Bart breaks out to lead week's top hitters

Promoted to the Double-A Eastern League on Aug. 9, top Giants prospect Joey Bart went hitless in seven of his first nine games with Richmond. He was still under the Mendoza line as late as the 21st before his fortunes turned for the better.

A lot better.

Bart was named the circuit's final 2019 Offensive Player of the Week after going 14-for-26 with a homer, triple, four doubles and six RBIs in seven games from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2. The backstop's 14 hits for the Flying Squirrels were the most by any Double-A player over the eight-day span.

Bart caught five of his seven games last week, served as Richmond's designated hitter in one -- the second half of a twinbill on Wednesday, and the only game in which he went hitless -- and delivered a pinch-hit single in one. He notched his second and third four-hit games of the season and lifted his Eastern League batting line from .208/.271/.377 to .316/.368/.544.

Flying Squirrels manager Willie Harris told MiLB.com that Bart made adjustments after his early struggles in the EL.

"He's just not fouling off the pitches that he's getting hits on now," Harris said. "He's being a little bit more aggressive in the batter's box. He's a big guy, has a really good approach and he finds holes, man. He's been finding some holes for us the last couple nights."

Harris had nothing but praise for Bart's work behind the plate, even as he was putting up big offensive numbers. "The way he calls the game and handles the pitching staff has been phenomenal," he said.

With Richmond out of the Eastern League playoff picture, Bart now has a couple weeks off before heading west to participate in the 2019 Arizona Fall League, which gets underway Sept. 18. He'll be joining the Scottsdale Scorpions along with top Phillies prospect Alec Bohm and Mets shortstop Andrés Giménez.

As his Double-A manager concluded, "He's going to be a really good player for a really long time. The more he plays, the better he's going to get."

Below is the complete list of Minor League Offensive Players of the Week for Aug. 26-Sept. 2:

League	Player	Team	MLB	Stats
International	Adam Duvall	Gwinnett	ATL	.364/.548/.909, 7 G, 8-for-22, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, 8 BB, 5 K
Pacific Coast	Wilmer Difo	Fresno	WAS	.444/.512/.722, 8 G, 16-for-36, 3 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 8 R, 5 BB, 4 K
Eastern	Joey Bart	Richmond	SF	.538/.571/.885, 7 G, 14-for-26, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Southern	Riley Unroe	Mississippi	ATL	.407/.467/.778, 7 G, 11-for-27, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Texas	Connor Wong	Tulsa	LAD	.520/.571/1.080, 6 G, 13-for-25, 2 2B, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 K
California	Julio Rodriguez	Modesto	SEA	.375/.459/.688, 8 G, 12-for-32, 3 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, 4 BB, 6 K)
Carolina	Julio Pablo Martinez	Down East	TEX	.378/.410/.649, 9 G, 14-for-37, 1 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 14 K, 4 SB
Florida State	Dylan Busby	Bradenton	PIT	.429/.529/1.143, 4 G, 6-for-14, 1 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R, 3 BB, 7 K
Midwest	Jose Fermin	Lake County	CLE	.500/.545/.800, 5 G, 10-for-20, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 4 SB
South Atlantic	Eduardo Torrealba	Charleston	NYY	.448/.467/.759, 7 G, 13-for-29, 6 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 7 R, 1 BB, 3 K
New York-Penn	Jaylen Ferguson	Aberdeen	BAL	.324/.324/.730, 8 G, 12-for-37, 2 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R, 0 BB, 10 K, 1 SB
Northwest	Will Robertson	Vancouver	TOR	.458/.552/.875, 6 G, 11-for-24, 1 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 5 BB, 3 K
Appalachian	Luis Leon	Princeton	TB	.429/.467/.857, 3 G, 6-for-14, 0 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Pioneer	Brenton Doyle	Grand Junction	COL	.552/.611/1.000, 8 G, 16-for-29, 3 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 10 R, 5 BB, 7 K, 2 SB