Hunter Bishop


Hunter David Bishop is an American professional baseball center fielder in the San Francisco Giants organization. He was selected by Giants with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.

Early and personal life

Bishop was born in San Carlos, California, grew up in Palo Alto, California, and is Jewish. His parents are Randy and Suzy Bishop. His mother Suzy struggled with early onset Alzheimer’s disease starting at age 54, when he was in high school. 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, plays outfield in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners.
On June 29, 2020, it was announced with his consent that Bishop had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 26, and had very mild symptoms. He would have been on the club's roster of 51 players. As a result he will quarantine before playing with the team. He must test negative twice before being he is allowed to return.

High school

Bishop attended Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California. 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 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 at the University of Washington, but instead decided to play college baseball at Arizona State University. Bishop was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 24th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.

College

As a freshman at Arizona State in 2017, where he majored in Sports and Media Studies, Bishop batted.299/.360/.481 with four triples, five home runs and 25 runs batted in 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 with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
In 2019 Bishop batted.342/.479 /.748 with 67 runs, 16 doubles, 4 triples, 22 home runs, 62 RBIs, 50 walks, and 12 stolen bases 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 Academic All-American with a 3.41 GPA, and the NCBWA National Player of the Month for March. He was also named a First Team All-American by D1Baseball, Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America, Perfect Game, and the American Baseball Coaches Association, and a Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball News.

Minor leagues

Bishop was considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 10th overall pick. Bishop signed with the Giants on June 29, 2019, for $4,100,000.
He made his professional debut with the Arizona League Giants in the Rookie Arizona League, and, after seven games, Bishop was promoted to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the Class A- Northwest League, 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 according to MLB Pipeline. On June 29, 2020, it was announced that Bishop had tested positive for COVID-19.