The San Francisco Giants are still searching for a backup catcher. That position just got a lot more open as they received more injury news concerning veteran backstop.
Tom Murphy went down with a back injury early in spring training. The right-handed hitter has a history of being hurt, so the Giants played it cautiously with his return to play. It was originally thought to just be back spasms, but further examination determined that it was a little bit worse than that.
Per Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required), Murphy has a mid-back disk herniation that required him to get an epidural injection to treat.
This epidural injection is just short-term fix to a long-term problem.
According to John Hopkins Medicine, patients who receive this injection should take it easy for the next day or two. However, it will take about a week for the pain to begin to ease. With that, the benefits of the injection can last up to a few months.
If Murphy does not rehab the herniated disk during those few months, the pain could easily come back and be just as bad as it is now. But the injection gives him a chance to play again soon, and possibly earn the backup role behind the plate.
In his absence, the Giants have two catchers fighting for Murphy’s job.
Max Stassi has not played at the MLB level since the 2022 season. He owns a career .212 batting average with an OPS under .700 in his 403 games played. The 33-year-old has a high strikeout rate and he does not hit for a lot of power.
Stassi’s best defensive quality is his ability to frame pitches. With the automated ball and strikes challenges, that skill is going to become obsolete. Still, there is defensive value to his game. He does have to be added to the 40-man roster in order to join the team at Oracle Park, though.
Sam Huff is the other catcher fighting for the spot. He is on the 40-man, so there is a better chance of him winning the battle this spring. Huff has played parts of four seasons with the Texas Rangers, and he hits the ball decently well.
In 78 career games, the 27-year-old has slashed .258/.313/.455 with 10 home runs, 20 RBI and a positive WAR. He also owns a high strikeout rate, but his home run percentage is well above the Major League average and he averages over 90mph exit velocity for his career. As a backup, he could have a valuable bat.
Huff is not as good defensively as Stassi, so there are some things he has to improve upon. But the backup battle is tight between two catchers.
San Francisco has also added a non-roster invitee to their camp with the injury news of Murphy.
As reported by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, the Giants have invited Adrian Sugastey to their spring training. He has been filling in for Murphy, so San Francisco is just making it official.
Giants added catching prospect Adrian Sugastey to camp as a non-roster invitee. He’s been coming over a lot from minor league camp since Tom Murphy got hurt since they were short on guys who could catch bullpens. The 22-year-old was in Double-A last year.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 24, 2025
Sugastey played the entire season in double-A after raking in high-A the previous year. The hitting success did not follow him to Richmond as he slashed just .210/.241/.304. That was by far the worst season of his professional career, but growing pains are expected. With that said, do not expect him to be anything other than a filler during the rest of spring training.
Murphy’s update puts more uncertainty into who the Giants will use as a backup to Patrick Bailey this season. Between Stassi and Huff, their options are limited. Barring any trades or other additions, San Francisco will have to roll with one of those two players.
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