NL Notes: Giants, Hendricks, Lewis

Giants manager Gabe Kapler recently discussed the club’s current catching situation following San Francisco’s signing of Gary Sanchez on a minor league deal, telling reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com) that the club views the Sanchez signing as “a good opportunity for us to add some depth on a guy that we feel like has a chance to make a contribution at the Major League level at some point.”

If Sanchez is going to contribute to the major league Giants this season, it will likely come before May 1, when he will have the opportunity to opt out of his deal with the club if he hasn’t already been added to the team’s active roster. Still, that outcome certainly seems to be within the realm of possibility. Though the Giants opened the season with three catchers on their roster, the Giants have previously indicated that their current catching situation may not stick deep into the season.

Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol’s positional versatility will hold less value when outfielders Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger are ready to return from the injured list. Meanwhile Joey Bart, who the Giants selected with the second overall pick of the 2018 draft, has struggled all throughout his MLB career to this point. He’s posted a wRC+ of just 84 in 133 big league games, with a whopping 38% strikeout rate. Kapler noted Bart could still be significant part of the club’s future in spite of his past struggles saying “it’s absolutely the best outcome” if the 26 year-old is able to establish himself as the Giants’ everyday catcher going forward. However, with Bart dealing with back tightness to open the season and the club’s fluid catching situation, it’s an open question whether or not he’ll be able to do that early in this season.

All that potentially opens the door for Sanchez, a bat-first catcher who Kapler notes has been improving on defense in recent years and could complement the glove-first Roberto Perez nicely in a potential catching tandem, should the Giants indeed shift to a roster that features only two catchers later this season.

More from around the National League…

• The Cubs are continuing to take Kyle Hendricks’s rehab slowly, as noted by Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Hendricks, who is suffering from a capsular tear in his throwing shoulder, threw a bullpen session on Friday, but will take a brief recovery period before his next two bullpen sessions. Following those sessions, Hendricks will advance to live batting practice. Hendricks was among the more effective starters in the game for the first seven seasons of his career, posting a 3.12 ERA and 3.53 FIP in 1,047 1/3 innings of work 2014-2020 while earning votes for the NL Cy Young award in both 2016 and 2020. Since the start of the 2021 season, however, Hendricks struggled to a 4.78 ERA (87 ERA+) in 265 1/3 innings before being shut down midway through the 2022 season. Fortunately for Chicago, the club has plenty of starting options even without Hendricks, with Adrian Sampson serving as depth behind the starting five of Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Drew Smyly, and rookie Hayden Wesneski.
• Diamondbacks slugger Kyle Lewis is feeling good as he attempts to compete in a full 162 game season for the first time in his career. Lewis, the AL Rookie of the Year during the shortened 2020 season, has struggled badly with injuries (including a torn meniscus and a concussion) in each of the past two seasons, prompting his trade to the Diamondbacks from the Mariners. Arizona has planned to use Lewis carefully to open the season, opting to play him at DH against left-handed starters and as a pinch-hitter rather than use him everyday or give him reps in the outfield. That said, Lewis is hoping for an expanded role in the near future. The slugger told reporters, including Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, that he should be able to play “almost every day”, should the club want him to. Lewis is currently competing for at-bats in the Dbacks outfield with Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.