San Francisco Giants call up touted catching prospect Joey Bart

The San Francisco Giants on Thursday called up their top prospect, catcher Joey Bart, to the major league club.

He started and got his first big league hit in the bottom of the 6th inning against theLos Angeles Angels.

Bart was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2018 draft. The No. 1 pick, Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize, also was called up this week and made his major league pitching debut on Wednesday.

Bart is the No. 7 overall prospect in ESPN analyst Kiley McDaniel's top 100 rankings.

Starting catcher Buster Posey opted out of this season because of the coronavirus pandemic. His replacements, Chadwick Tromp and Tyler Heineman, have struggled at the plate, hitting just .178 and .195, respectively. Bart is considered the Giants' eventual heir apparent to Posey.

Heineman was optioned off the major league roster in a corresponding move Thursday.

Bart made it as high as Double-A last season, hitting .316 with four home runs and 11 RBIs at Richmond in 22 games. Overall, in two seasons in the minor leagues he has hit .284 with 29 home runs and 88 RBIs.