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San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey was a late scratch for Monday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. At the time, Bailey downplayed the move as merely precautionary and referred to the tightness in his side that held him out of the game as “very, very minor.”
Despite Bailey’s claims, an MRI revealed an oblique strain that will force the Giants to place the catcher on the 10-day injured list, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly on X. It will be Bailey’s third time on the IL this season.
The move particularly stings as the Giants were heating up in a bid to make the postseason for the first time since 2021. San Francisco has gone 17-13 since returning from the All-Star break and the team is now four games back in the Wild Card race with just two teams ahead of them for the final playoff berth, entering play on Tuesday.
Bailey is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. He boasts an excellent 30.4 caught stealing rate and leads his position in Defensive Runs Saved and Catching Framing Runs. Bailey has made a name for himself with standout pop time and pitch framing. The 25-year-old Gold Glove frontrunner also leads all players in Fielding Run Value, per Baggarly.
The Giants need Patrick Bailey behind the plate for a postseason push
Unfortunately, as good as Bailey has been defensively in his first two seasons in the majors, he hasn’t been able to consistently contribute offensively. The Giants’ catcher is slashing .233/.299/.344 with seven home runs, 38 RBI, 37 runs scored and an OPS+ of 85 in 96 games for the Giants this season.
Despite his poor showing at the plate, Bailey is so valuable as a defender he’s managed to post 1.4 bWAR with some truly dismal offensive stats.
After finishing with an OPS+ of 78 in his rookie campaign with the Giants, Bailey had been performing better with the bat this season. The sophomore catcher was hitting .283 with a .784 OPS in mid July. However, things fell apart quickly as Bailey has been mired in a miserable slump since the All-Star break. He’s batting just .115 with a .292 OPS, two extra-base hits, five walks and 24 strikeouts in 27 games since July 18.
Bailey’s determination to break out of his slump contributed to his injury. He strained his oblique while getting in extra swings prior to Monday’s game.
The Giants are one game over .500 and 10.5 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. However, the team has a shot at grabbing the final Wild Card berth with the resurgence of Cy Young winner Blake Snell. Now the Giants hope to have Bailey back behind the plate when he’s first eligible to return on August 29.
