Hunter Bishop. Maddie Meyer / Staff
A day later, Hunter Bishop woke up. And the “dream come true” was real.
“I was actually at one of my friends’ house in Scottsdale with a bunch of my teammates and my family when I got the call and it came on the TV,” the Giants’ No. 10 overall pick in Monday’s MLB amateur draft told KNBR’s “Gary & Larry” on Tuesday. “It was pretty surreal.”
Bishop, an outfielder from first Serra High and next Arizona State, will be a part of the franchise he grew up rooting for. He said he used to go to the now-Oracle Park with his father and brother, Braden, a Mariners prospect, and watched Barry Bonds launch balls into McCovey Cove.
He did not know what to expect when Monday’s first round unfolded. He did know what he wanted to happen.
“I couldn’t have dreamt it up any better,” he said. “I’m really, really happy.”
Bishop broke out as a junior this season, slashing .344/.482/.757 with 22 home runs and 63 RBIs in 56 games. He credited his summer in the Cape Cod League, in which he adjusted his stance, for more than doubling his long-ball output (10 total in his first two seasons).
He did damage. He also did some minor damage control a day after telling reporters he thinks “in the future I can grow into players like” Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich.
“I think I got asked the question yesterday, who do you try to model your game after. Those two guys, because obviously they’re my favorite players to watch and both beautiful, lefty swings,” the 20-year-old said. “I think Yelich and me, people tell me we swing very similar and I definitely see it. He has a lot of talent, he has a lot of great moves. … Those two guys are closest to my game if I’m going to talk to my game.”
To eager Giants fans, the question becomes when he’ll be able to back those confidence and graduate through a system he has not yet stepped into. If the speedy outfielder, who had 12 steals this season, has his way, he would be a fulcrum of the Giants’ lineup.
“My favorite position is center field,” he said. “… But wherever they want me to play, whatever will help.”