The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent catcher Jakson Reetz, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Warner Sports Management client recently opted out of a minor league deal with the Royals after playing well for their Triple-A affiliate but not getting a call to the big leagues.
In 106 plate appearances with Triple-A Omaha this season, Reetz hit .274/.349/.526 with four homers and a dozen doubles. His 8.5% walk rate was solid, but Reetz’s 32.1% strikeout rate is obviously a number he’d prefer to curtail moving forward with his new organization.
Reetz, 27, has had the briefest of big league experience, tallying two plate appearances with the 2021 Nationals and going 1-for-2 with a double. The 2014 third-round pick is a career .242/.316/.480 hitter with 14 homers, 20 doubles and a triple in 304 Triple-A plate appearances, and he was long considered one of the 30 best prospects in Washington’s system over at Baseball America.
Defensively, Reetz has a solid reputation. BA’s scouting reports on him praised his receiving and blocking skills alike. Baseball Prospectus has credited him with average or better framing marks dating back to his 2018 season in High-A. He also touts a 30% caught-stealing mark in his minor league career, which would be well above league-average. (He’s a more pedestrian 5-of-29 so far in 2023 — a 17% success rate.)
The Giants are giving 2020 first-round pick Patrick Bailey a chance to cement himself behind the dish in San Francisco, and so far he’s run with the opportunity. In his first 111 plate appearances, Bailey is hitting .320/.349/.534 with four homers, eight doubles and a triple. A BABIP just over .400 points to some eventual regression, but the early results are encouraging.
Behind Bailey, the Giants have been using Rule 5 catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol as the primary backup. San Francisco also has former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart on the 40-man roster down in Triple-A, and journeyman Jacob Nottingham is also with the team’s Triple-A club in Sacramento (though not on the organization’s 40-man roster). Reetz will give them some additional depth behind the plate, and he also saw 160 innings in left field while in the Brewers’ system a year ago.
I hope he is like Dick Dietz.
Or Ken Reitz
Or Gavin Sheetz
I smell a Joey Bart trade coming soon…
Hopefully we get some value in return. Mets may be dumping players and Giants should take advantage at the deadline.
Hopefully Bart doesn’t get traded. Bart and Bailey are both good players, could be a great catching tandem, for years to come
You got no reetz to complain
Another Zaidi dumpster dive, a backup for Bart and Nottingham, and 32.1% K rate. Maybe adding Reetz is just a Zaidi smokescreen for an upcoming Bart trade.
Lol. Yeah. What is it now ? His third one this year ?
Dumpster dive is you going out for lunch with your mom.
Makes no sense… Bailey is our catcher for the next ten years and this guy isn’t up to being a bullpen catcher..
minor league teams always need catching depth. I don’t think anyone is anticipating this guy to jump up the depth chart any time soon.
He must have missed the minor league deal part.
Lol! ‘Our catcher for the next 10 years’… He hasn’t even played a dozen games yet. Bart might still be our catcher for the next 10 years. Schmitt was good his first 10 games too. Now look at him, a backup scrub
I doubt Joey barrt has much value unless it’s for an equally disappointing high draft pick prospect. Change of scenery type deal
Agreed. His ops is sub 600 in AAA after getting sent down. Hard to imagine a quality major league starting pitcher coming back unless he is just a toss in with some much better pieces going the other way.
He’s been demoralized, that’s obvious. Farhan and Kapler have been subtly sabotaging the most prominent draft pick from the last regime, for awhile now. Given a change of scenery, he’ll likely blossom into an All Star
Bar has light tower power, has cut his strikeout rate in half from last year and was consistently hitting over .300, before getting hurt and slumping. He has a ton of value and other front offices know that
Perhaps Sabol will be PRIMARILY used in LF, due to the various injuries to outfielders, and Bart will be called back up to split time as Bailey’s back up.
Sabol has shown some improvement behind the plate. I think the Giants do everything they can for him to stick back there – as his value tanks if he becomes strictly an outfielder.
Please no leave him to struggle in the minors. He’s awful at the plate.
Bart has light tower power, has cut his strikeout rate in half from last year and was hitting over.300 consistently, before getting hurt and slumping. The dude can hit. Sabol is not a catcher. He’s an ok outfielder/DH, but a horrible defensive catcher
With Bart and Genoves, Reetz makes 3. They don’t need 3 catchers in Sacramento, so…..
FullMontilla — Bart will be gone by the trading deadline. Reetz is a solid defender and is a depth piece.
Bailey has only played 11 games. Schmitt was good for that long too, now look… A backup scrub. Bailey hasn’t had the league adjust to him and shown he can adjust back yet. Bart might be an All Star catcher for us, for the next 10 years still.
Hard to tell that to people who think they know everything though
lol 11 games?? it’s not that hard to look these things up, he’s played 35 games now and boasts a .314/.344/.542 slash line…Bart will never touch any of those numbers…
@Pete’sView Yes, I’d rather see Pete Putila promoted to POBO, than continue to watch the flailing and failing of the trojan horse from LA, who’s never actually been the mastermind behind any championship ball club.
@sacball that comment hasn’t aged well. Today the Nationals stole 4 bases off Bailey, including 3rd twice. And he’s not hitting sht. Maybe time to give Joey Bart a call
Lane stole three of those bases off DeSclafani and one off Scott Alexander. Watch the replay.
@Pete’sView Desclafani and Scott Alexander are not catchers. Nice try though
Apparently you don’t know the dynamic of a pitcher holding the runner close so he doesn’t get a jump on the catcher. Baseball 101.
Apparently you don’t realize that stolen bases allowed/caught stat goes on a catchers stat line, not a pitchers
Of course I know that. But that’s not the point is it? You just want to dispute the realities of MLB. You stick to your stats and I’ll stick to my knowledge of the game.
Don’t you just hate when you’ve been proven wrong, like you just were here?
Career .500 hitter? Bring it on!
Bart BUST
He has light tower power, 114mph exit velocities, has cut his strikeout rate in half from last year and was hitting over .300 consistently, before getting hurt and slumping. Also he’s got a cannon for an arm ayis good at framing. Anyone who calls him a bust is an uninformed idiot
No need to call people names, but that’s your out pitch.
I just don’t see the point of bashing young players, just for not immediately being superstars. The same person would have called Nolan Ryan, Mike Trout and Randy Johnson busts too
Yet you bash young players all the time. Even in this thread.
What players exactly have I bashed in this thread? No need to lie
Speaking of minor leaguers, Giant fans.
Check……..it………out.
youtu.be/IMNsf5YnHek
Reggie might have a career outside of baseball if he so chooses.
Awesome video Foppert! My hopes for Reggie’s success in the big leagues took a big up swing. The dude is chiseled and has a great personality, and apparently he can hit the cover off the ball and throw very hard.
That’s why they call him Ohtani Jr.
Also, I heard Dave Fleming rave about Papago. It’s great to get the full tour!
Yes Wilmer. I’m not sure what is more impressive, Reggie or the facility !
Anyone think Zaidi is interested in Max Scherzer?
I suspect Zaidi will look at any high-cost SP on an expiring or soon to be expiring deal who can eat innings the rest of the year. He and Kapler know they cannot keep the existing bullpen burn rate, and need to add 1-2 arms at the deadline to stretch their way to the postseason.
The deal also includes one greyhound ticket to Trenton NJ for Joey Bart.
For a guy with light tower power, who cut his strikeout rate in half from last year and was hitting over.300 consistently, before getting hurt and slumping, with a cannon for an arm and good framing skills, that’s just sad. Poor front office management