Latest SF Giants call-up is bad news for player acquired in Camilo Doval trade

The SF Giants reportedly plan to call up catcher Drew Cavanaugh from Triple-A after Daniel Susac had to be removed due to a back injury during Thursday’s game per Andrew Baggarly. This call-up is bad news for Jesus Rodriguez who was acquired in the Camilo Doval trade last year.

When the Giants got Rodriguez last season, many thought there was a good chance he would be Patrick Bailey’s backup at catcher for the 2026 season. Oh, how things can change.

Bailey is now with the Cleveland Guardians and Rodriguez has seemingly been passed on the depth chart by Cavanaugh. It’s not a huge shock given what we saw from Rodriguez when he was called up to the big leagues earlier this season.

The 24-year-old hit .231/.302/.385 with two home runs and seven runs batted in during his time with the Giants. He definitely showed promise at the plate and even had a walk-off hit, but he did not hit well enough for the team to overlook the fact that he was clearly deficient defensively.

Rodriguez has a long way to go defensively

Behind the plate he made a number of errant throws when trying to throw runners out and when the Giants stuck him in the corner outfield spots he wasn’t exactly exceptional out there either.

He’s a unique player in that he plays catcher, second base, left field, and right field but at least from what we’ve seen so far in his young career he doesn’t play any position all that well.

That may change with time but the reason the Giants were high on him was not because of his glove, but because of his bat. He fits the high-contact mold the front office has prioritized under Buster Posey and put up some really strong numbers in the minors when he was with the New York Yankees.

He was hitting really well in Triple-A Sacramento which is why he got called up to the big leagues at the same time as Bryce Eldridge in early May, but ever since Rodriguez got sent back down his numbers haven’t quite been the same in the minors.

For the month of June he’s hitting .193/.269/.298 with one homer and eight runs batted in. He’s going to have to get hot if he wants to get called up again at some point this season.

Cavanaugh has swung a very hot bat in the minors this season. The 24-year-old has hit .311/.449/.550 with nine homers and 34 runs batted in across his time with both Double-A and Triple-A so he’s certainly earned his call-up.

Rodriguez is not completely out of the picture now, but he’s going to have to do some work if he wants to be a part of the Giants going forward.

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