Giants top draft pick Patrick Bailey will win you over with amazing bat flip

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Perhaps you are skeptical about the Giants drafting a catcher for the second time in three years.

Never mind that picking the best player available is the default position in the MLB draft, and the Giants seem to believe North Carolina State catcher Patrick Bailey fit that bill when they selected him No. 13 overall in the first round Wednesday. And sure, San Francisco has had a hitter-heavy approach to the first two drafts under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, and Bailey's collegiate slash line (.302/.411/.568) evokes the traits the Giants have prioritized in rebuilding their farm system.

Your skepticism shouldn't waver because of that information, however. It should because his bat-flipping ability is sweeter than his swing.

That'll play at the next level.

The good news for Bailey is that Gabe Kapler, the Giants' manager and Bailey's future boss, is a big fan of bat flips.

“I think emotion is great for the game of baseball,” Kapler last month on KNBR's "Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks." “I think when we try to tone it down too much, it loses its appeal especially with a younger audience." 

[RELATED: Watch Giants' Bishop celebrate with No. 1 pick Torkelson]

Provided Bailey's coaches and instructors at lower levels of the organization feel the same way, baseball's Unwritten Rules probably won't be in the curriculum as the switch-hitting catcher makes his way through the professional ranks.

Whether bat flips are enough to look past the Giants having too many options behind the dish is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But no matter where Bailey's big league future is, here's hoping that energy remains a part of his game.

[GIANTS INSIDER PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode]

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