Catching, No. 1 prospect's health among Giants' biggest questions

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- On the eve of the first official workout for Giants pitchers and catchers, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler met with reporters to discuss the outlook for the club in 2023.

Here are three things we learned from their wide-ranging media sessions at Cactus League Media Day on Wednesday.

1. The catching competition is wide open

One of the most intriguing storylines of the spring will revolve around the catching mix, which Kapler described as a “completely open competition” among Joey Bart, Rule 5 Draft pick Blake Sabol and non-roster invitees Roberto Pérez and Austin Wynns. Kapler said the four backstops are expected to battle for “both playing time and roster spots,” the clearest indication yet that the Giants don’t plan to hand the starting job to Bart, a former top prospect who has long been viewed as the heir apparent to Buster Posey.

The Giants hoped Bart would seize the reins behind the plate last season, but the 26-year-old struggled mightily at the plate in the first half and ended up being sent to the Minors to work on a swing change in June. He showed some improvement when he returned to the Majors later in the season, but the Giants would still like to see him put the ball in play more and bounce back on his framing, which took a dip in 2022.

“I think when you’re talking about prospects transitioning to become Major Leaguers, they have this period of runway,” Kapler said. “Any prospect that comes to the big leagues, the organization wants to give them a chance to perform and to succeed. At a certain point, that player has less of that runway and he’s more just competing, like others are in a Major League camp. That’s where we are with Joey. He’s had some moments of performance at the Major League level. I don’t think the body of his career has earned a surefire inside track to the No. 1 catching job. The only way that happens is through really earning it and making it abundantly clear he should be our starting catcher. But nothing can be given to anybody right now in that regard.”

Pérez, 34, will likely be the favorite to nab one of the two catching spots, as he’s a two-time Gold Glove Award winner who is already drawing rave reviews for his work behind the plate. Wynns, 32, was outrighted off the 40-man roster last month, but he did a nice job backing up Bart last season and is already familiar with most of the club’s pitching staff. The Giants will also use the next six weeks to evaluate Sabol, a left-handed hitter who has primarily played the outfield in the Minors, but will be given the chance to win a roster spot as a catcher.

2. Luciano still recovering from back issue

Shortstop Marco Luciano, who is the Giants’ No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, will be in big league camp for the second consecutive spring, but he's expected to be limited after suffering a low back stress fracture while playing winter ball in his native Dominican Republic.

Luciano, 21, missed two months of the 2022 Minor League season with the same injury, but Zaidi said the Giants don’t view the issue as a long-term concern.

“It’s always a concern with a back, but from everything I’ve heard from our doctors, they don’t view it as a long-term issue,” Zaidi said. “There aren’t signs of degeneration that you see when it really becomes chronic. But never quite getting over the hump and re-aggravating it a lot is when it seems like it might be more chronic. That’s why we’re being careful with him.”

Luciano is slowly ramping up baseball activity and working on a throwing and hitting progression, but Zaidi said it's too early to say if he’ll be ready for Cactus League games or the start of the Minor League season.

3. Zaidi mum on contract status

Zaidi will be entering the final year of the five-year contract he received when he took over as head of the Giants’ baseball operations in November 2018, but he declined to say whether he’s signed beyond 2023.

“I totally understand the question,” Zaidi said. “It’s not something I’ve ever spoken about, not just here, but from my other organizations. My focus is on this team. I [have] support from ownership publicly and privately, and that’s what matters to me. I don’t feel it’s appropriate to comment on it.”

The Giants rewarded Kapler with a two-year extension following the club’s 107-win season in 2021, but they haven’t made any announcements regarding Zaidi’s contractual status, creating some degree of uncertainty about the organization’s leadership structure moving forward.