The Giants announced a flurry of roster changes on Friday, the headline being their catcher selection. Patrick Baileycontract of Triple-A Sacramento. San Francisco has also chosen the contract of rights Ryan WalkerDesignated Midfielder Cal Stevenson for the mission and place both catchers Joey Bart (groin strain) and right-handed Ross stripped (back strain) on the 10-day and 15-day injured lists. Stevenson’s DFA opens up a spot on the 40-man roster for Bailey, and second place is opened up by quarterback recall Heliot Ramos from Sacramento and put him on the Major League 60-day injured list with a tense right skewer.
Bailey, 23, is the Giants’ top pick in the 2020 draft, coming across the board with a 13th pick overall. He’s had a pretty good launch campaign in their system one day. the following year, beating a total of 0.265/.366/.429 on the Giants’ Rookie-ball, Low-A and High-A branches. He struggled on the last of those three stops (.185/.290/.296), but Bailey returned to a high A in 2022 and hit a yield of .225/.342/.419 improved. It’s still not a great performance, but either way, the Giants got him to Double-A in 2023 and he responded with a .333/.400/.481 slash in 14 games before being promoted to Triple-A again.
Bailey’s cane struggled again after that quick promotion, but he’ll be promoted even stronger when Bart is sidelined through injury. American Baseball ranked him 27th among the Giants’ farmhands heading into the season, praising his defensive aptitudes – specifically his receiving and blocking skills. (although he also has a high 31% burglary rate among minors). The switch-hit Bailey struggled a lot from the right side of the disc in professional football, hitting under 0.200 with only two of his 25 career home runs coming from that side of the disc.
Walker, 27, was a player who made it to round 31 of the Giants in 2018. He has never ranked among the organization’s top prospects but has consistently posted above-average numbers. during his minor league tenure. He opened the 2023 season in Sacramento – his second time winning a Triple-A – and dashed out of the gate with 20 1/3 innings with a 0.89 ERA ball. He has taken down 31.1% of his opponents this season, has knocked down grounders by 50% and is yet to surrender a home run. His 10.8% walk rate is higher than the Giants would like to see, but command isn’t a repeat issue, as evidenced by a 7.7% career walk rate in parts of five professional seasons.
The Giants acquired 26-year-old Stevenson from the A team in exchange for cash earlier this year and called him into the major leagues when Mike Yastrzemski was shortlisted for injury. He’s championed in 12 disc appearances and is now a scorer of 0.145/.259/.188 in a still-small sample of 83 Major League disc appearances. Stevenson’s record in Triple-A is much better. He appeared in 101 top minor league games and scored 0.271/.382/.386 with seven host players while winning 21 to 26 in stolen bases and walk. roughly equal to how often he gets punched (15% vs .18.2%). He is primarily a centre-back but has experience in both corners. The giant has a week to trade him or try to move him through the waivers outright.
As for the list of injuries released by San Francisco, none of the cases were much foreshadowed. Bart was behind the plate in the Giants’ most recent game – his eighth start as a catcher in nine games – and won 1–3. He scored just 0.237/.286/.295 in season and has yet to solidify himself as the franchise holder that the organization envisioned picking him with the #2 pick in 2018. Bailey’s promotion to the major leagues could helps more than pressure on Bart, who is in his last five minor league picks in 2023.
Stripling signed a two-year, $25 million deal over the winter — one that allows him to choose to return to the agency for free at the end of the season. His early performance with the Giants made that unlikely. In 32 1/3 frames, the right-hander was burned with an ERA of 7.24, thanks in large part to the 10 stunning home runs that were surrendered in that time. Stripling did an excellent job with the Blue Jays in 2022, achieving a 3.01 ERA on 134 1/3 frames and allowing only 12 home runs in that time. It’s currently unclear whether his back will cause problems for him throughout the season, though that would certainly explain part of the right-handed astronomical prolapse.
Meanwhile, Ramos was named on the league’s minor injury list more than a week ago, although there is no indication he will be absent for the time being. The former first pick (#19 overall in 2017) has struggled in the league’s 18 major games since last season, dropping only 0.152/.205/.196 out of 49 toppings. He also hasn’t found his stride in Triple-A, beating a total of 0.244/.313/.367 in a very hitter-friendly setting. He’s been slightly better so far in 2023, hitting .262/.333/.385 in 75 appearances there, but his lackluster minor league performance has begun to get in the way his enduring role with the club.
