The San Francisco Giants suffered another frustrating late-game loss to the Miami Marlins yesterday. But within each loss, there is always a bright spot. That’s the beauty of baseball.
That bright spot came in the second inning. Early in a scoreless contest, Joey Bart stepped to the plate against tough lefty Jesus Luzardo with two outs. Bart recently thrust back into action, was off to a strong 6/16 start at the plate before that at-bat. Curiously, all six hits had been singles. High average and low power are different from what we’re accustomed to from Joey in his young career.
Joey Bart’s At-Bat
The way this at-bat started is what we’re used to seeing. After fouling off a first-pitch fastball, Bart swung and missed on a changeup way low and away in what looked like an auto-swing on the breaking pitch. For a player with a career 37.7% strikeout rate against a pitcher who can put hitters away with the off-speed and heater, most could probably guess where this was going.
That’s when Bart buckled down.
He spat at a second lower changeup, then held the bat back on a tough 1-2 backfoot slider to pull the count even. It’s nothing but navigating dangerous territory for Bart, but he gradually puts himself in a better position by holding the bat back. He’s a career .102 hitter in 0-2 counts and knows another off-speed is coming. 1-2 counts aren’t much better at .128, and he checked his swing when the off-speed was breaking inside. A 2-2 count brings far more options, even if he’s only hitting .143 in those counts.
More important than his hitting average is the position it puts Luzardo in. Taking two straight breaking balls calls for a challenge, but Bart was ready and fouled off the 98 MPH high heat. Now unable to put him away for three pitches, he tries a cheeky front-door slider and misses running the count full. Now he has to challenge, and Joey comes prepared.
A Game-Changer, and Career Starter
Joey Bart off of Jesus Luzardo
EV?: 108.6
Launch angle?: 16.0 degrees
Pitch type?: Four-Seam Fastball
Pitch speed?: 98.3 mph
Distance?: 351.0 ft.
Outcome?: DoubleSan Francisco Giants(0) @ Miami Marlins(0)
Top 2 2 Out pic.twitter.com/V9xmtL7YsA— Well-Hit Bot (@MLBWellHitBot) April 17, 2023
That absolute rope took a soaring angle over the left fielder Bryan De La Cruz, taking one hop over the wall for a ground-rule double. It was the well-deserved finish to a hard-fought plate appearance for Bart, who gets a nice pitching chart to pin up on the wall for his next matchup with Jesus Luzardo:
That one-batter rally took a lot out of Luzardo, and he immediately hung a chest-high slider to the next batter, Heliot Ramos. He smashed it over the head of De La Cruz at 102 MPH for the first RBI and extra-base hit of his young career.
Scoring the first run in that game helped build the lead up into the late innings, and though ultimately futile, it showed how a game can change by one batter’s adjustment, one check swing, or one well-timed foul ball. In this case, Joey Bart helped change the career of his teammate while working a great at-bat for his team. Even in a loss, it’s worth a tip of the cap.
Photo Credit: © Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports
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