[lex24]

I’m not analytics oriented. Defense has always been the most important attribute for a catcher. If he hits, that’s a bonus. Bailey is, by all accounts I’ve read, already a major league level catcher defensively.  Which gives him a leg up. 

Offensively, he’s been fine - as a left handed hitter. Awful as a right handed hitter, which interestingly is his natural side.  The “buzz” is he’s made adjustments and is anticipating a much better year from the right side.  We will see.  If he continues to stink from the right side, the simple answer is end switch hitting.  Concentrate on defense and hitting from the left side.

Bailey is far from a bust. It’s way too early to assume that.  And while numbers etc tell some of the story, the “rest of the story” is that Zaidi continues to talk about him as a major prospect.  

He’s not going to be ready this year. But I would  not be surprised to see him as a major part of the Giants catching picture in ‘24.

I think Giants fans have been so spoiled that they have unreasonable expectations for catchers. Buster Posey was a unicorn. A great defensive catcher who handled pitchers tremendously was unbelievable in the clubhouse and just also happens to be a great hitter. You don’t replace somebody like that. You simply have someone else who can play the position. But the standards he set, I think  made it very hard for those that follow. Personally, I think that’s part of Joey Bart’s  problem. And I think the Giants did absolutely nothing to help Bart  in that vein. From the outset there should’ve been a whole lot of discussion about that. They also got way too hung up on the fact that he strikes out a lot – so what most  do. They should’ve just had him concentrate on defense and hitting for power. As it is, I think his days with the Giants are numbered. Signing  Sanchez was the last straw. The organization has no faith in Bart, and he knows it. Unfortunately I don’t think he has any trade value at this point either.

[lex24]

I’m not analytics oriented. Defense has always been the most important attribute for a catcher. If he hits, that’s a bonus. Bailey is, by all accounts I’ve read, already a major league level catcher defensively.  Which gives him a leg up. 

Offensively, he’s been fine - as a left handed hitter. Awful as a right handed hitter, which interestingly is his natural side.  The “buzz” is he’s made adjustments and is anticipating a much better year from the right side.  We will see.  If he continues to stink from the right side, the simple answer is end switch hitting.  Concentrate on defense and hitting from the left side.

Bailey is far from a bust. It’s way too early to assume that.  And while numbers etc tell some of the story, the “rest of the story” is that Zaidi continues to talk about him as a major prospect.  

He’s not going to be ready this year. But I would  not be surprised to see him as a major part of the Giants catching picture in ‘24.

I think Giants fans have been so spoiled that they have unreasonable expectations for catchers. Buster Posey was a unicorn. A great defensive catcher who handled pitchers tremendously was unbelievable in the clubhouse and just also happens to be a great hitter. You don’t replace somebody like that. You simply have someone else who can play the position. But the standards he set, I think  made it very hard for those that follow. Personally, I think that’s part of Joey Bart’s  problem. And I think the Giants did absolutely nothing to help Bart  in that vein. From the outset there should’ve been a whole lot of discussion about that. They also got way too hung up on the fact that he strikes out a lot – so what most  do. They should’ve just had him concentrate on defense and hitting for power. As it is, I think his days with the Giants are numbered. Signing  Sanchez was the last straw. The organization has no faith in Bart, and he knows it. Unfortunately I don’t think he has any trade value at this point either.