WASHINGTON -- The Giants’ catching situation underwent a notable shift on Friday.
With two-time Gold Glove winner Patrick Bailey mired in an offensive rut and rookie backstop Daniel Susac swinging a hot bat, the Giants decided to start the 24-year-old Susac behind the plate in the Giants’ series opener against the Nationals at Nationals Park.
It marked the first time this season that Susac has caught ace Logan Webb and the second time in the last three games that Susac has started against an opposing right-handed hurler.
The Giants initially planned for the right-handed-hitting Susac to serve as Bailey’s backup and draw most of his starts against left-handed pitching, but the Rule 5 Draft pick has made it hard for the club to keep his bat out of the lineup after hitting .563 (9-for-16) with a 1.338 OPS and five RBIs over his first eight games.
Bailey, meanwhile, is batting only .128 with a .308 OPS and no extra-base hits over 15 games this year, a prolonged slump that has become difficult for the Giants to absorb given their wider offensive struggles this year. San Francisco entered Friday averaging an MLB-low 3.05 runs per game, leading manager Tony Vitello to suggest that the club could “get into an every-other-day situation” with Bailey and Susac moving forward.
“It was just a day-by-day decision,” Vitello said Friday. “You guys have asked about it a million times. I’ve been as honest as possible and talked about Patty being what he is. He's still a Gold Glove guy. He's our guy. There's nothing controversial to anything. We've stood by him and played him a bunch. Right now, he's not playing as well as he can capably play. That'll work itself out over due time. And the other guy [Susac] is obviously swinging a hot bat right now but also gives you a really good at-bat. It's a good, complementary 1-2.
“Who plays the most? I don’t know. They'll decide that by the end of the year. But as far as the decision of this game in particular, after we landed last night, looked at all things, took all things into consideration, we’re going with Susac today.”
Bailey is widely considered the best defensive catcher in baseball and has served as the Giants’ starting backstop since breaking into the Majors in 2023. Still, his stellar defense hasn’t been enough to make up for his lack of production at the plate this year, as he entered Friday with -0.4 WAR on the season, according to FanGraphs.
“I need to play better,” Bailey said. “I need to be a lot better at the plate. That’s about as simple as it gets. When my name is in the lineup, I’ll do everything I can to help the team win.”
Susac doesn’t have the same defensive prowess as Bailey, but he’s impressed the Giants with his strong arm and is working on improving his framing and blocking behind the plate. He has the potential to make the biggest impact with his bat, though, especially after hitting .275 with an .832 OPS and 18 home runs over 97 games for the A’s Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas in 2025.
What’s been fueling his recent tear at the plate?
“I think a lot of it’s just offseason changes,” Susac said. “Just keep working on it and just keeping that the same every single day. It starts to get kind of redundant doing it every day, but it obviously helps when you see results. But just keeping the same process every day and keep attacking it day by day.”
Bailey is a switch-hitter who is stronger from the left side, so the Giants could still factor in matchups when deciding who to start on any given day. Given the taxing nature of the catching position, Vitello believes both Susac and Bailey could end up benefitting from having a more even split of their workload in the long run.
“It is a really good complement, and it's a strength personnel-wise to have two guys that are different but also good,” Vitello said. “The biggest part of it to me that works is Bailey supporting Susac when he's not in the game, Susac supporting Bailey. They both are pushing each other a little bit again. At the end of the year, if whoever’s out there on the field is a little more rested, and they're also the better version of themselves because they've been pushed, then the people who win are the other people wearing Giants uniforms.”