Embattled catcher Joey Bart is back with the Giants for the first time since May 17 and will start their day game against Chicago on Wednesday.
San Francisco broke the emergency glass to summon Bart because starter Patrick Bailey suffered a concussion during the seventh inning of Tuesday’s loss; he’ll miss at least the minimum seven days on the concussion IL.
Bart’s exile has lasted almost four months. A former second overall pick, Bart was at one point viewed as the Giants’ catcher of the future. But inconsistent performance from the plate and some unfortunate injuries — plus Bailey’s emergence and Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol — have relegated Bart to Triple-A.
Bart is catching starter Alex Wood and hitting ninth in the Cubs series finale. He rushed from Las Vegas, where he left the River Cats game early, to Chicago overnight.
Bart played 26 games this season for the Giants before his demotion. He hit .231 while cutting down his previously abhorrent strikeout rate, but that came with a tradeoff for power; he hasn’t hit an MLB home run since Sept. 10, 2022.
But while with the Giants this year, Bart flashed a vastly improved defensive game. He ranked atop the catcher framing leaderboard when he got sent down. The top spot is now inhabited by Bailey.
For Sacramento, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, Bart may have put some things together with his swing. He’s hit .280 with a .862 OPS for the River Cats since Aug. 1. Overall, he has six home runs in 57 Triple-A games.
Bart likely won’t be with the Giants for much longer than Bailey’s IL stint. But he’ll get a fleeting chance to prove that the adjustments he made at the Triple-A level can translate to MLB.
In another roster move, the Giants optioned Wade Meckler and recalled Luis Matos.
If that decision is any indication, San Francisco will likely cycle through outfield depth options for the rest of the season based on how they’re hitting. Meckler, Matos, and Heliot Ramos could each get chances to provide boosts to the offense, particularly as Michael Conforto is on the injured list.
Meckler’s runway lasted 20 games with the Giants, which is much more than several prospects the Giants have brought up in the Farhan Zaidi era. SF added him to the 40-man roster two years before they had to in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, so now he’ll take that spot away from someone else.
Meckler looked completely lost at first, starting 3-for-17 with 11 strikeouts while taking poor routes in center field. He turned things around and brought his batting average all the way up to .294, but continued striking out too frequently for his contact-oriented profile. For someone with limited power, striking out 25 times in 20 games won’t cut it. The Giants gave him a real chance, but he would’ve had to hit closer to .280 than where he ended up at .232.
Matos, meanwhile, gives the Giants another athlete to throw in the outfield. Joc Pederson has been thrust in left field frequently of late to help optimize the lineup for power, but he made a costly mistake during Tuesday night’s loss. Matos is starting in left field in the finale.
Matos has been solid against left-handed pitching this year, posting an OPS of .821 against southpaws with the Giants. He and Ramos both got sent back down to Triple-A around the same time, and both have dominated PCL pitching.
In five games since getting optioned, Matos has hit two home runs and a double for the River Cats. Ramos has been even better, slugging three homers and six doubles in six games.