Giants catcher Bailey proving to be a sniper from behind plate
SAN FRANCISCO >> All it took to end the Giants' 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night was one flick of the wrist from Patrick Bailey.
In one fluid motion, Bailey received a fastball high and outside from Sean Manaea, shifted his body toward first base and flung a dart from his knees to LaMonte Wade Jr., who slapped a tag on Geraldo Perdomo for the third out of the ninth inning. Clinching the one-run win, it was just the latest defensive highlight from the rookie catcher.
“Obviously, Pat can really change the game with his defense, like we saw,” manager Gabe Kapler said afterward. “There's very few catchers around the game who can do that.”
Literally, Bailey is doing things no other catcher can.
It took him a mere 1.39 seconds to execute that little flick of the wrist, or the fastest any catcher has gotten the ball to first base since Statcast began tracking the metric in 2015, according to MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs.
Perdomo was Bailey's 19th victim on the basepaths, more than any catcher has recorded since he was recalled and already the most by a rookie backstop since Jorge Alfaro in 2018.
“LaMonte, the pitch before, we both kind of made eye contact, like `Yo, this is a good time to pick off,'” Bailey said. “It worked out well.”
Even Bailey had never ended a game on a pickoff move. It's been done by a catcher only 42 times since 1903, according to BaseballReference, though you only have to go back to 2022 to find the last time it happened. Keibert Ruiz caught Nick Senzel sleeping to clinch a Nationals win over the Reds on June 5. Like Bailey's that play was challenged and held up under the scrutiny of video review.
“That was obviously pretty cool,” Bailey said. “It's weird because with replay you're not really sure if you got him out or not, so the emotions kind of hit and you have to relax a little bit, like you don't know if he's safe or out. Definitely cool to finish a game like that.”
Add Perdomo and his 13 steals this season to a rap sheet that might as well be a list of baseball's most dangerous base runners. He already has nabbed Fernando Tatis Jr. (17 for 20), Mookie Betts (7 for 9), Whit Merrifield (21 for 29), Starling Marte (24 for 28), Elly De La Cruz (17 for 21) and Jarren Duran (23 for 25).
Bailey leads all catchers with 14 Defensive Runs Saved, despite logging only 449 innings behind the plate, 29th-most in the majors. Without even accounting for his arm, he has stolen more strikes with his framing than any catcher besides Austin Hedges.
Fair or not, Bailey has garnered the inevitable comparisons to the Giants' last franchise catcher, Buster Posey, who only has one Gold Glove to pair with his five Silver Sluggers due to the fact that he played his entire career in the same league as Yadier Molina.
Only one player has been on the receiving end of throws from both backstops.
Brandon Crawford was asked to compare to the two in his appearance Wednesday afternoon on KNBR.
“He's quicker and maybe slightly more accurate than Buster was,” Crawford said. “I think Buster had maybe a little bit more behind the throw, but Buster always put it around the bag, too, so it's hard to say (Bailey) is more accurate.
“The way Patty does it I think is impressive because he'll throw it from his knees like he did last night, he'll throw almost behind a lefthanded hitter sometimes so he's throwing it sidearm. He can do it from a lot of different angles and always puts it right on the bag.”
SABOL IMPRESSES >> Not to be overlooked, Bailey's partner behind the plate, Blake Sabol, made his best throw of the season Tuesday night, too. Catching Perdomo trying to swipe second in the fourth, it took Sabol only 1.89 seconds to uncork a throw measured at 82.1 mph — his fastest release and hardest throw to second base this season.
Sabol's biggest question mark entering camp this spring was his throwing ability, and Bailey said he has noticed a “night and day” difference.
Kapler said, “We saw some hiccups in spring training. We were concerned about his ability to be accurate, and would his pop time and carry on his ball be enough? That hard work pays off.”
KAPLER ON LUCIANO >> It may have come as a surprise to see top prospect Marco Luciano optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday, less than a week after he made his highly anticipated MLB debut. Look no further than the box score from his first game back in the minors to understand why. After exclusively playing shortstop before his callup, Luciano notched his first game at second base. The plan is for Luciano to get more seasoning at second, and once the Giants are satisfied with his progress, he'll compete with Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely to serve as the backup infielder.