Hunter Bishop became a star for Arizona State last spring. The Palo Alto native hit .342 with 22 homers and stole 12 bases, prompting the Giants to take him with the No. 10 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.
This spring certainly was a big one for Bishop, too. The Giants' No. 4 prospect came to Scottsdale ready for his first spring training as a pro. Before the sport was shut down due to the coronavirus (COVOD-19) pandemic, he even had a cup of coffee up with the big league club.
He went just 1-for-8 with two strikeouts, a walk and one stolen base in six major league spring training games, but the results are far from the point. The 21-year-old couldn't be more motivated after having a taste of the big leagues.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"It was so much fun," Bishop said in a recent conversation with MLB.com's William Boor. "It was awesome. Kind of got a glimpse of what the life was like and what you're working for. And other than that, the minor league side was an absolute blast. Just being able to be with the entire organization for the first time and meeting new guys -- all of it was so much fun.
"I was so looking forward to getting started with at least spring training games for the minor leagues, and then this coming season."
Listen and subscribe to the Giants Insider Podcast:
What made spring training even more memorable was sharing the field with his older brother, Braden, who is an outfielder for the Seattle Mariners. Their mother, Suzy, died last October after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 59 years old.
San Francisco Giants
For one day, though, Hunter and Braden met again on the baseball field in an unforgettable moment for the two of them and their father.
"It was something out of a movie, man," Bishop said. "It was pretty special, especially with everything that we had to go through this past offseason with our family. Just really special ... my dad was super proud of us.
"It came together all perfectly and it was really special to be on the same field against my brother."
[RELATED: Giants prospect Bishop makes music during baseball pause]
While Hunter waits for baseball to return, he has some big goals for this upcoming season. He only hit .229 in 32 games between the Arizona Rookie League and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes last year, but did blast five homers and had a .438 on-base percentage.
For now, he's keeping his personal goes to himself and looking to just stay in the moment on the field.
"The biggest thing for me is just staying in control of what I can control," Bishop said. "It's easy to look ahead and say, 'Next year I wanna be in the big leagues' or 'Next year I wanna be in big league spring training.' It's so easy to look ahead. ... Baseball's a really hard game and for me, I'm gonna stay in the moment.
"I'm super, super excited for when the season does start, and when the season does start I have some pretty big personal goals I'm trying to accomplish. I think if I can just take it day by day and game by game and at-bat by at-bat -- that's what I did at ASU, so I think the game will just take care of itself."