San Francisco Giants' Patrick Bailey Established Himself as Breakout Star

The San Francisco Giants young catcher may have established himself as a star player last season.

Sep 28, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (14) reacts after scoring a run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants star catcher isn't always consistent at the plate, but no one is more reliable behind it.

Patrick Bailey had a solid rookie campaign and went into 2024 hoping to capitalize. One thing is undeniable, Bailey has established himself among the best defensive presences in all of baseball.

As MLB.com's Will Leitch put together a list of eight breakout stars that have puts themselves on a nice trajectory, the Giants catcher was the first player named.

Bailey was awarded the 2024 Gold Glove for his efforts behind the plate. He went from leading MLB in errors with 13 last season to having just three in 140 more innings of work.

There were no catches in baseball to finish with more defensive value. His 22 FRV is the most since Martin Maldonado had 25 in 2017.

Bailey becoming Maldonado defensively is nearly the best case scenario possible. He only won a single Gold Glove in his entire career, but put together a lengthy stay based solely off of his glove.

San Francisco will need their switch-hitting catcher to become more reliable at the plate before he truly becomes a star, though.

He has shown some real potential, but hasn't been able to sustain it for a full campaign. Or even a solid amount of time.

The N.C. State Wolfpack product was never one to hit a lot of home runs in college either, but showed some potential. The most he hit was as 13 as a freshman. He his six in just 17 games in 2020, which would have likely led to his career-high in a normal year.

His MLB high is just eight from this year. He was pretty much the exact same player at the plate this season that he was a year ago. At least, the results were very similar.

During his rookie campaign, he posted a .233/.285/.359 slash line with seven home runs and 48 RBI.

Last season, he put up a .234/.298/.339 line with eight home runs and 46 RBI. Given that he plated in over 20 more games, those numbers are definitely worse. Not much variance, however.

He hits the ball hard when he makes contact, but has a bit of a slow swing and strikes out more than average.

Become more patient at the plate and adding a little bit of strength could go a long way.

No matter what, Bailey will be a large part of the Giants' plan for a long time coming.