San Francisco Giants Reinstate Young Star, Designate Veteran for Assignment

The San Francisco Giants are getting back one of their most important players for the stretch run after his stint on the injured list.

Jul 26, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (14) during the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park / Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

It's the tipping point for the San Francisco Giants right now.

Opting to not trade away their best pieces at the deadline, their goal was to get into the playoffs this season after overhauling this roster during the winter.

Unable to have a stretch of consistent winning throughout the year, the Giants find themselves on the outskirts of the Wild Card race where it looks like they won't be able to mount a late charge and steal one of the final three spots.

Maybe the organization has resigned themselves to the fact they probably won't be playing fall baseball this season after making an eye-opening move to put three of their contributing players on waivers that allows other teams to claim them.

That's a standard salary dump tactic for teams who don't expect to make the playoffs.

In the meantime, though, San Francisco at least is getting back one of their most important players after they announced Patrick Bailey has been reinstated from the injured list.

#SFGiants roster moves:

- C Patrick Bailey (#14) reinstated from the 10-day Injured List.
- C Andrew Knapp designated for assignment.

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 29, 2024

The second-year catcher was placed on the 10-day IL dating back to Aug. 19 with a right oblique strain. There was some hope it would be a minimal stint on the shelf, and he has been able to return in the minimal amount of time to jump right back into the lineup.

Bailey has been a great defensive player in his short career, but is still struggling at the plate.

His .233/.299/.344 slash line with seven homers and 38 RBI through 96 games is virtually identical to what he put up in his rookie season where he produced an OPS+ well below the league average during both campaigns.

Still, having Bailey back behind the plate should be a boost to this pitching staff. The front office was hoping their starting unit would allow this team to get hot down the stretch and earn a playoff spot.

Whether that comes to fruition will be seen as time is running out for the Giants.