Gold Glove Candidate: Patrick Bailey
Photo by: Santiago Mejia (The Chronicle)
Patrick Bailey has been the Giants' greatest surprise and the most valuable rookie of all the call-ups this year. At the start of the year, the Giants' opening day roster had three catchers: Joey Bart, Roberto Peréz, and Blake Sabol. Roberto Peréz was meant to be the veteran compliment to Joey Bart. Peréz landed on the injured list with a right rotator cuff strain during the Giants' home opener against the Kansas City Royals in April. Bart also failed to stay healthy through the first two months of the season, hitting the IL two times by mid-May. And Blake Sabol, the Rule 5 draft pick from the Pittsburgh Pirates, was still settling in behind the dish defensively. Enter Patrick Bailey.
Bailey has thrown out more than a few baserunners worth noting: Jorge Mateo, Elly De La Cruz, Jarren Duran, Whit Merrifield, and Fernando Tatis Jr., all of who are well above the league-average sprint speed and among the sprint speed leaders at their respective positions.
Pop-time, as defined by Statcast, is “the time it takes from the catcher receiving the pitch to the middle infielder catching the throw at second or third base”. As a rookie, his pop-time to both second and third base (1.87 and 1.50 seconds) is only second in the league to J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies (1.81 to second, 1.40 to third), who is a three-time All-Star and well-respected around the league in many respects (as of Friday, August 4th).
Not only is he one of the leaders in pop-time, but in catcher framing as well. He’s second in catcher framing runs and has the best strike rate bringing pitches back into the zone for the pitching staff.
Now that it’s the month of August and the playoff race and picture are coming into view, so are season awards. Patrick Bailey is absolutely worth consideration as a Gold Glove Candidate. How often has there been a back-pick to end the game? And he threw from his knees too.
The criteria for Gold Glove qualification for a catcher are as follows:
“A catcher must have played in at least half of his team’s games by his team’s 138th game (a minimum of 69 games).”
If Bailey plays in ten more games, he will meet the 69-game criteria, as he’s appeared in 59 games as a catcher since being called up on May 19th.
In addition, a couple of names stick out when talking about the history of rookie catchers winning a Gold Glove: Johnny Bench (1968) and Carlton Fisk (1972). The company is quite good for Bailey should he receive the award.
One thing that’s set in stone and guaranteed is that he’s already a fan favorite among Giants fans, who are used to being spoiled by the incredible defense and leadership behind the plate.
Photo by: Min Teng