San Francisco Giants Positional Preview: Catcher

As Spring Training approaches, we’ll talk a look at the San Francisco Giants depth at every position. First up is catcher.

The San Francisco Giants are pretty well set at the catcher position, with their leader and former Most Valuable Player Buster Posey entering camp for the sixth straight season as the starting backstop, and his job is in absolutely no jeopardy. Posey is coming off another fine season in 2015, slashing .318/.379/.470 with 28 doubles, 19 home runs, 95 runs batted in, and more walks (56) than strikeouts (52). He was one of the few Giants that was able to avoid the ravaging, rampaging injury pandemic that the team suffered through last season, setting career highs with 150 games played and 623 plate appearances. That’s one of the main reasons the Giants stayed afloat in the division as long as they did, despite having enough injured players to fill their own hospital wing.

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With Hector Sanchez now with the Chicago White Sox, Andrew Susac has a clear path to be Posey’s backup come opening day. Susac took a step back offensively in 2015, as his season was stopped, started, and then stopped again by a persisting thumb injury. Even still, he provided an offensive spark at times when the lineup was stagnant, and received a good amount of playing time when an injury to Brandon Belt forced Posey to move to first base on a more regular basis. With a full offseason to get healthy and a full Spring to get back into game shape, Susac could take another step forward in 2016.

Injuries to Sanchez and Susac, plus a concussion for Belt that moved Posey to first opened the door for Trevor Brown to make his major league debut in mid-September, and he quickly endeared himself to the pitching staff as a very good receiver. Brown is likely the third-string catcher to start the season and thus will start the 2016 season in Triple-A with the Sacramento River Cats. Should anything happen to either of the top two catchers, Brown would be the first player to be called up in their stead. The pitching staff would be in good hands, but offensively, the team would be lacking.

George Kottaras, 32 years old, and Miguel Olivo, 37 years old, are both veteran catchers with a lot of big league experience and both received Spring Training invites this offseason. Neither should serve as much more than organizational depth. If either is called up to the major leagues this season by the Giants, there are likely big issues, and we should all be worried.

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The other three non-roster catchers the Giants will have in camp are Aramis Garcia, Matt Winn, and Ty Ross. All three are likely not far along enough in their professional career to help the Giants in 2016. Garcia is one of the top catcher prospects in baseball, and has a great bat and a great arm. His overall defense needs polishing, but he has plenty of time to do that, as he just turned 23 years old and has yet to play above High-A ball after being drafted in the second round in 2014.

Ross was a 12th-round pick in 2013, and will be entering his second consecutive big league camp with the Giants. He’s a good receiver but needs some work offensively, and hasn’t played above Low-A ball. Winn was a 14th-round pick last season, and played 36 games between Rookie League and Single-A Augusta. At this point, both are camp bodies to fill out the catching staff, and this experience of working with big league catchers, pitchers, and coaches will be great learning for them.

Next: Conor Gillaspie Could Change Look of Giants' Roster

As long as Posey is strapping on the gear, the Giants will be in good standing at the catcher position. They have a way of churning out good prospects, and there will be more coming out soon.

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