San Francisco Giants: Joey Bart off to hot start in Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League is underway and San Francisco Giants top prospect Joey Bart is among the early standouts.

The 2019 season is over, but some of the biggest names in the San Francisco Giants farm system are still in action in the Arizona Fall League.

Among the prospects suiting up for the Scottsdale Scorpions is catcher Joey Bart, who ended the regular season on a tear and has picked up right where he left off.

The 22-year-old hit .400/.455/.700 with four doubles and three home runs in 55 plate appearances over his final 13 games to close out the regular season at Double-A Richmond.

That was the cherry on top of an excellent first full professional season.

Despite missing time early with a fractured hand, he still finished the season batting .278/.328/.495 with 14 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI over 338 plate appearances in 79 games.

All signs are pointing to a 2020 debut with the San Francisco Giants, and a strong showing in the AFL could expedite his timeline.

So far, so good in that department.

Through six games with Scottsdale, he’s 8-for-18 with one double, three home runs and eight RBI. He’s drawn seven walks with just three strikeouts, giving him a .600 on-base percentage over this small sample size.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft has already reached Double-A for a reason, and he has all the makings of a franchise cornerstone as the San Francisco Giants continue to build toward the future.

Fellow top prospect Heliot Ramos (5-for-29, 7 K) is off to a slower start for Scottsdale, though he does have a pair of doubles and five runs scored in his seven games of action.

Those two will be monitored closely, and how they perform could have a direct impact on the team’s offseason plans.

In particular, if Bart continues to rake, it could expedite the team’s plans to move Buster Posey to first base and try to unload Brandon Belt.

The Arizona Fall League is an opportunity for some of baseball’s top prospects to prove themselves against high-level competition, and San Francisco Giants prospect Joey Bart is off to a red-hot start.