Giants’ unveil another new catcher: 2023 pick Drew Cavanaugh; Susac to IL

SAN FRANCISCO – Catcher Drew Cavanaugh’s quick ascent through the Giants’ farm system landed him at Oracle Park on Friday night for his Major League debut.

“There’s definitely a lot of emotions, and a lot of excitement,” Cavanaugh said before the 7:15 p.m. first pitch against the Atlanta Braves. “The nerves set in a little bit more when I walked into (the clubhouse). But it’s more so excitement.

“It’s my dream come true, so it’s awesome.”

It was hastened by Danie Susac’s lower-back strain he battled through most of Thursday’s loss to the Athletics. Susac, removed after the sixth inning, was placed on the 10-day Injured List. X-rays did not reveal a fracture.

Cavanaugh emerged from Friday’s 3-1 loss with a “surreal” feeling of having made it to the big leagues and faring well in front of his family.

He drew a standing ovation for getting a fifth-inning hit – a sharp single up the middle on reliever Hurston Waldrep’s 95-mph sinker with one out.

“It felt great. I hit it and saw it was going to go thorugh. Everything after that was pretty much a blur,” Cavanaugh said afterward. “What a moment. All those years practicing and waiting for that moment, it was surreal.” (An ensuing bases-loaded rally died once Eldridge struck out and Casey Schmitt’s grounded into a force out.)

Cavanaugh is the Giants’ fifth different starting catcher this embattled season, and he is the sixth Giants player to break into the majors. That list includes Susac (April 2) and Jesus Rodriguez, who debuted May 4 as he came up the same day as top prospect Bryce Eldridge and pitcher Trevor McDonald.

McDonald was Friday’s starting pitcher, just as he was May 4 in a win over the Padres. Cavanaugh caught him multiple times last season at Triple-A Sacramento.

“I was excited for him,” McDonald said. “We walked out of the bullpen and I told him to enjoy (the debut), you only get one of them.”

“He’s got good vibes to him, for sure,” Giants manager Tony Vitello said before the game. “Those guys (in the organization) are really happy with how he’s come along as a catcher. One thing that’s always scrutinized or complimented is how you manage a game back there.”

Reminder: the Giants’ president of baseball operations is former catcher and three-time World Series champion Buster Posey.

Afterward, Vitello praised Cavanaugh’s defense, as well as his offensive display (first-inning strikeout on a curveball; fifth-inning single; sevnth-inning walk; ninth-inning groundout).

“You saw confident swings. You didn’t see anything out of place,” Vitello said. “I’d like to give him a resounding compliment on the catching side of things: you didn’t notice him, even though he just got here this morning. Although that isn’t vote-for-him-for-the-all-star-team stuff, it speaks to how good he was back there. He looked comfortable, made the dugout comfortable.”

Vitello said his recruiting days at Tennessee taught him how to quickly size up a player’s presence, and Cavanaugh made a positive first impression Friday as “easy” conversations traveled from Vitello’s office to Cavanaugh’s locker to the weight room.

“As you can imagine, he’s excited to go, and he spurred on a good conversation in the hitters’ meeting about call-up stories,” Vitello said.

Cavanaugh, 24, just finished stretching before the River Cats’ game Thursday night when manager Dave Brundage relayed that “The Show” was calling. So Cavanaugh caught a ride in a luxury SUV, checked into a hotel near the Giants’ ballpark, wrestled a bit to fall asleep, then started boning up on his first opponent, the NL East-leading Braves.

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’s 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.

Cavanaugh, a native of Troy, Michigan, was thrilled his parents and two of his brothers flew in for the game, and he dedicated the baseball from his first hit to his mother. 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.

Reunited with former minor-league teammates Eldridge and Jonah Cox, Cavanaugh said his immediate duties are to build “trust” with the pitching staff.

“He has good presence. I like different personalities, different backgrounds,” Vitello said. “Everybody’s welcome around here as long as you’re all for the team. We do have a good group of guys in that category.

“You get to having kids on recruiting visits and you practice at sizing them up. I don’t know how good you can get at that, no one’s 100% accurate, but you get pretty quick to sizing somebody up with a meeting or how they answer a question,” Vitello added. “He seems like a show-me-what-to-do guy and ‘I’ll do it as best I can.’ Good smile on his face. He’s an easy conversation.”

The Giants’ previous starting catchers this season: Susac (28 games), Patrick Bailey (27, before his May trade to Cleveland), Haase (17) and Rodriguez (8)

OUTFIELD SHIFT

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.

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.

Lee entered with a .332 batting average that ranked second in the majors behind Miami’s Otto Lopez (.340). “Jung Hoo has made incredible catches in that (right-field) corner this year, but he’s also made some in right-center and center,” Vitello said. “I’m not so sure he’s not our most well-rounded outfielder at this point.”

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. “When guys hit the ball out of the park like Bryce and Bericoto have, it presents a good problem, where you’re trying to arrange guys,” Vitello said.

MLB DEBUT LIST

Here are which other Giants made Major League debuts this season:

C Susac, April 2

C Rodriguez, May 4

OF Bericoto, May 22

OF Jonah Cox, May 31

P Wilkin Ramos, June 1; Ramos was designated for assignment before Friday’s game.

PRIDE NIGHT FALLOUT

Two weeks after the Giants’ 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 went on flagship radio station KNBR 680-AM on Thursday and he sent a letter to fans who wrote in with complaints.

That letter, as posted on social media by San Francisco Standard’s John Shea, includes Baer defending the Giants’ history supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Baer, in part, wrote: “Over 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.”