SF Giants 2026 spring training preview: catchers

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Fielding Run Value is a metric that attempts to quantify a player’s measurable defensive performance. It cannot quantify the intangibles of catching, such as leadership or pitch calling, but it’s one of the best contemporary means of assessing value with the glove.

Since Patrick Bailey made his debut, he has been worth +79 FRV, the most in baseball. How good is that? The player in second is the Toronto Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk at +50. The difference between Bailey and Kirk at first and second is the same as the difference between second and 32nd place.

This is all to say the Giants have a two-time Gold Glove Award winner generational defender behind the dish, and when the offseason rolled around, finding a starting catcher wasn’t exactly a priority.

As for Bailey’s backup? Now that’s more of a compelling topic.

Additions: Daniel Susac (Trade), Eric Haase (MiLB Contract)

Subtractions: Andrew Knizner (DFA), Tom Murphy (Free Agent), Max Stassi (Free Agent)

Projected Position WAR Ranking: 3rd

Bailey’s defense has been discussed ad nauseam, so this preview will center mainly around the candidates for backup catcher. Before that, a quick word on his bat.

The 26-year-old had the worst offensive season of his career, posting lows in batting average (.222), on-base percentage (.277), slugging percentage (.325) and OPS+ (73). As bad as the season looked as a whole, he finished the year with some juice.

In August and September, Bailey posted a .678 OPS over 48 games — not great, but not categorically awful for a catcher. In September, he had an .814 OPS over 24 games. He remains dedicated to switch-hitting, and perhaps his tweaked stance as a right-handed hitter could bring better results against left-handed pitchers.

Bailey doesn’t need to be an offensive threat like Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. If he’s even in the neighborhood of being a league-average hitter, he has a legitimate case at being the second-best catcher in baseball behind the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh.

So, with Bailey’s spot behind the plate solidified, who do the Giants select as his backup? There are three options that stand out.

There’s Daniel Susac, who was selected by the Minnesota Twins from the Athletics in the Rule 5 Draft then subsequently traded to San Francisco.

There’s Jesus Rodriguez, who was acquired in the trade that sent Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees at last year’s trade deadline.

And there’s Eric Haase, the veteran backstop who has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors.

The other catchers in camp include Logan Porter, who played four games for the Giants last season, and Diego Cartaya, the former top prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ system who stalled in the minors.

“It is just that: competition,” said manager Tony Vitello. “You have varying degrees of experience back there. Susac comes from a very good baseball family. I think one thing we talked about … is the importance of rapport and character, how you go about your business back there. Haase has a strong reputation for that. So, right now, it’s kind of fun. Options are always a good thing. I think we have some back there.”

One of San Francisco’s options when picking a backup could be complementing a glove-first catcher like Bailey with a bat-centric backup. Rodriguez, who has a career .309 batting average in the minors, certainly fits that bill. But when asked about what he prioritizes, Vitello went with the glove.

“My background has always been defense first with that position,” Vitello said. “My college career started being a pitching coach, and rather than blame the pitchers if something went wrong, I would just blame the catchers. It’s kind of an easy way out. Those guys are so essential in so many different ways, but if those guys can contribute defensively, then everything they do offensively to me is icing on the cake.”

On the defensive front, Susac and Haase have the edge.

Haase hasn’t graded out well defensively in the majors, owning a -21 Fielding Run Value in his career, but he’s caught over 2000 innings in the majors. Susac is unique in that he’s a taller catcher at six-foot-four, but he has a plus arm and has been a full-time catcher his entire professional career.

Rodriguez didn’t get a ton of reps in the Yankees’ minor-league system because their farm was filled with catchers. His bat was good enough that he played around the diamond, but he lacks in the experience department compared to Susac and Haase. Rodriguez’s best path to developing defensively, then, might be starting the season with Triple-A Sacramento, where he can catch more often than as the backup in San Francisco.

“It’s a good opportunity to compete,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like everybody here is going to get better and try to get that spot, but for me, it’s just being better every day, be better than I was yesterday. If the team gives me the opportunity to be the backup catcher, I’ll be happy with it. If not, I’ll go wherever they send me and keep doing my job.”

While Vitello has preached competition, one of the biggest factors that will ultimately decide this battle is status.

Susac is a Rule 5 Draft pick, which means he was directly assigned to the Giants’ 26-man roster when the team acquired him. He must remain there for the entire year, and to remove Susac from the roster, the Giants must place him on waivers. If no one claims him, he’s off the 40-man and offered back to his original team for half of the $100,000 selection fee.

The Giants are not beholden to rostering Susac, but his Rule 5 status makes him the favorite to win a spot on the Opening Day roster. Rodriguez has minor-league options; Haase is a non-roster invite.

Is this a bit of an anticlimactic way of determining a roster spot compared to six weeks of fiery competition? It’s a fair point. Still, Susac’s inclusion on the Opening Day roster would make for a fun full-circle moment.

In 2014 and ‘15, Andrew Susac served as Buster Posey’s backup catcher. More than a decade later, Posey is running the show as the team’s president of baseball operations, and Daniel Susac stands to make his debut with his brother’s first team.