Giants roster shuffle continues with a new catcher, new pitcher

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants roster continues to be a juggling act as moves were made both before and after a 5-4 rain-delayed Bay Bridge Series loss to the Athletics at Oracle Park.

First, the Giants continued to tinker with the Buster Posey support group, claiming catcher Tom Murphy off waivers from the Colorado Rockies. Murphy arrived from Albuquerque in time for his Giants debut, but the news regarding two of last season’s starters was still a few hours away.

Not long after the game concluded and manager Bruce Bochy declined to name a starting rotation, hinting that something was in the works, two of last season’s starters were off the roster.

Chris Stratton, 10-10 with a 5.09 earned run average, was dealt for Williams Jerez, a left-handed reliever from the Los Angeles Angels. Andrew Suarez, who had his moments as a rookie starter despite a 7-13 record, was optioned to the minors. Both moves were announced near midnight.

Murphy, 28, is the second catcher the Giants added in two days, coming after a trade for Erik Kratz from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league infielder C.J. Hinojosa.

Aramis Garcia, who was Posey’s backup only a few days ago, was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. There, Garcia joins Stephen Vogt, the former A’s catcher who is recovering from shoulder surgery.

Posey, coming back from labrum and hip surgery, was in  the lineup for the Giants in a game which was delayed by rain for an hour and 24 minutes from its original starting time of 6:45 p.m. and was played in a light drizzle for the first seven innings.

Where this leaves the Giants in terms of catchers on Opening Day Thursday in San Diego remains to be seen. The company line on Posey and his health is that all is well. All the maneuvering at catcher can be seen either as an element of doubt about how much he’ll be able to play early on, or simply more roster sleight of hand from general manager Farhan Zaidi.

In speaking to reporters Sunday, Bochy seemed to indicate Kratz, 39, would go into the season as the primary backup because of his defensive skill and ability to handle pitchers. Bochy was still short on specifics Monday night.

“We’re talking about that now,” Bochy said. “We’re trying to figure out what’s going to be our best way to go, our best club. We’ve got another day huddle up and talk about what we’re going to do.

Murphy doesn’t have the same defensive credentials as Kratz but was a former top prospect in the Colorado organization who has shown some power in the minor leagues. He was hitting .250 in 17 spring training games with three homers and six RBIs for Colorado before being placed on waivers.

In seven minor league seasons, Murphy has 93 home runs, 326 RBIs and a .277 batting average. In 2013, Murphy had 22 homers and 83 RBIs splitting time between Single-A and Double-A, and after missing much of 2014 with a rotator cuff injury, had 20 home runs and 63 RBIs in 2015 in Double-A and Triple-A.

Murphy was en route from Albuquerque as the Giants and A’s were preparing to get underway. He arrived in time to pinch hit in the seventh inning and hit an infield single to deep short against A’s reliever Ryan Buchter. He also batted in the eighth against J.B. Wendelken and was retired on a popup to short.

It’s conceivable Murphy’s stay with the big club will be a short one. Zaidi is fond of picking up players who are out of options, hoping they clear waivers and then sending them to Triple-A to be brought back at a later date.

Stratton and Suarez were both fighting for spots in the starting rotation along with Opening Day starter Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz, Jeff Samardzija, Derek Holland and Ty Blach.

The appearance of Jerez, with Stratton traded and Suarez temporarily out of the picture, is a move to strengthen the bullpen as potential starters are weeded out. A former third-round draft pick by Boston, Jerez (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) had a 2.45 earned run average in eight games and 7 1/3 innings this spring for the Angels.

In five minor league seasons, Jerez is 14-15 with a 3.55 earned run average and 15 saves.

TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY: How close did the Giants and A’s come to not playing at all Monday night?

Pretty close.

“We wanted to play it, but we were at a point where if we had one more delay we were good,” Bochy said. “If we didn’t get started around the 8 o’clock area than it’s not worth the risk. You get guys heated up a couple of times, the risk of injury goes way up.”

Bochy said some starters came out earlier than normal because of that reason.

BREAKING THROUGH: After being locked up for 15 straight scoreless innings by A’s pitching, the Giants finally scored four times in the seventh to close within 5-4. The rally, against A’s lefty Ryan Buchter, included an RBI single by Duggar, a bases loaded walk to Abiatal Avelino and a two-run single to center by Kratz.

BLACH OUT: A nightmarish inning by Blach in the top of the seventh allowed the A’s to take a 1-0 lead and built it to 5-0.

Blach, who came in after Anderson (three innings), Will Smith and Reyes Moronta had held the A’s to a single run, surrendered back to back doubles to Chad Pinder and Marcus Semien to open the inning. Ramon Laureano followed with a bloop singleto drive in a run and Mark Canha drove in two more with a double to right center.

Blach then made two throwing errors — neither of which contributed to a run — before Carlos Navas came on to finish the inning.

Anderson surrendered a first-inning run on a broken bat ground double by Jurickson Profar.

PITCHING PLANS: Pomeranz, originally scheduled to start Monday night, was pushed to Tuesday, where he’ll instead follow Samardzija. That gave the start to Shaun Anderson, a non-roster invitee who was reassigned to the minors on March 10 and will return to Sacramento.

Anderson was 8-7 with a 3.69 earned run average in Double-A and Triple-A with Richmond and Sacramento in 24 starts last season.

OUTFIELD ISSUES: The Giants starting outfield consisted of Connor Joe in left field, Steven Duggar in center and Mike Reed in right. Duggar appears etched in stone as the Giants’ center fielder, while Joe and Reed weren’t with the Giants a week ago yet could find themselves on the opening day 25-man roster.

Reed came from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for outfielder John Andreoli and cash considerations. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts but did make a nice throw from right field in throwing out Mark Canha at third base.

Versatile enough to play all three outfield positions, Reed has spent parts of three seasons in the majors, playing in 22 games with a .229 batting average. In eight seasons of minor league ball, Reed has 38 homers, 288 RBIs, 135 stolen bases and a batting average of .269.

Originally Published: March 25, 2019 at 6:14 PM PDT