Bart eager to learn from Posey, offer help to S.F. pitchers
After bullpen sessions during the early stages of spring training, Joey Bart has moved from behind the plate toward the pitcher for meetings faster than the pitcher can get down from the mound.
Bart is arriving at these meetings with “impressive feedback,” according to the Giants, and much of it is straight parroting from Buster Posey.
“He’s just got so much knowledge,” Bart said Sunday. “The things he says are never for waste. It’s always great stuff, great advice to me. … Everyone kind of listens in when Buster starts talking.”
As it stands, Bart will start the season in TripleA behind Posey, the Giants’ biggest name who is returning after opting out of last season to raise adopted premature twins during the coronavirus pandemic, and backup catcher Curt Casali, who is recovering from hamate bone surgery in his left hand.
That hasn’t stopped Bart from developing relationships with the Giants’ bigleague pitchers.
He praised starter Kevin Gausman, said lefty reliever Jake McGee makes it look “so easy,” and lefthander Sam
Long is “turning heads.”
Bart, the Giants’ secondbest prospect and No. 23 overall in the game, according to mlb.com, said the most important thing he learned last season was the importance of improving relationships with pitchers.
After a 33game introduction to the majors, Bart spent portions of the offseason working on his fluidity behind the plate. He has developed flexibility in his hips that he believes will help him receiving pitches in a variety of stances and when making transitions.
Bart, who struck out in 41 of his 103 atbats last season, also worked on his swing. Moving from his typical training site at Georgia Tech because of the coronavirus pandemic, to one closer to his home about an hour northeast of Atlanta, Bart tried to identify pitches that he could drive.
“Once you get in that game and setting, it’s all about competing and turning the lights on and getting going,” he said.