DENVER -- The Giants lost a Gold Glove defender for the second straight day on Wednesday, as they were forced to place catcher Patrick Bailey on the 10-day injured list with a neck strain and select fellow backstop Logan Porter from Triple-A Sacramento.
Bailey’s injury came one day after third baseman Matt Chapman was shelved with right hand inflammation, leaving the Giants without two of their defensive cornerstones for at least the next week.
Bailey was a late scratch from San Francisco’s lineup after experiencing neck spasms prior to Tuesday night’s 6-5 comeback win over the Rockies at Coors Field. The soreness didn’t show much improvement on Wednesday, prompting the Giants to bring up Porter to serve as the club’s second catcher behind Andrew Knizner.
“It’s really hard to not have a second catcher,” manager Bob Melvin said. “[Bailey] just didn’t get that much better today. We didn’t feel like in a position to try to push it tomorrow, so the prudent thing to do is IL him right now.
“As a catcher, obviously, you’ve got to be able to turn your head. … He just wasn’t responding well enough to where we felt like we would be comfortable playing him in a game.”
Bailey’s IL placement was backdated to Sunday, so he’s hoping he’ll be able to return as soon as he’s eligible on June 19. The setback is extra painful for the Giants considering Bailey finally appeared to be driving the ball better after batting only .185 with a .518 OPS and one home run over his first 56 games of the year.
“It’s definitely something I’m extremely frustrated about,” Bailey said. “Obviously, losing Chapman is huge. And I kind of felt like I was finally starting to take a step forward at the plate. I felt like I kind of started to help the ballclub a little more there. Obviously, we believe in the guys we have and I know they’re going to play hard and win games, but I’m definitely ready to get back out there and help the team.”
Sam Huff, who opened the year as Bailey’s backup before being designated for assignment last week, remains in the organization after being outrighted to Sacramento, but he’s been dealing with a back issue, which created an opening for Porter to return to the big leagues for the first time since 2023, when he batted .194 with a .647 OPS over 11 games with the Royals.
Porter, 29, joined the Giants on a Minor League deal over the offseason and caught the club’s entire pitching staff during Spring Training, so he said he feels comfortable stepping in and filling in for Bailey in the interim. A right-handed hitter, Porter was batting .237 with a .669 OPS and two home runs over 40 games at Sacramento, but he’s earned good reviews for his work behind the plate.
“He does a nice job,” Melvin said. “He moves around a little bit better than the normal catcher does. He runs the bases really well. We were impressed with how he caught our guys. He got enough time to where we felt pretty secure about him at any point in time bringing him up. Exciting that we’re able to bring a guy to the big leagues that at some point in time we might be able to use anyway.”
Knizner made his third straight start behind the plate on Wednesday, though Melvin said Porter will likely catch Hayden Birdsong in Thursday afternoon’s series finale at Coors. Infielder Osleivis Basabe was designated for assignment to clear a spot for Porter on the 40-man roster.