ST. LOUIS — Over the past week, Joey Bart has borne witness to two of the greatest to ever set up behind home plate. Last weekend, Buster Posey was back at Oracle Park. This weekend, the Giants and their rookie catcher are paying a visit to the ballpark Yadier Molina has called home for the past 19 years.
It’s what Posey and Molina have done beside home plate, in the batter’s box, that has generated a new appreciation from Bart, 25, who over that stretch has two hits and eight strikeouts in 14 at-bats — part of a season-long slump that has featured Bart striking out in a higher portion his at-bats than any other player in the majors.
“I don’t think you can put a value meter on it, the position and what you’re doing back there and then going up to the plate and performing as well,” Bart said. “It speaks volume about how much of a legend Buster and other successful offensive hitting catchers are.”
Bart was speaking Saturday from the visitor’s clubhouse at Busch Stadium, where he was one of the last remaining players after the Giants’ 4-0 loss to the Cardinals. It was his first time in six games and just the fourth time all season that he finished a game without a strikeout in the box score.
Despite his offensive struggles, Bart has earned plaudits for his work with the Giants’ pitching staff. He is also often one of the first players to arrive at the ballpark, and on Sunday walked to the team bus with catching coach Craig Albernaz.
Bart’s life as a major-league backstop, once he gets to the park: dig in to that night’s scouting reports, then council his starting pitcher, then get physical treatment to recover from the night before, then, finally, step in to the cage.
“Obviously it hasn’t been the start I wanted to the season, but I’m in full-on work mode,” Bart said. “It’s just something that comes with time. Sometimes guys that are better hitters find that the defensive side comes slower. It can start slower either way, but really it’s just about learning and adapting everyday.”
Manager Gabe Kapler wouldn’t have Bart prioritize the dual responsibilities any other way.
“It’s nice to know we have a prepared, capable, talented catcher at the helm in Joey and just continue to look for ways to support him,” Kapler said, adding that, “We haven’t even thought about” rejiggering his timeshare with catching partner Curt Casali.
But Bart’s bumpy start does raise an interesting question, especially in light of the recent offensive success from Casali, who has hit safely in the past five games he has started and raised his OPS above Bart’s.
Casali went 3-for-3 last Tuesday against Colorado, then smacked his first home run of the season in his next start, Friday in St. Louis. Casali polished his credentials behind the plate last season, catching five straight shutouts and posting a 2.72 catcher’s ERA — the same mark as this season (Bart’s, by comparison, is 3.87).
Bart and Casali have each caught three of the past six games, as opposed to Bart’s five starts in the six previous games, and Casali said he has benefitted from the more consistent playing time.
“The fact that I was able to get at-bats in three consecutive days has been helpful for my timing,” Casali after his three-hit performance against the Rockies. “I’m happy about the playing time. But me and Joey are a team and we’re working in tandem with each other. He’ll get going too.”
But in the same breath, Casali pretty well summed up Giants fans’ frustrations with their other backstop.
“It shouldn’t be just a black hole down there,” Casali said, referring to himself but also speaking volumes about the catcher who has received the lion’s share of the playing time this season.
Casali’s comment, intentionally or unintentionally, echoed what Kapler said after the same game.
“We can see what a difference a successful at-bat looks like,” the manager said, before stopping himself.
“Let me take a step back and say this the right way,” he continued. “This is not to take anything away from anybody, but you can see how valuable it is to have very competitive at-bats at the bottom of the lineup.”
Bart has come to the plate 76 times this season and 34 times been sent back to the dugout, an eye-popping strikeout rate of 44.7%, the highest in the majors of any player with as many plate appearances as Bart.
Making matters more difficult, Bart has worked himself into two-strike counts on 50 of those plate appearances. And, as you would expect, that’s where he has struggled the most: just twice has he gotten in hit in those situations, buoyed slightly by the five walks he’s drawn on full counts, including one Saturday.
One reason why the Giants aren’t losing faith: Bart’s plate discipline has been much improved. Although he is batting just .177, he is getting on base at a much more palatable .329 clip (one of five Giants hitters with an OBP 100+ points higher than their batting average).
When Bart is making contact, too, it’s generally been solid: his average exit velocity is in the 83rd percentile leaguewide, and his hard-hit percentage is in the 87th percentile. And it’s worth noting, Bart’s wRC+ of 104 makes him an above-average hitter, according to the metric, and ranks higher than Brandon Crawford, Darin Ruf and Thairo Estrada (and just behind Casali’s 108).
There were encouraging signs Saturday, as Bart worked a 2-0 count in his first at-bat before flying out, then took ball one in his next trip to the plate and laced a single the other way. In his final trip to the plate, he worked a full count and took ball four.
One adjustment Bart made, working with hitting coach Justin Viele, was incorporating a toe-tap as a timing mechanism in his swing. But by Saturday’s game, he had mostly eliminated it. (In one at-bat, he toe-tapped on one pitch but not the next.)
“It worked for a little while, but it just got a little out of whack,” Bart said.
After the final game of the Giants’ trip to Los Angeles, when Bart struck out twice more in the middle of a six-game hitless streak, Kapler posited that Bart might be “pressing a little” at the plate.
“There’s not more than meets the eye here. I don’t want to complicate it,” Kapler said. “He’s swinging and missing a lot.”
For now, though, the Giants are sticking with Bart.
“Despite the fact that it’s been a rocky offensive start, he’s been a quality defensive catcher for us,” Kapler said. “With that, we also believe there’s a plus offensive player in there and the only way to get to that is to continue to give him those opportunities and those looks.”
