The 2018 Draft Philes: Joey Bart

The Phillies have a pretty good luxury right now in the major leagues right now when it comes to catching. In Jorge Alfaro, they have an athletic, powerful backstop who can gun down runners with a 90 mph throw and launch 440 ft home runs. While he has been improving on his backstop skills, he can still be a liability at the plate with how much he hacks (42% K in 100 PA, 59.3% swing). Andrew Knapp is a solid option as well providing more discipline at the plate (12.9% BB) and an average skill set as a catcher. But his arm strength isn’t great and he seems to have hit a snag in producing contact (37.1% K in 62 PA). Both are still very young and have less than two years of service time, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see one breakout over the next couple of years.

Once you get into the minors, there’s not much else at the moment. Right now the better talent is in the lower minors with Edgar Cabral, Abraham Gutierrez, Rafael Marchan and Rodolfo Duran leading the charge. My favorite of the that bunch right now is Cabral and he’s more suited to be a good backup catcher long-term. While it isn’t exactly an urgent necessity considering the two options in the majors, adding another option at a premium position is not necessarily an awful proposition.

Which leads me to this spring’s biggest draft riser, Joey Bart. Georgia Tech has had some pretty good history in the first round when it comes to catchers, with Jason Varitek (1994) and Matt Wieters (2007) both having solid MLB careers. Bart entered the season as arguably the best catcher in this draft class, but their were concerns about how well he was going to hit. But a strong spring with improved discipline and tweaks to his mechanics, has now elevated Bart from the 20s into the top 10 of this draft class. Another positive for Bart is that back in 2016, he had success with a wood bat in the Cape Cod League (.309, .822 OPS, 12/26 BB/K in 113 PA). His 2017 in the CCL wasn’t as great but he also played less (34 PA) recovering from his hand injury he suffered at the end of the college season. Their are a few mocks right now have him going #2 to the Giants, as Buster Posey’s heir apparent. But some of these mocks have also mentioned Bart being scouted by the Phillies as well. Other than pitching, there are two positions that you cannot have enough of in an organization: shortstop and catcher. If the Phillies wanted to have a fail safe just in case things fall apart with their current two catchers or have a valuable future trade chip at a premium position, Bart might be worth the gamble.

Joey Bart, C, Georgia Tech

6’3″, 225 lb

Bats/Throws: R/R

Previously Drafted: Tampa Bay Rays, 2015 (27th Round)

Rankings (as of 5/14/18): Baseball America #8, MLB Pipeline #9, ESPN #14, Perfect Game #19, 20/80 Baseball #33

What The Numbers Say

2015 (Freshman): 43 G, 174 PA, .299/.351/.382, .368 BABIP, 47 H, 10 2B, HR, 31 RBI, 24 R, 0/1 SB, 8 BB (4.6%), 34 K (19.5%); 203 putouts, 25 assists, two errors, .991 Fld%, three double plays, 9/21 (42.9%) CS, two passed balls

2016 (Sophomore): 44 G, 208 PA, .296/.370/.575, .341 BABIP, 55 H, 13 2B, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 36 R, 4/4 SB, 16 BB (7.7%), 50 K (24%); 299 putouts, 23 assists, four errors, .988 Fld%, one double play, 10/26 (38.5%) CS, five passed balls

2017 (Junior) (as of 5/13/18): 50 G, 241 PA, .364/.473/.621, .420 BABIP, 71 H, 11 2B, 13 HR, 33 RBI, 47 R, 2/2 SB, 36 BB (14.9%), 47 K (19.5%); 384 putouts, 37 assists, three errors, .993 Fld%, 12/29 (41.4%) CS , two passed balls

Strengths

Upright, slightly open stance; hands set right around shoulder height, slight leg lift. Loose hands, quick wrists leading to plus bat speed. Plus power to all fields, good leverage in his swing; solid athleticism for a catcher, calls own games showing high IQ, plus arm strength.

Weaknesses

Sometimes the front side tends to really drift, open up the hips a bit early; timing inconsistent. Hands move a bit too much pre-swing, leading to his bat not being set properly on the load. Despite improved discipline, still has trouble recognizing off-speed pitches. Below average runner

Overall Assessment

Bart was likely going to go in the first couple of rounds in 2015 out of high school had it not been for his commitment to Georgia Tech.  Has improved plate discipline this year to make himself a top 10 draft pick. It’s rare to have a catcher show good technique and game-calling behind the dish and have easy above-average power to all fields in the box. Bart has some concerns about being able to be an average hitter in the big leagues because of the inconsistencies with his timing and breaking ball recognition. Could see at some point where pitchers throw a high fastballs, making it tougher on him to guess the slower stuff coming down in the zone. Bart has the makings of a power-hitting starting catcher, with a couple Gold Gloves and a few All-Star appearances. Career could follow a similar major league path like former Yellow Jacket alum Matt Wieters, even with the potential for a higher K rate (25+ %) and a .230 average.