Longoria sees Bart as an impact player
the season. There’s a major void with catcher Buster Posey opting out of the season Friday, but management still believes Bart, who doubled off Dereck Rodriguez in Monday’s intrasquad game, needs further seasoning.
“From a bigger perspective, he’s got a lot of development left,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “More reps to develop both behind the plate in calling the game and working with pitchers and from a plateappearance perspective. More development will certainly serve Joey well.”
Game action: Rodriguez and Conner Menez were the starting pitchers in the intrasquad game that Team Black won 20 over Team Orange.
Though Menez breezed through two perfect innings (three strikeouts), Rodriguez dealt with control issues and retired just three of nine batters, issuing three walks. Aside from the Bart double, Rodriguez surrendered Steven Duggar’s RBI single.
Rodriguez has “been a little up and down in this camp,” Kapler said. “He was also up and down in our first camp, though toward the end he was coming on strong. Right now he’s wrestling to find his command and best stuff.”
Andrew Suarez threw two scoreless innings in relief of Rodriguez. Pitchers Sam Wolff and Caleb Baragar, who were added to the 60player pool last week, also looked sharp.
Briefly: Tyler Cyr was diagnosed with a knee contusion after getting drilled by an Heliot Ramos comebacker, forcing the pitcher to limp off the field . ... Tony Watson, who had shoulder tightness when spring training ended in March, is expected to be available in the seasonopening series. The plan is for the lefty to throw another round of batting practice, then get into scrimmages . ... Trevor Cahill has a fingernail issue. He played catch Monday and will be evaluated Tuesday.