2018 MLB Draft to the Show: Then & Now Joey Bart
August 25, 2020
Just one month into the 2020 MLB Season, we’ve already seen 13 debuts by 2018 draft selections. Today, we begin a slightly different approach to our Then & Now series by looking at the amateur reports of those 2018 prospects who have made it to The Show. First up was the No. 1 overall selection and top prospect from the 2018 PBR Draft Board Casey Mize.
Now up: Our No. 6 ranked prospect Joey Bart.
To check out our Then & Now series from this past spring featuring 2020 draft prospects, please see Draft HQ/Then & Now.
Joey Bart, C, San Francisco Giants (Georgia Tech) 1st Round (No. 2 overall)
After a stellar 3-year career at Georgia Tech which included numerous first team All-American selections and the Johnny Bench Award, Bart debuted on August 20 for the Giants, smoking a double to left field which left the bat with an exit velo of 109.5 mph. After just 130 games and 517 at-bats in the minor leagues, the time is now for big leaguer Joey Bart.
MLB.com Debut Video & Boxscore
THEN 2018: All-American and middle of the lineup masher for the Ramblin’ Wreck...“Large framed, durable bodied catcher who brings a physical presence to the field. His defensive skills, arm strength and raw power tools separate him from the other catchers in the 2018 college draft class. In addition to plus arm strength, he set up tight behind the batter, showed a very quick and easy catch/throw transfer with a smooth release and accurate throws with good carry to second base between innings; POP times ranged from 1.75 to 1.91. One game throw at 1.93 which was wide to the shortstop side of second base. This season he has thrown out seven of 15 (47%) base runners attempting to steal while last spring he caught 10 of 26 (38%) runners. The caught stealing percentage is obviously very good, as is the low number of attempts due to his well-earned reputation as a run game stopper. At times, he caught the borderline low pitch with his glove arm angled down, making the pitch appear lower, instead of getting his arm horizontal to the ground and presenting it more strike-like to the umpire. Has strong hands and already receives well overall, making this a fairly easy adjustment in the future. He is a confident backstop who calls most of the pitches and makes all the plays. Offensively, showed plus raw pull power with bat strength. Displayed average bat speed in batting practice, more slider bat speed in the game. Sets up in an upright, slightly open hitting stance. Creates some length with a bat tilt toward the pitcher for his load. Takes a soft stride, but overstrides and gets his foot down late. He is forced to rush his swing by pulling off with his front shoulder, taking his hands with him and sacrificing power to the middle and opposite fields. His hands do not work independent of his shoulder, taking the bat head in and out of the zone. This approach gives him holes and swing/miss as evidenced by a strikeout rate of 24% in 2017 and a current rate of 19% at the halfway point this season. He runs surprisingly well for someone his size, clocking a 4.29 on a 6-3 groundout during Friday night’s game, as well as scoring from second base on a one out, three-hopper which was almost directly at the left fielder. Showed good instincts as he was off on the crack of the bat and never hesitated as he rounded third base. All things considered he is the top catching prospect I’ve seen thus far this spring. He profiles as a power hitting catcher with an above average defensive package.”
FULL DRAFT REPORT from April 10, 2018