SAN FRANCISCO -- When Buster Posey opted out for the 2020 season, Joey Bart was presented with a golden opportunity. He was only 23 at the time, but the elite catching prospect had a 60-game season to prove himself at the big-league level. It’s no secret that he scuffled, as he went 33 games with an unsightly slash line of .233/.288/.320 and no homers.
Last season came and went without much MLB playing time, as he appeared in just two games in San Francisco. Now that Posey is retired, the gig is Bart’s for the taking.
On Thursday, Giants manager Gabe Kapler named Bart the Opening Day starter behind the plate. When they drafted Bart with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018, they had Posey’s end of career in mind. The moment has arrived.
“It’s what you live for,” Bart said. “I feel I’ve grown a lot. As years go by, you have to. You have to grow, you have to adapt, you have to sharpen everything up. I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress and I got a lot of work to do still.”
The bat was one thing, but handling a pitching staff full of veterans is another. This is the area where Bart has shown the most growth, according to Kapler.
Sure, Bart raked this spring. He posted a .364/.440/.818 slash line with three homers and seven RBI in nine games, but Kapler is thinking of the big-picture growth.
“He’s definitely earned that responsibility,” Kapler said. “It’s much more based on what’s happened the last several years. His growth and his development and his commitment and his preparation. Rather than saying, ‘He had a great camp,’ which he did. What we saw in camp made us confident, but it was more of what’s happened since spring training of 2020. And actually probably factoring in his development prior to that. It was the build up. He’s ready for that moment.”
Bart’s appointment is also something of a win for the player development staff, as they’ll keep up the tradition of having a homegrown player behind the plate. Homegrown ace Logan Webb, 25, is also set to make the leap in his career after a strong finish in 2021.
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If all goes according to plan, this could just be the first of several Opening Day starts for the Webb-Bart battery.
“It’s really cool,” Bart said. “Been working with Webb for a while now, to see him come alive last year was awesome. I’m super excited to see what he can do and unlock his potential. We’ve seen a little bit of it. I think once he gets his rhythm going to start his season, he can be really dangerous.”
So, what are Bart’s expectations for Webb in 2022?
“Doing what he did at the end of last year every time out,” Bart said. “He’s just one of those guys can throw any pitch and it’s never easy to hit. You can cheat to him as much as you want, but the ball moving as much as it moves, it’s gonna be tough to hit.”
It’s Bart’s show now and Buster might be gone from the clubhouse, but he’s just a text message away.
“There’s gonna be some dialogue, but I’m going to let him be retired,” Bart said. “I’m obviously open, I’m all ears. But I just wanna respect his time.”
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