There are always a number of catchers in camp, to work out all the pitchers. There are 21 pitchers on the 40-man roster, and 8 more invited to camp. That’s why there are 3 catchers already on the 40-man, and 3 more in camp:
starter: Patrick Bailey, proving himself the king of ABS
also on 40-man: Jesus Rodriguez, Daniel Susac
invited to camp: Diego Cartaya, Eric Haase, Logan Porter
Let’s meet these guys!
Jesus Rodriguez (24 years old) is one of the four players obtained by trading Camilo Doval to the Yanks, and since they had already put him on their 40, he came over with that job security (the team also got Tristan Vrieling, Parks Harber, and Carlos De La Rosa). He is a good hitter, 0.309 in 6 minor league seasons. Although he was on the Yanks’ 40, he has never played at the MLB level, so we can look for his family in the Willie Mays Field seats to watch his debut. 3 games at 2B, 24 games in the OF, 57 games at 1B, 97 at 3B, 172 as catcher. He has played 2B several times this spring, and some DH, but not so much at catcher. The word on him is that his catching needs more work. With all his minor league options left, the Giants can go slow on him.
Daniel Susac (24 yo) is a different story. The Twins plucked him from the Sacramento Athletics organization in the R5 draft, and immediately traded him to the Giants (for a 17 year old catcher named Miguel Caraballo and some loot). Susac attended Arizona, got drafted by the Athletics 19th overall in 2022, playing at AAA last year, where he hit 0.275. He has hit 0.280 BA across all four minor league seasons, so you have to wonder why the A’s didn’t protect him. Their loss is our gain? Of course, he has to remain on the active roster all year. As you all know, Daniel is the brother of former Giants backup C Andrew.
Diego Cartaya (24 yo) is a minor league pickup, after the dodgers gave up on him. Baggs has a fun profile of Diego, who HATES the dodgers: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7043829/2026/02/13/giants-spring-training-diego-cartaya Cartaya has had some injuries, falling to low-A last season, where Kyle Haines liked what he saw, and is taking a flyer. He might be headed to Richmond for the regular season, just a guess.
Eric Haase (33 yo) figures to be the stiffest competition for Susac. Haase entered pro ball clear back in 2011, reaching the bigs in ’18 with the Guardians. He has been with Detroit and Milwaukee, too. MLB career batting average of 0.218 in 383 games. 57 of those have been in the OF, and in fact, the Giants had him in left on Saturday. Haase would definitely be the safe choice, but Susac offers (we can hope) a higher ceiling. Haase’s contract is minor league for now, with a $1.6M salary if he makes the team, and he has an opt-out if he doesn’t.
Logan Porter (30 yo) caught 4 times for the Giants last year, was waived off the roster and assigned to Sacramento. He remains on a minor league deal for ’26, and seems likely to spend the year there, as injury insurance.
hitting stats, including Sunday’s victory over the Cubs
• Bailey, 6G, 6-15 (0.400), 2 doubles, 2 RBI
• Rodriguez, 10G, 7-19 (0.368), 2 doubles, homer, 3 RBI
• Susac, 8G, 7-20 (0.350), 2 doubles, 1 RBI (5 whiffs)
• Haase, 11G, 5-21 (0.238), 2 homers, 5 RBI (11 whiffs)
• Porter, 3G, 0-4
• Cartaya has been in some games, but no ABs
610nm has noticed that Susac is getting more playing time behind the plate than Haase or Rodriguez, has the R5 problem hanging over him, and so he thinks he’ll be Bailey’s backup on Opening Day.
