It appears as if the Patrick Bailey trade had some negative effects on the Giants

While the SF Giants’ decision to trade away catcher Patrick Bailey looks like a pretty good move on the surface given his offensive struggles have continued with the Cleveland Guardians, that doesn’t mean the Giants are completely better without Bailey.

It seems the pitching staff has really suffered since the Bailey trade. How much that actually has to do with Bailey is debatable, but Henry Schulman noted the marked difference in pitching stats before and after the Bailey trade on social media.

“I had no issue with the Patrick Bailey trade, for the short or long term. But I feel it affected the pitching staff, that are baked into these numbers (as well as many other issues). 

PRE-TRADE: 3.91 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 2.17 K/BB

POST-TRADE: 5.47 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 1.79 K/BB.”

Schulman followed that post up by writing: “Seems the biggest difference is not Bailey's pitch-framing, but with in-game adjustments that pitchers make at the suggestions/urging of familiar catchers. This could improve the longer the staff works with Susac and Haase.”

It’s a good point from Schulman. It was fair to expect a bit of a drop-off in pitching after Bailey’s departure especially since the Giants were seemingly handing the keys to two rookie catchers in Daniel Susac and Jesus Rodriguez. Since then, Rodriguez was sent back down to Triple-A as he was clearly not a reliable option behind the plate with his shaky defense.

But it’s important to note the fact that sometimes teams are reluctant to trade catchers, especially midseason, because the pitching staff has comfort and familiarity with that guy.

Bailey knew the tendencies of a lot of the pitchers on San Francisco’s staff and he had an innate sense of when they needed a breather or when they needed a pep talk. Susac doesn’t quite have that feel for the intricacies of the position yet. It could certainly come in time but the short-term consequence may be some struggles from the pitching staff.

Pitching struggles could also have to do with the staff rather than Bailey's impact

Of course, a counterpoint could be the fact that Landen Roupp said he’s pitched through back troubles, Robbie Ray has been struggling as of late, and Logan Webb has barely pitched since the Bailey trade because he was on the IL. Oh yeah, and Tyler Mahle has been pretty dreadful. That could account for the pitching woes as well.

It's also important to note that the bullpen may have exceeded expectations the first month or so of the season and now things are starting to catch up with them especially since the obvious lack of a closer has bitten the team multiple times.

So the pitching struggles probably aren't all due to Bailey’s departure, but losing such an experienced catcher who knows what he’s doing behind the plate doesn’t help. Bailey was far from perfect behind the plate as his pitch selection came into question and the pitch-framing metrics may have covered up his blocking abilities and his ability to simply hold onto the ball at times, but Schulman makes a good point that his absence may be affecting the pitching staff more than many thought it would.

That doesn’t mean the Giants made a bad trade, especially since Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, the prospect the Giants got for Bailey, is quickly progressing through the minors. It may just mean there will be an adjustment period as Susac gains more experience behind the plate.

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