SF Giants backup catcher will have delayed start in spring training due to injury

SF Giants backup catcher Tom Murphy will have a delayed start to game action after missing the past several workouts. Alex Pavlovic on NBC Sports Bay Area reports that Huff sustained a mild oblique strain, which could sideline him for up to 10 days.

SF Giants backup catcher will have delayed start in spring training due to injury

It is still very early in spring training. If Murphy is able to return by the end of February, he will have plenty of time to ramp up baseball activities, get live reps, and be ready to be Patrick Bailey's backup when the season begins.

With all that being said, this is not how the Giants or Murphy want to start spring training in the second season of his two-year, $8.25 million deal. This deal does include a team option for 2026.

Murphy was signed last winter to serve as Bailey's backup. He was a veteran catcher with a knack for hitting against left-handed pitching. In this sense, he seemed like a natural complement to the switch-hitting Bailey, especially since the Giants prefer to use Bailey from the left side.

The nine-year veteran has also been very injury prone and has never appeared in more than 97 games in his career. In a vacuum, backup catchers generally only appear in 40 - 60 games, so they are not necessarily needed to handle a heavy workload.

Murphy has spent considerable time on the injured list throughout his career. More recently, he has appeared on the 60-day injured list in three of the last five seasons. Unfortunately, the 2024 season was no different and well within the range of outcomes as he appeared in 13 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

The good news is that the 33-year-old only suffered a mild injury and could be back soon. The bad news is this adds to a long list of injuries and will not do anything to quell the concerns about whether he is even able to handle the workload to be a backup catcher.

Murphy is under contract this year and the Giants will likely not part ways with catching depth if it is not necessary. In the meantime, Sam Huff, Max Stassi, and Logan Porter will get reps behind the dish along with Bailey.