Joey Bart's first professional season will end a few weeks earlier than planned.
The catching prospect fractured his right thumb when he was hit by a 96 mph fastball in an Arizona Fall League game Tuesday night, the Giants announced. Bart saw Dr. Don Sheridan, a hand specialist, Thursday afternoon in Arizona and will not need surgery.
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Bart had been dominating the Fall League and was set to play in the All-Star Game later this month. This is the second time this season that his progress has been stalled by a poorly located pitch. In April, Bart suffered a left-hand fracture and had to sit out nearly two months.
Bart recovered from that setback to reach Double-A, hitting 16 homers across the two levels. He had four home runs in 10 Fall League games for the Scottsdale Scorpions at the time of this latest injury, which angered his teammates in the league filled with some of the game's best prospects.
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San Francisco Giants
Bart had been hit once earlier in the game and had been brushed back twice despite not standing too close to the plate. He was drilled on the hand in his third plate appearance and spiked his helmet into the dirt before getting walked off the field by a trainer. A teammate later said Bart has been pitched inside throughout the Fall League and has been hit several other times. The Scorpions threw inside on a batter a few innings after Bart departed and both teams were warned by the home plate umpire.