Latest Giants stats shows Guardians may have fleeced San Fran in Patrick Bailey deal

A month ago, the Cleveland Guardians jump-started the trade market by trading for catcher Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants. 

While it seemed like a bit of a head-scratcher at face value given Bailey doesn’t provide much at the plate, the one thing that clearly stood out about Bailey’s game was just how good he is behind the plate. 

Not only has that been clear in his time in Cleveland thanks to pitchers posting 3.79 ERA in the 12 games he’s caught (7-5 record), but it’s also been clear in how things have gone for the Giants since they traded Bailey. 

The Giants have played in 25 games since trading away Bailey and have posted a 5.62 ERA (second-worst in baseball) with a 4.61 FIP and 1.73 K/BB. Those stats are a far cry from the 3.91 ERA, 4.11 FIP and 2.17 K/BB they had prior to trading Bailey. 

The Giants’ fall off shows how valuable Patrick Bailey is 

Even though the Guardians catching tandem of Bailey and Austin Hedges leaves a lot to be desired at the plate, they make up for that with the value they provide on defense. 

Guardians pitchers have posted a 3.28 ERA in the time since they acquired Bailey along with a 26.2% strikeout rate (second in MLB) and a 3.34 FIP. Bailey and Hedges have helped Cleveland’s already-solid pitching staff reach a new level. 

In those 12 games, Bailey has a .143/.184/.343 slashline with one home run, four RBI, one double and one triple. He hasn’t been setting the world on fire, but that’s not that far off from the .143/.200/.238 slashline that Bo Naylor posted prior to getting demoted to make room for Bailey. 

The acquisition of Bailey also set the Guardians up in the long-term thanks to him still having three years of team control remaining via arbitration. 

For the past three years they’ve signed Hedges to one year deals so he could serve as a defensive-minded backup. 

But their trade for Bailey means he can take over that role while serving as a mentor for the offensive-minded Cooper Ingle, who is tearing it up at Triple-A. 

Now, it’s important to note the Giants have suffered some key pitching injuries since trading away Bailey, so those increases in stats aren’t purely due to their catching changes.

But it’s also easy to see why things could have taken a step back for them thanks to their current catching tandem consisting of Rule 5 pick Daniel Susac and old friend Eric Haase. 

Although there’s still a chance the Giants could end up winning the trade thanks to Matt ‘Tugboat’ Wilkinson and the competitive balance pick in the upcoming draft, the early returns from Bailey have made the trade look like a clear win for Cleveland.

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