2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Prospects: 30-21
29. Hunter Bishop
Position: OF
Age: 23
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Projected Level: Richmond (Double-A)
MLB ETA: 2024
Tool Grades: (Present/Future)
Hit 30/40 | Raw Power 70/70 | Game Power 30/45 | Speed 60/60 | Arm 40/40 | Field 45/55
PV 30 | FV 40
It has been a very unfortunate 2021 season for the 2019 first-round draft choice. In the final days of the 2020 Instructional League, Bishop felt some discomfort in his left shoulder but shrugged it off. When he reported back to prepare for the season, the pain came back, and after just three games into the regular season, Bishop was on the shelf with a labrum strain and mild separation.
He was supposed to come back in late June to early July, but he re-aggravated it was on the shelf again. He came back in late July and after a couple of weeks of reps in the Arizona backfields, Bishop was back in a full-season ball for San Jose. However, after just two games and not looking like himself physically, the Giants brass pulled him out to focus on his health. He made a comeback in the Arizona Fall League to get much-needed competitive reps.
When healthy, Bishop has as tantalizing tools as anyone in the entire farm system. His frame is strong and athletic, with lightning-quick wrists that can hit baseballs that top out in the high-110s. He has holes in his swing that can be attacked by sequencing, but he has a good feel for the strike zone. His plus speed gives him excellent range in the outfield where he flashes the ability to make spectacular catches, but his below-average arm strength limits his positional versatility.
Bishop only playing just five full-season games over the past two years has been a bane to his development and his evaluation. He has to play well in 2022, but for a guy as talented as he is, he does not need to blow up the stat sheet to move up the ranking during the season. He projects as a power-over-hit outfielder with hard three-true-outcomes traits that play solid to above-average defense in center or left field.