This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado's Giants Beat newsletter, with MLB.com reporter Joey Pollizze filling in. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In the first season of the post-Buster Posey era in San Francisco, catcher Joey Bart has continued to show signs of development in his game. Glimpses of the talent the Giants saw when he was drafted No. 2 overall in 2018 are finally coming to fruition.

After spending June in Triple-A due to his offensive struggles, Bart has started to show improvement at the plate. Since his promotion back to the Majors on July 6, he entered Wednesday hitting .280 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs across 45 games.

But, it’s been Bart’s leadership skills that have shown his coaches and teammates that he has taken that next step in his game.

“I think he is starting to feel not only does he belong, but he has real leadership characteristics that are beginning to make an impact in our Major League environment,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “That’s when I think you see a player relax his shoulders a little bit and then you see the talent level emerge.”

Bart’s leadership characteristics emerged yet again in a critical moment in Sunday’s 4-2 win against the Cubs. And all it took was a mound visit in the ninth inning to calm down closer Camilo Doval.

With Doval struggling with command after plunking Cubs catcher Yan Gomes on the hand, Bart went out to have a chat with his closer as the tying run came to the plate.

“I was just feeling it,” Bart said. “I felt like I can communicate with him as best as I can. It’s really easy to lose focus and things could go south pretty fast. Seems like in games like those, just trying to get him out there and get him locked in and get the best out of him for the rest of that inning.”

By that point, Doval -- who had entered to get the final out of the eighth -- had thrown a strike on just five of his 11 pitches. Bart expected a better control of the zone from his closer.

So, Bart’s message to Doval was simple: “‘I want everything coming out of your hand to be in the zone and this is [your] save. This is an opportunity for you to better yourself.’ I wanted him to pick the pace up a little bit and just let it go and just throw everything for a strike.”

Bart’s quick mound visit worked to perfection. Against the ensuing batter, the Giants turned an easy 6-4-3 double play, and Doval eventually notched his 22nd save of the season.

The collective effort of Bart and Wilmer Flores, who joined the battery on the mound to serve as an interpreter and offer support, seemed to clear Doval’s mind of the early command troubles. The closer finished his outing strong to help secure the team’s series win.

“I told him after the game, ‘Saves pay a lot of money, man.' Like, 'You want that ball and you want that save at that time, so don’t ever forget that,’” Bart said.

The leadership that Bart continues to show on the field and in the Giants’ clubhouse is nothing new this season.

Whether it was sparking a six-run ninth-inning rally by firing up the team against the Brewers on July 15 or making a bold call to walk Bryce Harper in a game on May 31, Bart has matured as a player and a leader.

It’s things like this that have made the Giants see the type of player Bart can be for years to come.

“You can have a pitching coach go out there,” Kapler said. “But, that was such a powerful moment of the game in his development, and he’s had several of those.”