Catching prospect Drew Cavanaugh is in the Giants lineup tonight, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Fellow catcher Daniel Susac is heading to the injured list with a back injury. Cavanaugh is not officially on the 40-man roster yet, so the Giants will need to make a corresponding move to add him.
Cavanaugh, 24, was a 17th-round pick of the club in 2023. He has since been climbing the minor league ladder without a lot of fanfare. Baseball America has never ranked him as one of the club’s top 30 prospects.
He has some helium this year. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A, he has a combined lined of .311/.449/.550 and a 164 wRC+. That performance is propped up by a massive .402 batting average on balls in play but Cavanaugh has also been doing his part with nine home runs and a huge 15.4% walk rate. His 24.2% strikeout rate is a bit high but only by a couple of ticks. Earlier this month, FanGraphs ranked him the #17 prospect in the system. That report praised his well-rounded game, highlighting both his work in the batter’s box and behind the plate.
The Giants began the season with a catching duo of Patrick Bailey and Rule 5 pick Susac. In late April, Susac hit the IL with elbow neuritis, drawing Eric Haase and Jesús Rodríguez into the mix. As Susac was nearing his return from the IL, the Giants shipped Bailey to Cleveland. Rodríguez wasn’t getting much playing time around Haase and Susac, so he was optioned to the minors a few weeks ago. It is perhaps a testament to Cavanaugh’s strong season that he is getting the call when the Giants could have just recalled Rodríguez.
For now, Cavanaugh and Haase will share the catching duties. It’s unclear how long Susac is expected to be out of action. When he gets back, he can’t be sent to the minors since he’s a Rule 5 pick, while Haase is out of options. Perhaps Cavanaugh will be optioned back down to the minors at that point unless he plays well enough to make the Giants consider alternatives, such as going with three catchers or bumping someone else off the roster.
Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto, Imagn Images
