San Francisco Giants outfield prospect and Bay Area native Hunter Bishop was expected to report to Oracle Park for workouts this week, but those plans have been put on hold.
The Giants announced Monday that Bishop has tested positive for COVID-19.
Giants’ president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Bishop tested positive in Arizona on Friday and that his symptoms are mild. Manager Gabe Kapler added that Bishop is recovering well and will continue to quarantine.
According to Zaidi and Kapler, Bishop contracted the coronavirus last week and did not come into contact with any other members of the Giants’ organization before receiving his COVID-19 test results. Bishop also did not train at the team’s complex in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Bishop, a Bay Area native and product of Serra High (San Mateo) is the organization’s fourth-ranked prospect according to MLB.com and was selected by the Giants with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.
The power-hitting center fielder isn’t expected to make his major league debut this year, but Zaidi said Monday the team initially planned to have Bishop in San Francisco to train with the Giants’ player pool ahead of the planned start of the 2020 season.
Bishop played in a handful of exhibitions for the Giants during Cactus League play including one against his older brother, Braden, a former St. Francis High (Mountain View) star who debuted with the Seattle Mariners last season.
When Bishop is healthy and has tested negative for COVID-19 twice, he’s expected to report to San Francisco where he’ll join the Giants’ three other top prospects, catcher Joey Bart, shortstop Marco Luciano and outfielder Heliot Ramos, in workouts.
The Giants expect to send some members of their player pool to Sacramento to work out at the Triple-A River Cats complex in July and it’s likely Bishop will be part of that crew.
