Giants' top prospects Joey Bart, Sean Hjelle among non-roster invitees

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The Giants will have their best prospect and their tallest prospect in big league camp next month.

The organization announced that 18 players have been given non-roster invites to big league camp, including catcher Joey Bart and 6-foot-11 right-hander Sean Hjelle, their top pitching prospect. The list includes plenty of newcomers, but also some players who were with the big league club last season, most notably outfielder Joey Rickard.

Bart, 23, will be in camp for the second time and is expected to get plenty of playing time. While he's not a realistic option to break camp with the club, Bart is expected to begin his second full professional season with Triple-A Sacramento and make his debut sometime during the summer. He's one of three catchers invited to camp, along with Tyler Heineman and Chad Tromp. They will fight to unseat Aramis Garcia, currently slated to be Buster Posey's backup.

The Giants have just three infielders on their non-roster list and two played for them last season: Zach Green and Cristhian Adames. The third invitee is Drew Robinson, a utility man who spent last season in the Cardinals organization. 

The outfield invites went to Rickard and Jamie Westbrook, who reached Triple-A with the Diamondbacks last season. Rickard was non-tendered in November, but as a right-handed hitter with speed and a good glove, he could be a nice fit alongside Alex Dickerson in left field. The most notable part of the outfield group is that Heliot Ramos and Hunter Bishop were not extended invites. 

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The Giants will have 10 pitchers coming to camp, including Hjelle, a second-round pick in 2018 who reached Double-A last season. The others are right-handers Matt Carasiti, Tyler Cyr, Rico Garcia, Trey McNutt, Carlos Navas, Andrew Triggs, Raffi Vizcaino and Sam Wolff, and lefty Sam Moll. Cyr was in big league camp two years ago and was on the fast track to the big league bullpen before suffering an elbow injury. 

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