Giants call up Tromp from Triple-A to back up Posey
He replaces Casali, who goes on the 10-day IL with wrist strain
The Giants’ top catching prospect is healthy again and posting impressive numbers at Triple-A Sacramento, but when the big league club needed to replace injured catcher Curt Casali on Tuesday, the team’s decision-makers opted to recall Chadwick Tromp instead of Joey Bart.
Casali was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist strain, which is an injury that manager Gabe Kapler acknowledged has been impacting his performance in the batter’s box.
“We planned out what the next 10 days or so will look like to get that wrist fully strong and ready to go,” Kapler said. “I don’t anticipate it being much longer than that. We’re going to get him doing baseball activity here shortly and doing strength training work as well as working through things with Tromp to get him ready to perform.”
Casali had surgery to remove his left hamate bone last offseason and dealt with wrist soreness that kept him out of Game 2 of the NLDS in 2020 with the Cincinnati Reds. It’s unclear
how long Casali’s wrist has been bothering him, but the Giants believe strengthening the wrist will help a player who is batting .104 with a .369 OPS in 67 at-bats this season.
Bart appeared to be the most logical replacement to take Casali’s spot as Buster Posey’s backup, but the Giants believe the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft will be best served by continuing his development with Triple-A Sacramento.
Bart recently missed a week of games with a groin injury, but has gone 4 for 6 with a walk and a double in two games since returning to play. With an off day today and another on Monday, the Giants will rely on Posey to shoulder the majority of the workload while Casali is out.
“I think there’s one important way to look at this, and it’s really looking at the upcoming schedule,” Kapler said. “We have some off days mixed in, Buster is going to get the lion’s share of the work as you might imagine. So this is potentially two games started (for a backup) in this long stretch where we have these off days and Buster is lined up to start most of them.”
In 55 at-bats with TripleA Sacramento, Tromp is batting .218 with a .699 OPS and has hit two home runs. Bart is hitting .378 with a 1.095 OPS for the River Cats but has only had 45 at-bats in a season where the Giants are determined to get him 200 to 300 in the minors in an effort to facilitate his development.
“I think Tromp is a good option for us to take down those starts, but Joey is as well,” Kapler said. “In this particular case, we made the decision that for right now, in the short-term, Joey’s best path for development is right where he is.”
Aside from adding Tromp to the roster, the Giants also selected right-handed pitcher Dominic Leone’s contract from Triple-A Sacramento. Leone signed a minor league deal with the Giants this offseason and has struck out 16 batters in nine innings with the River Cats this season.
Leone took the roster spot of right-handed pitcher Nick Tropeano, who was optioned to Triple-A after throwing two scoreless innings in relief in Monday’s 6-1 win.
The Giants also opened up a 40-man roster spot on Tuesday by transferring right-handed pitcher Sam Delaplane to the 60-day injured list. Delaplane, who was acquired in exchange for cash considerations in a deal with the Mariners on Monday, is recovering from a March Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the regular season.
The club did not need to make a roster move Tuesday involving third baseman Evan Longoria, who exited Monday’s game in the sixth inning. Kapler said a MRI revealed Longoria has a “very mild” left intercostal strain, and the Giants will consider him day-to-day, but it’s possible he’ll be available as soon as Thursday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs.
GIANTS WILL WEAR PRIDE COLORS IN ON-FIELD UNIFORM >>
The Giants announced they will become the first MLB team to incorporate Pride colors into their on-field uniforms when they face the Chicago Cubs on Saturday at Oracle Park.
Players and coaches will wear jerseys that feature an SF logo “Pride Patch” on their right sleeves and caps that incorporate the Pride colors into the SF logo.
Saturday’s game against the Cubs is “Pride Day,” at the ballpark as the organization is selling special event tickets that include an SF Pride T-shirt. The organization says proceeds from each special event ticket sold for Saturday’s game will be donated to San Francisco Pride.
The Giants are also planning several other festivities to celebrate Pride Day as the franchise will honor former San Francisco supervisor and state assembly member Tom Ammiano before the game. Ammiano was also the first openly gay teacher in San Francisco.