SF Giants recall top infield prospect, place Patrick Bailey back on the concussion list

The injury woes for the SF Giants continued on Tuesday with Patrick Bailey landing back on the concussion list. Top infield prospect Marco Luciano was recalled in a corresponding move according to the team's transaction log.

SF Giants recall top infield prospect, place Patrick Bailey back on the concussion list

This is an unfortunate turn of events for the young catcher. Bailey had just returned from the concussion list over the weekend, but he was a late scratch on Sunday after what was thought to be an unrelated illness. However, it appears that this was a lingering effect of the concussion he sustained at the beginning of the month.

Concussions can be scary, so the Giants do need to treat this carefully. Baseball is secondary to just getting Bailey back to normal.

When he was healthy, the switch-hitter was off to a solid start, slashing .280/.340/.451 (126 wRC+) with three home runs, 11 RBI, and 10 runs in 95 plate appearances. This includes a 9.5 percent walk rate, 21.1 percent strikeout rate, and a .171 ISO.

In the early going, it looked like Bailey's bat had taken the next step in his development. Last season, his defense was excellent, but his bat faded late in the year after setting a career-high in games played at 125 split between the majors and minors.

For the time being, Blake Sabol will handle the majority of the games behind the plate with Curt Casali getting into the mix. Sabol is still relatively new to being a catcher, so there will be some growing pains that come with this.

On the other side of the transaction, top infield prospect Marco Luciano was recalled. The Giants began the year with Nick Ahmed as the starting shortstop but he landed on the injured list with a wrist sprain earlier this month. Ahmed provided solid defense at shortstop and the Giants were hoping that his presence on the roster would give Luciano more time to develop in Triple-A.

Luciano registered a .266/.399/.344 line (97 wRC+) with one home run, 20 RBI, and 20 runs in 158 plate appearances this season with the Sacramento River Cats. He showed improved control of the strike zone with an 18.4 percent walk rate but was not hitting for any power. Plus, the infield prospect had committed seven errors at shortstop. His year in Triple-A was a mixed bag

His role with the club is unknown at this point. Casey Schmitt started Tuesday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers before Luciano was recalled. That said, it would not be too surprising to see Luciano see the bulk of the playing time at shortstop now that he is back on the roster.