Giants catcher Joey Bart touches on Alex Cobb’s complete-game shutout of the Cardinals and shares why he believes the right-hander is the most underrated pitcher in baseball.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Groin tightness kept Joey Bart from being around to help Alex Cobb finish off his shutout on Tuesday, but the news a few hours later was much better.
Bart got an MRI on his right leg that didn't show any serious damage and he's likely to avoid the IL. The Giants brought Ricardo Genoves to Oracle Park just in case, but they're optimistic that Bart will be okay after a few days.
"I feel pretty confident," manager Gabe Kapler said Tuesday.
Blake Sabol will start against the St. Louis Cardinals and could end up getting the rest of this series since the Giants are off on Friday. Bart tested whether he can comfortably get in the squat and said it felt fine, so he'll be available to catch and take swings if the Giants need him. The only real issue is when he runs full speed, as he had to do on a double that helped get the Giants going on Monday night.
Genoves, 23, has been with the organization since signing out of Venezuela in 2015 and he has been part of big league camp the past four springs. He's an athletic defender with a good arm, and he had a .808 OPS when he was told to head to San Francisco. "Geno's really been working really hard," Kapler said of the decision.
It was notable that the Giants chose Genoves over veteran Gary Sanchez, who signed a minor league contract after Opening Day but has yet to push his way into the mix. Sanchez is batting just .146 in Triple-A. He can opt out of his deal if he's not in the big leagues by May 1, but Kapler said that wouldn't play into any decisions the Giants have to make with their catchers.
Other Giants notes
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--- A night after returning, Mitch Haniger was out of the lineup, but Kapler said it was a planned day off. The Giants want to stagger his playing time this week because he only made four rehab appearances, but the plan is for Haniger to ultimately be one of the platoon-proof players in the lineup. He doesn't have dramatic splits in his career and the Giants expect him to play against lefties and righties once he's fully up to speed.
--- On the surface, the Cardinals are not an obvious spot to skip a left-handed starter. They have four left-handed hitters and two switch-hitters on their roster, but the staff opted to skip Sean Manaea and let John Brebbia be an opener. Kapler expects to use Jakob Junis for several innings and mentioned Sean Hjelle and Tristan Beck as other options.
While the Cardinals have plenty of left-handed hitters, as a team they have fared much better against lefty pitchers. They lead the NL with a 153 wRC+ against lefties and the heart of their lineup features Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.
"The group of hitters, the St. Louis team, their splits are significant," Kapler said. "As a whole, they really hit left-handers well."
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--- Why Brebbia, when so many other right-handed options are in the bullpen?
"He likes it," Kapler said, smiling. "And he's good at it."
Brebbia made 11 appearances as an opener last season and allowed just one run.
