PHILADELPHIA — A difficult situation for the Giants turned disastrous Saturday evening.
Already without their starting catcher, they lost their No. 2 backstop not long into the second game of their series against the Phillies.
Barely 24 hours after Patrick Bailey suffered a concussion, forcing him to the injured list before first pitch, his backup, Tom Murphy, was forced to exit in the second inning when he injured his left knee attempting to block a pitch in the dirt from reliever Mitch White.
Murphy said that he felt his knee “pop” and that the constant downpour that delayed the start of the game by 70 minutes and never let up played a “big time” role in the injury. The catcher was set to undergo imaging on Sunday, but for now, manager Bob Melvin said, “It feels like it’s significant.”
The only other catcher on the Giants’ roster, Blake Sabol, took over for Murphy. Only on hand to fill Bailey’s roster spot, Sabol arrived in Philadelphia from Sacramento at 5 a.m. and was able to sneak in a few hours of sleep before getting called into emergency duty later that evening.
After designating Joey Bart for assignment last month, the Giants have no other catchers on their 40-man roster. They will have to get someone to Philadelphia in time for Sunday’s game — mercifully not a matinee, with a 7:10 p.m. local start — likely Jakson Reetz, the only other catcher at Triple-A.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” Melvin said of the Giants’ options. “We’re definitely getting tested there.”
Reetz, signed as a minor-league free agent last June, was originally in Sacramento’s lineup Saturday night but was scratched before first pitch.