Patrick Bailey trade just opened door for former Guardian to shine with Giants

Last week the Guardians and Giants sent ripples throughout MLB by linking up for a trade that sent Patrick Bailey to Cleveland in exchange for a draft pick and Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson. 

And one of those ripples involved former Guardians catcher Eric Haase, who has been thrust into a bigger role with the Giants thanks to Bailey’s departure. 

And Bailey answered the call emphatically on Tuesday with a two-homer game against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in San Francisco’s 6-2 win over the Dodgers. 

That’s right: It took Haase all of one game with the Giants to double the homer total he had during his 22 games with the Guardians. 

Haase’s powerful game may be the most surprising thing to happen this year considering Haase needed 30 games to hit two home runs last year with the Brewers and was batting in the No. 9 hole against the reigning World Series MVP. 

But he ended up becoming the first MLB player to record a multihomer game against Yamamoto along with becoming the first Giants catcher to have a multihomer game at Dodger Stadium. 

Eric Haase made an empahtic statement with first multihomer game for Giants

Haase’s first homer came on a 93 mile per hour cutter Yamamoto left over the plate before following that up with a 384-foot blast that came on a fastball over the plate. 

“Just trying to be on time,” Haase said after the game. “It sounds really simple, but with a guy’s heater like that, the first good-looking one I’m trying to put forward. Fortunately, I got some good ones over the plate.”

Although the Giants had recalled Haase at the end of April when Bailey was still on the roster, he’s become even more important on the Giants’ roster now that Bailey is in Northeast Ohio. 

The Giants’ current catching situation consists of Haase and rookie Jesus Rodriguez, though Rule 5 pick Danie Susac is close to returning from the injured list after he was sidelined with a right elbow injury. 

That said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Giants keep Haase on the roster after Susac returns, as Rodriguez can play first base and third base, so he isn’t a “true” backup catcher in the same way that Haase is. 

Cleveland selected Haase in the seventh round of the 2011 MLB Draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2018. He ended up appearing in 22 games with the Guardians across the 2018, ‘19 and ‘23 seasons and hit just .119 with one home run. 

A good chunk of Haase’s MLB experience came across his four-year stint with the Tigers where he tallied a 22-homer season in 2021. He also saw time with the Brewers in each of the past two seasons. 

But it seems like he may have found a new home in the Bay Area, and he has the Guardians to thank for it.

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