SF Giants catcher is flipping the script on his typical second half swoon

SF Giants catcher Patrick Bailey has had a pretty rough season on the whole offensively. However, he has been a lot better at the plate recently which flips the script on his usual second half swoon which he experienced in his first two seasons.

Bailey's offensive struggles in the second half were a large part of the narrative surrounding him in his first two big league seasons.

In 2023 when he was called up, Bailey slashed .293/.324/.493 with five homers and 26 runs batted in across 40 first half games. The second half saw him put up a slash line of .188/.256/.258 with two homers and 22 RBI in 57 games.

He bulked up prior to the 2024 season to try to ensure he did not wear down the way he did in his rookie season.

SF Giants catcher Patrick Bailey having a surprisingly solid second half

Unfortunately, the second half struggles continued in 2024. The first half saw him hit quite well, slashing .283/.354/.430 with seven homers and 31 runs batted in across 69 games. The second half saw another drop-off in production with him slashing a dismal .170/.217/.216 with one home run and 15 RBI.

Then, that rough second half seemed to carry over into 2025 for Bailey. In the first half this season he slashed .203/.267/.297 with two home runs and 26 runs batted in. In the second half he has flipped things around, slashing .251/.295/.369 with four home runs and 29 RBI. September has been his best month as he is slashing .308/.343/.538 with four homers and 16 runs batted in.

Add it all up and on the season he is slashing .224/.280/.329 this season which are all career-worsts. Still, despite the rough year offensively he has had some very memorable moments with a walk-off inside the park home run as well as a walk-off grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Even with all the ups and downs offensively, Bailey has remained one of the best defensive catchers in the game. The value he provides behind the plate more than makes up for his inconsistent offense even if that value may be somewhat limited next season due to the implementation of the ABS challenge system.

Still, it has been encouraging to see him turn things around in the second half this year especially in September. Perhaps he can carry over this success into the early part of 2026 and find a way to sustain it throughout the season.

More from Around the Foghorn: