Hunter Bishop
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Hunter David Bishop (born June 25, 1998) is an American professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...
in the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
organization. He played college baseball at
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. He was selected by the Giants with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.


Early life

Bishop was born in
San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spanish arrival in 1769, the land of San Carlos was occupi ...
, grew up in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
, and attended Junípero Serra High School in
San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...
. He played both baseball and football in high school. In his junior year he batted .348/.400/.435, and in his senior year he batted .426/.512/.663. In baseball he was 2015
Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European hea ...
Baseball All-American, 2016 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American, 2016 Perfect Game Second-Team All-Region, and 2016 WCAL Baseball Player of the Year. He was First Team All-League in football as a wide receiver his senior year. He originally committed to play
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...
at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
, but instead decided to play
college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...
at
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. Bishop was drafted by the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
in the 24th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.


College career

As a freshman at Arizona State in 2017, where he majored in Sports and Media Studies, Bishop batted .299/.360/.481 with four triples (tied for 5th in the
Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
), five
home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
and 25
runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
(RBIs) over 154 at bats in 51 games. He was named All-Conference Honorable Mention. As a sophomore in 2018, he hit .250/.352/.407 with five home runs and 26 RBIs over 140 at bats in 49 games. He was named Pac-12 Academic All-Conference. After the 2017 and 2018 seasons, he played
collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
with the
Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Brook ...
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...
, and in 2017 helped lead the club to the league championship and was named co-MVP of the league's playoffs. In 2019 Bishop batted .342/.479 (5th in the league)/.748 (2nd; 8th in the nation) with 67 runs (4th), 16 doubles (tied for 7th), 4 triples (tied for 6th), 22 home runs (2nd; 5th in the nation), 62 RBIs (4th), 50 walks (4th), and 12 stolen bases (tied for 7th) over 222 at bats in 57 games. He was named Perfect Game and D1Baseball Midseason Player of the Year, First Team All-West Region by the ABCA,
CoSIDA College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) is an organization that focuses on professional development and support for sports information directors at all levels. It offers awards, scholarships, and grants in support of SIDs and pro ...
Academic All-American with a 3.41 GPA, and the
NCBWA The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 35 teams in the nati ...
National Player of the Month for March. He was also named a First Team
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n by D1Baseball, ''
Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...
'', the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America, Perfect Game, and the
American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest amateur baseball coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. Now, the ABCA is composed of over 13,000 baseball coac ...
, and a Second Team All-American by ''Collegiate Baseball News''.


Professional career


Draft and minor leagues


2019-20

Bishop was considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He was selected by the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
with the 10th overall pick in the first round, on account of his plus defense in center field, his excellent speed, his potential to be a power hitter, and his being considered the best college athlete in the draft. Bishop signed with the Giants on June 29, 2019, for $4.1 million. He made his professional debut with the
Arizona League Giants Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four C ...
in the Rookie
Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it f ...
, and, after seven games, Bishop was promoted to the
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their hom ...
in the Class A-
Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...
, where he ended the year. Over 32 games and 105 at bats between the two clubs during which he played center field, he hit .229/.438/.429 with 38 walks, five home runs, 12 RBIs, and eight stolen bases in 10 attempts. He was the Giants' #4 prospect (and the # 65 MLB prospect) according to MLB Pipeline.


2021-present

He had eight at bats for the Giants in spring training in 2020. On June 29, 2020, it was announced that Bishop had tested positive for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. He joined players at the team's alternate site in the first week of August. In early 2021, he was ranked among the top 100 prospects in baseball by ''Baseball Prospectus'' (#75) and Major League Baseball (#83). In February 2021, the Giants invited him to the major league camp for spring training. Three games into the 2021 season, he severely injured his right (throwing) shoulder on a swing, and ended up missing almost three months. He returned for less than three weeks, and was shut down for the season after a total of only 45 at bats. After the regular season he was sent to play for the
Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco Gia ...
in the
Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...
, with whom he batted .262/.373/.381. He was ranked # 8 in the Giants 2022 MLB Prospect Rankings. In February 2022, Keith Law of ''
The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...
'' ranked him # 8 as well, and wrote: "for a guy with his kind of outrageous power and consistently high exit velocities .... It’s 30+ homer upside if he gets healthy and can cut down on the swing and miss, both in zone and out."


Personal

Bishop is Jewish. His parents are Randy (who owns a private investigation company) and Suzy Bishop (who ran track at UCLA, and was a movie producer and head of the
Vancouver Film School Vancouver Film School (VFS) is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouver ...
in Canada). His mother Suzy was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 54, when he was in high school.Josh Eastern (August 6, 2015)
">"You Should Root For Mariners Prospect Braden Bishop,"
Baseball Essential.
Bishop said in 2019: "It made me grow up really, really fast, because the last four or five years I haven't really had a life with a mom. She's still there but it's not who my mom was growing up." His mother died at age 59 in October 2019. He and his brother are creating the "Suzy Bishop Memorial Grant" in their mother's honor, which will be gifted once a year to a family affected by Alzheimer’s. His brother, Braden Bishop, is also a professional baseball player, who made his major league debut with the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
before joining the San Francisco Giants organization in 2021. Bishop is a music producer and has released multiple singles. He has a studio at his home in
Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...
where he works.


References


External links


Arizona State Sun Devils bio"Catching Up With - Former ASU Sun Devil Hunter Bishop,"
''Sports Illustrated'', June 1, 2020 (video interview) *David Laurila (February 1, 2022)
"A Conversation With San Francisco Giants Prospect Hunter Bishop,"
Fangraphs (interview) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Hunter 1998 births Living people Center fielders People from San Carlos, California Baseball players from San Mateo County, California Sportspeople from Chandler, Arizona Baseball players from Maricopa County, Arizona Baseball players from Palo Alto, California Baseball outfielders Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Brewster Whitecaps players Arizona League Giants players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Jewish American baseball players Junípero Serra High School (San Mateo, California) alumni 21st-century American Jews