coming out here and trying to do the right things -- prepare every day and just try to play as hard as I can.”

Selected by the Giants with No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 Draft out of Georgia Tech, Bart was limited to only 79 games in his first full season due to a fractured hand he sustained when he was hit by a pitch on April 14. The injury cost Bart roughly two months, though he still produced a .278/.328/.495 line with 16 homers and 48 RBIs while reaching Double-A Richmond.

The 22-year-old catcher fared especially well in the Eastern League, batting .316/.368/.544 over 22 games with Richmond to finish the season and was named the circuit’s League Player of the Week in the season’s final week after going 14-for-26 (.538) with six extra-base hits and six RBIs in seven games.

“I really started to feel good once I got towards Richmond after a hand injury that had lingered for a while,” said Bart. “Once I got up there, I was a having a lot of fun in Richmond and finished the season strong.”

After his hot start in the Fall League, Bart is eager to further his early success while playing among some of baseball’s other top prospects.

“It’s hard to believe we’re only five games in,” he said. “It feels like we’ve been here a while, but we’re having fun. It’s been a good five days, but now we can get in a rhythm and play some more games and hopefully continue our success.”