Daniel Susac catches a pitch as the Giants played the Washington Nationals at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle
Jesus Rodriguez winds up for a throw from behind the plate in the minor leagues during the 2025 season.
Ralph Thompson Photo/Ralph Thompson
While questions abound about many aspects of the San Francisco Giants next year, Buster Posey has put the team in good stead behind the plate as best he can from the front office.
Even with two of San Francisco’s three rookie catchers on the injured list — Jesús Rodríguez has elbow neuritis as Daniel Susac deals with a likely season-ending knee fracture — those two plus Drew Cavanaugh have provided the team with evidence they can handle the job. The Giants had chosen to go with all three of their rookies, only adding journeyman Andrew Knizner after Susac blasted a foul ball off his left knee.
“It’s the hardest position to find guys you trust,” manager Tony Vitello said. “It’s the hardest position to play, day in and day out, as we’ve seen with the wear and tear. Buster was as good at that as anybody. And then you’ve got to have some ability, too. I think those guys aren’t short in any area you need a guy to be good at.”
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Susac, 25, has been successful after coming in as a Rule 5 selection from the A’s organization. He has hit a playable .243/.289/.375 in 161 plate appearances but his defensive metrics are particularly strong, with a plus-8 defensive runs saved (DRS) — better than elite receiver Patrick Bailey, dealt to Cleveland in May in part because of Susac’s emergence. Bailey has plus-6 DRS, plus-4 for framing, per FanGraphs. Susac’s at plus-6 for framing.
Rodríguez, 24, was acquired in the Camilo Doval deal with the Yankees last year. While his catching skills need polish, he can play multiple positions, including second base. He profiles as a strong utility player with good contact skills and a little power, but he needs more time behind the plate to be more than an occasional fill-in.
Cavanaugh, 24, has raced through the Giants’ system despite not being at big-league camp in spring training. With Susac out, he’s the team’s primary catcher, invaluable experience for a player with just 55 games, total, at Triple-A Sacramento. After 24 MLB starts, it’s too early to judge his performance behind the plate.
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Giants catcher Drew Cavanaugh near home plate as the visiting Brewers scored during a game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
He’s the only one of the three Posey isn’t responsible for acquiring; Cavanaugh was drafted in 2023 in the 17th round. He was never a top prospect, but he blossomed this year, batting .311 with a .999 OPS and nine homers in 54 games split between Double-A Richmond and Sacramento.
“He’s solid defensively and he gives himself a better than average chance to hit,” one NL scout observed.
Finding an everyday catcher is tough. Developing one is the best approach because most teams won’t part with one who’s good on both sides of the ball. The Giants drafted two in the first round, Joey Bart (2018) and Bailey (2019). Both are gone, because they weren’t producing offensively. Acquiring Rodríguez and Susac rate among Posey’s best moves as an executive, and all three rookies are showing better promise offensively than Bailey or Bart have delivered this season.
They’ve also gained the trust of the pitchers quickly. Cavanaugh was called up June 26. After working with him just once, Robbie Ray allowed him to start calling his games. Logan Webb, who on occasion calls his entire game himself, is on board with both Susac and Cavanaugh calling pitches. Ray said he found Cavanaugh particularly good at reading batters’ swings and adjusting pitch calls as a result. Webb said he is impressed with the preparation all three do, especially with scouting reports.
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“It’s a learning curve, but they’re doing their best to shorten it,” Webb said. “I’m a little more difficult to work with than maybe some other guys with how I want to pitch and how I like to do things and they’ve done a really good job building that relationship.”
Health is a key factor. Susac has been on the IL three times this year, and the NL scout said he now wonders about his durability. Adapting to MLB’s game of adjustments will also be critical, but none of the three appears overwhelmed.
“There’s a reason all three of them are here,” Ray said. “They’re all really good. And the more reps they get, the more swings they take, the better they’ll be.”
Catching coach Alex Burg comes in for a lot of praise for the way the three have come along.
“Defensively was the biggest place I made strides at this year, that’s a credit to Alex Burg,” said Susac, who called Burg the best coach he’s ever had. “He’s really made me so much better as a defender and as a person.”
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Burg, 39, played eight seasons in the minors (three in the Giants’ system), primarily as a catcher, and was the team’s bullpen catcher in 2022-23. This year, he has his hands full.
Giants catcher Daniel Susac walks back to the dugout during a game against the Athletics at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
“It’s a lot of fun, because you have three rookies who are trying to carve out their niche in the big leagues and each one has a different skill set,” Burg said. “Every day, we’re doing something different for each guy for their needs.”
Cavanaugh, for instance, has a good throwing arm — he said Burg has given him tips that have made his throws to second faster — and he is an excellent blocker, so working on his receiving and framing skills has been emphasized.
“But the aptitude, he makes changes so quickly and takes them right into the game,” Burg said. “A lot of these things that you would see take weeks to be implemented in a game, he’s doing it that night, that’s why you’ve seen him get so much better in a tiny window.”
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Cavanaugh said he’s had to adjust as much to big-league hitters as Giants pitchers, in part so he can better work with MLB’s ABS system.
“I feel like I have a decent feel for the zone, but it’s different with guys being certain heights and having to figure out which pitches to challenge, which pitches not to challenge, based on how tall a guy is,” Cavanaugh said.
Rodríguez has needed more work on throwing to second, but that’s coming along as he has learned not to rush. He’s spending his time on the IL focused on following what the other catchers are doing, especially calling pitches.
“We always talk about stuff,” Rodríguez said, “We’re always picking each other up, like, ‘Hey, you did this, try to do that.’ We are all rookies, we need a lot of help, so we help each other, too, and it feels like it’s paying off.”
All three catchers, Burg said, “are extremely intelligent individuals, which helps a lot when it comes to the game plans. No one has any trouble remembering the game plan, and none of them really play like rookies. They never look scared. They never look like the moment is too big.”
All three talk about the ups and downs of the season and learning on the fly. In that, they’re all like their rookie manager.
“I do get a lot of enjoyment and also a lot of excitement out of those three catchers,” Vitello said. “They just seem to be getting more and more mature in a bunch of different situations.”