Organizational catching depth has quickly run bare for the SF Giants

The SF Giants placed Patrick Bailey to the injured list earlier this week with a neck strain. The move stretched organizational catching depth even thinner while they scramble to fill spots on the minor league rosters.

Organizational catching depth has quickly run bare for the SF Giants

At the end of last month, the Giants had a lot of catching options in the upper minors. Max Stassi, Logan Porter, and Anrew Knizner were among the backstops Triple-A.

Bailey was the Giants' primary catcher, followed by Sam Huff as the backup. Things have quickly changed. I suppose it is a sign of good planning by the front office that they did not need to look externally for a catcher once Bailey went down. Knizner took over for Huff, and Porter slid right into Bailey's spot on the roster.

With Bailey out, Knizner does look to be the primary receiver behind the plate. He does have a good bit of experience, appearing in each of the past seven seasons. On the other hand, Porter has been used as a multi-positional catcher in the minors.

These moves run much of the rest of the organization dry. Oddly enough, the Richmond Flying Squirrels have a pretty solid duo with Adrián Sugastey and Onil Perez. Perez was promoted to Double-A earlier this week after posting an .861 OPS in 127 plate appearances with the Eugene Emeralds.

This is where things begin to get tricky. Huff cleared waivers but is dealing with a back ailment, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Max Stassi spent time on the injured list in May. He returned in the second half of May, but has since been placed back on the injured list.

The Giants have shuttled Fernando Gonzalez and Drew Cavanaugh between San Jose and Sacramento this season. Gonzalez is now on the injured list. Impressively, Cavanaugh has appeared with San Jose, Eugene, and Sacramento within the past 10 days. That has not happened often.

For now, Cavanuagh is sharing catching duties with Zach Morgan. Luke Shliger is the team's primary catcher in Eugene, followed by lightly-used backstop Jack Payton. Lastly, Juan Perez is serving as the team's primary catcher in San Jose.

The Giants are really stretched thin at catcher right now. It is a good thing they have had enough depth to weather this lean patch. Otherwise, they would be calling other teams about minor league catchers for the second year in a row.