NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kelli Johnson and Alex Pavlovic chat with Giants general manager Scott Harris before the Giants take on the Padres on Wednesday. They discuss prospect Joey Bart and the Giants young pitchers.
Joe Ritzo had a firsthand view of the Giants' bright future last year. As the San Jose Giants' broadcaster, Ritzo watched just how talented catcher Joey Bart and outfielder Heliot Ramos are.
"Certainly two very talented players," Ritzo said in a phone interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. "You watch them play every day as I did last season and you feel as if not only will they be major leaguers, but they have a chance to be impact players at the major league level for a long time."
Bart and Ramos made their San Jose Giants debuts last season on Opening Day in Visalia. They were promoted to Double-A Richmond on the same day, and both joined the big league club for Summer Camp in San Francisco. Both dealt with injuries, as Bart played 57 games in San Jose and Ramos 77 before they joined the Flying Squirrels.
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Ultimately, both former first-round draft picks exceeded expectations. Bart hit .265 with 12 homers and 10 doubles for San Jose, and Ramos hit .306 with 13 long balls and 18 doubles. When Ritzo watched them every day, he saw rare skills that can't be measured by stats.
"I think both players kind of have that little something extra where they’re already making adjustments on the fly," Ritzo said. "It’s not something that you see a lot of young minor leaguers do very well."
Ritzo said the coaching staff was especially impressed by Ramos. When Ramos was promoted to Richmond, he became the youngest player in Flying Squirrels' history. He also was coming off a down year, but proved he can make the necessary adjustments to let his skills shine.
"I mean, he was 19 years old in San Jose last year," Ritzo said of Ramos. "… They were thrilled with his improvements and development and the ability to take in coaching and make an adjustment.
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"Just a guy well beyond his years."
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While Ritzo watched Bart and Ramos for a large chunk of the 2019 season, he was excited to see the Giants' next crop of young stars in 2020. With the minor league season canceled this year, though, that won't be happening.
Two prospects in particular had him ready for San Jose's season to begin, too.
"Well, certainly Hunter Bishop was a player I was looking forward to seeing in San Jose," Ritzo said. "He was called up and played in a few of the Cactus League games that I called for the San Francisco team this spring. You could tell that he wasn't fazed by being up there and getting a few at-bats. He’s very talented and I think would have been playing center field every day in the California League this year.
"It’s a shame that didn’t happen."
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The Giants selected Bishop, a Bay Area native, with the No. 10 pick in the 2019 draft. He has really exciting tools in the outfield as someone who has big-league power and the speed to track down any ball. Bishop hit 22 homers as a junior at Arizona State and stole 12 bases as well.
While Bishop is the bat Ritzo wanted to watch, he had his eyes on a left-handed pitcher, too.
"I was looking forward to watching Seth Corry pitch every fifth day in San Jose," Ritzo said. "He was arguably the South Atlantic League's best pitcher last year, and I think poised to take another big step forward."
Corry, who was just 20 years old last season, was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year. The former third-round draft pick went 9-3 with a 1.76 ERA for the Augusta GreenJackets. He struck out 172 hitters in 122 2/3 innings.
Ritzo already has seen Bart and Ramos. He was excited for Bishop and Corry, but that will have to wait. The good news is, these are just a handful of the players that have the Giants' farm system on the rise.