Rookie catcher Joey Bart is in concussion protocol, Gabe Kapler said after Monday night’s game.
The Giants manager said that while removing Bart from the game was a “precaution move,” Bart told the team doctor after the game that he felt some pressure.
“We’re going to evaluate him tonight, we’re going to evaluate him tomorrow morning,” Kapler said. “We’ll see what his availability is like for tomorrow’s game.”
Bart took a foul tip to the face mask in the top of the third inning, shortly after the game resumed from a 40-minute lighting malfunction delay. He then took his regularly scheduled at-bat in the bottom of the third and caught the top of the fourth before being replaced by Austin Wynns.
Before taking his squat for the top of the fourth, Kapler and head athletic trainer Anthony Reyes checked on Bart.
“He was reporting no symptoms and he really wanted to stay in the game,” Kapler said. “He looked okay to stay in the game. And he got through that inning just fine. He didn’t really have any issues catching the baseball. And Anthony asked him some questions to make sure he was fine. Then when he got back in the dugout, he still wasn’t feeling great, so we got him out of there.”
Bart went 0-for-1 in Monday’s game but has been one of San Francisco’s hottest hitters. In August, the former No. 2 overall pick was hitting .333 with a .903 OPS before SF’s fifth straight loss.
Since returning from his restart at Triple-A on July 6, Bart is 32-for-113 (.283) with six home runs. His alarming strikeout rate from the first half of the season has stabilized.
Although the Giants are a season-worst five games below .500 and carry playoff odds of less than 1%, per Fangraphs, September is an opportunity for Bart’s continued development.
“I think it seems like he’s okay,” starter Carlos Rodón said. “Hopefully he’s good to go.”