the sixth Giants player<\/a> to break into the Majors. That includes Susac (April 2) and Jesus Rodriguez, who debuted May 4 as he came up the same day as Bryce Eldridge and Trevor McDonald.<\/p>\nMcDonald was Friday\u2019s starting pitcher, just as he was May 4 in a win over the Padres. Cavanaugh said he caught him multiple times last season at Triple-A Sacramento.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got good vibes to him, for sure,\u201d Giants manager Tony Vitello said. \u201cThose guys (in the organization) are really happy with how he\u2019s come along as a catcher. One thing that\u2019s always scrutinized or complimented is how you manage a game back there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reminder: the Giants\u2019 president of baseball operations is former catcher and three-time World Series champion Buster Posey.<\/p>\n
Vitello said his recruiting days at Tennessee taught him how to quickly size up a player\u2019s presence, and Cavanaugh made a positive first impression Friday as \u201ceasy\u201d conversations traveled from Vitello\u2019s office to Cavanaugh\u2019s locker to the weight room.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you can imagine, he\u2019s excited to go, and he spurred on a good conversation in the hitters\u2019 meeting about call-up stories,\u201d Vitello said.<\/p>\n
Cavanaugh, 24, just finished stretching before the River Cats\u2019 game Thursday night when manager Dave Brundage relayed that \u201cThe Show\u201d was calling. So Cavanaugh caught a ride in a luxury SUV, checked into a hotel near the Giants\u2019 ballpark, wrestled a bit to fall asleep, then started boning up on his first opponent, the NL East-leading Braves.<\/p>\n
A 17th-round draft pick in 2023 out of Division II Florida Southern, Cavanaugh had stints at Single-A San Jose each of the past three years, though he jumped up to Triple-A in 2024, and he\u2019s split time this season in Sacramento (32 games, .330 batting average, six home runs) and Double-A Richmond (22 games, .279 average, three home runs) with a .999 OPS<\/p>\n
Cavanaugh, a native of Troy, Michigan, said his parents were flying in Friday night via Florida, along with two of his brothers. He transferred to IMG Academy for his senior year of high school, then went to Eastern Florida State College before excelling at Florida Southern in 2023.<\/p>\n
Reunited with former minor-league teammates Eldridge and Jonah Cox, Cavanaugh said his immediate duties are to build \u201ctrust\u201d with the pitching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has good presence. I like different personalities, different backgrounds,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s welcome around here as long as you\u2019re all for the team. We do have a good group of guys in that category.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to having kids on recruiting visits and you practice at sizing them up. I don\u2019t know how good you can get at that, no one\u2019s 100% accurate, but you get pretty quick to sizing somebody up with a meeting or how they answer a question,\u201d Vitello added. \u201cHe seems like a show-me-what-to-do guy and \u2018I\u2019ll do it as best I can.\u2019 Good smile on his face. He\u2019s an easy conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Giants\u2019 previous starting catchers this season: Susac (28), Patrick Bailey (27, before his May trade to Cleveland), Haase (17) and Rodriguez (8)<\/p>\n
OUTFIELD SHIFT<\/p>\n
With Cavanaugh inserted to the No. 8 spot in the lineup, Vitello shuffled his outfield a bit, sliding Jung Hoo Lee to center, Victor Bericoto to right and Casey Schmitt back in left.<\/p>\n
Schmitt played second base the previous two games in place of Luis Arraez, who returned from a foot injury and did so in the leadoff spot. Bericoto homered each of the previous two games.<\/p>\n
Lee entered with a .332 batting average that ranked second in the Majors behind Miami\u2019s Otto Lopez (.340). \u201cJung Hoo has made incredible catches in that (right-field) corner this year, but he\u2019s also made some in right-center and center,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cI\u2019m not so sure he\u2019s not our most well-rounded outfielder at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heliot Ramos, out since May 16 with a quadriceps strain, is expected to rejoin the Giants this weekend and be activated by Monday. Where he plays is a mystery. \u201cWhen guys hit the ball out of the park like Bryce and Bericoto have, it presents a good problem, where you\u2019re trying to arrange guys,\u201d Vitello said.<\/p>\n
MLB DEBUT LIST<\/p>\n
Here are which other Giants made Major League debuts this season:<\/p>\n
C Susac, April 2<\/p>\n
C Rodriguez, May 4<\/p>\n
OF Bericoto, May 22<\/p>\n
OF Jonah Cox, May 31<\/p>\n
P Wilkin Ramos, June 1; Ramos was designated for assignment before Friday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
PRIDE NIGHT FALLOUT<\/p>\n
Two weeks after the Giants\u2019 Pride Night controversy in which three players wrote Bible verses on their theme-night caps, the Giants are still attempting to calm the polarizing waters. Giants CEO Larry Baer<\/a> went on flagship radio station KNBR 680-AM on Thursday and he sent a letter to fans who wrote in with complaints.<\/p>\nThat letter, as posted on social media by San Francisco Standard\u2019s John Shea, includes Baer defending the Giants\u2019 history supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Baer, in part, wrote: \u201cOver the past two weeks, we have learned a great deal and recognize there were things that we could have handled better. We have already begun conversations with members of the LGBTQ+ community and are committed to learning from this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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