The San Francisco Giants selected catcher Joey Bart (Georgia Tech) with the second overall selection in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft, the club announced tonight.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder is the highest draft selection the Giants have made since they picked first baseman Will Clark out of Mississippi State University with the second overall pick in 1985. This marks the first time the Giants have selected
a catcher with their top pick since they drafted Buster Posey fifth overall in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.
In 2018, Bart led the ACC in batting average (.359), finished second in slugging percentage (.632) and hits (79) and finished in the top 10 in home runs (16), runs scored (55), and on-base percentage (.471). Defensively, he had a career-best .992
fielding percentage and only two passed balls, which were tied for lowest among ACC starting catchers.
At the conclusion of the regular season, he was named the ACC Player of the Year--the first Georgia Tech player to win it since Mark Texeira in 2000. He was also named a first team All-American, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and he was an
all-ACC first team selection. With winners still to be announced, Bart is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy and the Johnny Bench Award.
In his sophomore season in 2017, Bart led the Yellow Jackets in home runs (13) and RBI (43). He earned College Baseball Player of the Week and ACC Player of the Week awards on March 6 and received national recognition as a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist.
Bart enrolled at Georgia Tech in 2016 and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team after batting .299 with 10 doubles and 31 RBI.
As the second selection, Bart is the earliest Yellow Jacket to be drafted. Previously, pitcher Kevin Brown, who was drafted fourth overall by the Texas Rangers in 1986, held that distinction. Bart joins Brown, Jason Varitek (ninth), Texeira (fifth), and
Matt Weiters (fifth) as the only Georgia Tech players to be drafted in the top 10.
Bart was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 27th round of the 2015 Draft out of Buford High School in Georgia but chose to attend Georgia Tech. He remains Buford's all-time leader in hits, RBI and runs scored. His father, Thomas Bart, played baseball at
the University of Miami and Penn State University. His brother Mikey played defensive end for the University of North Carolina.