Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Dereck Rodriguez arrived in Houston’s Minute Maid Park on Wednesday as a big leaguer yet again, his call having come.
Among his first acts, though, was to campaign for another Giant to join him.
It’s not just the fans who are calling for Joey Bart’s promotion and the Giants to debut the top catching prospect, who’s been curiously in Sacramento for the first 19 games of this season.
“Bart’s unbelievable. I mean, he’s a big-league player, if I could say it,” Rodriguez said on a Zoom call Wednesday after he and Trevor Cahill were added to the roster. “He’s awesome to throw to, he’s awesome calling games and, I mean, he looks like a veteran at the plate.”
The Giants have insisted the 23-year-old is not ready and publicly believe summoning him before he is ripe could hurt his development. This must have their pitchers confused, who rave about Bart, and Buster Posey is no longer around blocking him.
Instead, it has been Tyler Heineman and Chadwick Tromp sharing the catching duties. Both have had their moments, but both also have had catcher’s interferences issues. And neither has anything close to the ceiling Bart possesses.
“Everybody loves Bart. I mean, I feel like a lot of the guys up here, a lot of the pitchers that threw to Joey in camp were really impressed and are excited honestly,” said Rodriguez, who was called up as a long arm who could follow Cahill, who is starting Wednesday. “We’re really excited to try and get him up here at some point, either by the end of the year or for next year. It’s going to be a lot of fun seeing him up here and throwing to him.”
Rodriguez did not save his praise for Bart, but he was the first listed among the Sacramento crew who has impressed him.
“Heliot Ramos, that dude has some pop like no other,” Rodriguez said of the 20-year-old outfielder, before moving on to the 18-year-old shortstop.
“And [Marco] Luciano, too. For how young he is, he is really disciplined at the plate. He takes some pitches that were tough. He and Ramos were tough at-bats down there. I don’t think I got Ramos out once.
“And Luciano was good, he was battling, he would walk here or there. I would have to throw him pitches and he would sit on them. Usually younger guys, 2-0 counts are usually fastball counts. But to him, you have to treat him pretty much like a veteran. He makes a good adjustment.”
Could Ramos join him in the majors, too? “Oh yeah.”
“Heliot as an outfielder, he’s a great runner, he reads the ball really well off the bat, he has a good arm,” Rodriguez said. “He sees spin really well. He’s a good disciplined hitter up there. In my opinion, he could be up here at any moment.”
As for Rodriguez the player, the Giants have been pleased with his work in Sacramento and in Los Angeles, where he threw a bullpen session last week and impressed with improved fastball velocity (92-94 mph, up from an average fastball of 90.6 mph last year).
Rodriguez said he’s also been focusing on his location, which he struggled with last year, getting his fastball up for strikes and landing his curveball in the zone.
It’s a challenge to be ready and stay engaged when you’re facing the same hitters every day on 100-degree Sacramento days, but Rodriguez said the coaching staff has been keeping it fun for the group. He said the structure is just like spring training 2.0 in San Francisco, and he knows he’s always being watched because you can’t earn promotions the way that you used to.
“When we got back to camp 2.0, we knew every time we stepped on that mound, it was important,” said Rodriguez, who added he’s carried that mindset over to Sacramento.