SF Giants add veteran minor league catcher to roster in flurry of moves

The SF Giants tweaked the roster on Sunday, selecting the contract of veteran minor league catcher Jakson Reetz. In a corresponding roster move, reliever Mitch White was designated for assignment, per the team's transaction log.

SF Giants add veteran minor league catcher to roster in flurry of moves

Tom Murphy landed on the injured list with a left knee sprain and Daulton Jefferies was recalled as well. Both Murphy and Patrick Bailey are on the injured list for the Giants, so the catching depth has run extremely thin.

For the time being, Blake Sabol will handle a majority of the workload with Reetz filling in as a backup. It does sound like Murphy might have an extended absence, so Sabol could get a long look with the club if that is the case.

Reetz was originally a third-round pick in 2014 by the Washington Nationals out of Norris High School in Firth, Nebraska. His only other stint in the majors came with the Nationals in 2021 where he recorded the first hit of his career. That came against the Giants. On Sunday, he clubbed his first career home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 5-4 loss.

The righty bat has appeared in parts of 10 seasons in the minors and tallied 2,642 plate appearances during that time. That home run must have felt good.

Reetz took White's spot on the roster. The Giants acquired the reliever in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of last month. That experiment did not go well as he yielded at least one earned run in each of his three appearances with San Francisco. Overall, he allowed seven earned runs in 5.1 frames in a Giants uniform. There is a chance that White remains with the organization if he clears waivers.

The last move was recalling Daulton Jefferies. Jefferies made a spot start against the Boston Red Sox earlier this week. He struggled through 2.2 innings, allowing four earned runs in a 6-2 loss to Boston.

The Giants bullpen was asked to cover nearly the entire game in Saturday's 13-4 loss to the Phillies. Jefferies was likely added to cover innings in case the Giants got another short outing from their starter on Sunday. That did not come to fruition and there is a possibility that his roster spot is used to make room for Mason Black on Monday.