SF Giants Player Review 2026: Eric Haase got lost in a sea of backup catchers

Editor's note: As penance for forgetting a player review article yesterday, this is the second one for today. I sincerely hope that my oversight did not ruin anyone's day or cause the stock market to fluctuate too much.

The SF Giants traded away their initial starting catcher during the 2026 season and they also cycled through a number of other catchers since they sustained a number of injuries. Eric Haase was one of those options and it’s easy to forget that he factored into the mix during the middle of the season.

San Francisco signed the veteran to a minor league deal ahead of the season. He did pretty well in spring training but the Giants went with Daniel Susac as the backup since he was a Rule 5 Draft guy and they would’ve had to relinquish him had he not been on the roster the entire season.

He started the year in Triple-A Sacramento after the Giants were able to retain them and got called up to the big leagues in April after Susac got injured following his torrid start to the season.

Bailey ended up being traded on May 9 which meant more playing time for Haase and he did okay on the season as he hit .162/.235/.365 with four home runs and nine runs batted in across 74 at-bats. I actually saw one of those homers and four of those RBI as he hit a grand slam in Milwaukee against the Brewers, his old team.

That came in early June but about a month later on July 23 the Giants released Haase since he simply wasn’t producing and San Francisco had to make room on the roster for Susac’s return.

After his release, the Chicago White Sox scooped him up and he spent some time with their Triple-A affiliate before being released and then the Atlanta Braves signed him to a minor league deal.

Giants may need a veteran catcher or two in offseason

While Haase didn’t stick with the Giants, San Francisco might need some catchers like him next season since they currently only have inexperienced options like Susac, Drew Cavanaugh, and Jesus Rodriguez. Maybe they’d be comfortable rolling with that trio, but they should probably sign at least a couple insurance options to minor league deals.

The catcher picture is still somewhat up in the air for the Giants after the Bailey trade, so we may see them cycle through a number of guys before they land on somebody although the hope is clearly that Susac or Cavanaugh can hold down the fort. 

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