Kurtenbach: The Giants have no good reason to delay the Joey Bart era

The San Francisco Giants don't want to call up top prospect Joey Bart just yet. That's the wrong call ahead of a weird 2020 baseball season.

The Giants aren’t budging. Catcher Joey Bart is the team’s future, but they’re saying that the future is not now.

Despite Buster Posey’s opting out of the season, despite the fact that the top two names on the Giants’ catcher depth chart are non-roster invitees, despite the fact that Bart looks like a big-league player to big-league players, the message remains the same as the 2020 campaign approaches:

“More development will certainly serve Joey well,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.

I think that’s the wrong call.

The Giants owe it to both their top prospect and their fans to see what the kid — who is 23, by the way — can do in San Francisco this year.

Yes, of course, like all of us, Bart needs more development. He has 566 professional plate appearances and has never played above Double-A ball. That’s not much.

But there is no Double-A or Triple-A ball for him to play this season. Minor League Baseball was canceled this year.

So in 2020, the options for Bart’s development are to play a 60-game regular season against the best players in the sport or to practice in Sacramento against teammates he’s unquestionably better than.

I understand that the team wants to take it slow with Bart — that they don’t want to rush him. But there’s no reason to coddle him, either. And everything I’ve heard about the catcher tells me that maintaining confidence — even in the face of a tough to start his big-league career — is not an issue.

And I’ll also give the Giants the benefit of the doubt that they’re not trying to manipulate Bart’s service time. That’d be small-time.

I know it’s not the Giants’ plan to have Bart in San Francisco this year, but the world has sped up. Everyone had plans before the pandemic, but it’s time to be pragmatic and take a bit of risk. The people who will get ahead in this new world are the ones who have adapted to the changes without fear.

The 2020 campaign is now a clean slate — an opportunity to get weird. The Giants could do a lot bolder things than letting arguably their best catcher play in a shortened campaign.

Joey Bart isn't just a big bat. Absolutely perfect throw pic.twitter.com/H3kRTdR4nw

— sean (@seanyouidiot) March 2, 2019

In 2020’s two preseasons, Bart has looked every bit like a major league player. Is the sample-size small? Of course. But this upcoming season will be a small sample size.

“Bart I think is the closest that we have in terms of breaking through at the big-league level and being an impact player right out of the chute,” Evan Longoria said Monday. “I really like him as a player. I think he has the potential to be a special player.”

First Joey Bart at bat, first Joey Bart home run.
#SFGSpring pic.twitter.com/2juYi84X6Y

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) February 23, 2020

Playing Bart is also an opportunity for the Giants to extend an olive branch to the team’s beleaguered fans.

The last few years have stunk. A rebuild of this magnitude — while the right thing to do given the Giants’ circumstances — is painful.

The fans can’t be expected to wait for the future forever.

And after the Giants stayed away from big-time free agents this offseason — including Yasiel Puig, who reportedly agreed to a deal with the Braves Tuesday — I don’t think it’s too much for the team to give the fans a taste of what’s to come.

Come on, Giants, toss the kid in the pool and see if he can swim.

If he starts drowning, well, he won’t be in the water long enough to cause permanent damage.

But he might just surprise you, too.