SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants catcher Hector Sanchez was diagnosed with a mild concussion after absorbing an especially vicious foul tip to the mask in the third inning Friday night.
“He’s out for a little while,” Manager Bruce Bochy said of Sanchez, who stayed in the game and struck out in the bottom of the inning before coming out of the game, an 8-1 loss to the Dodgers, to start the fourth.
[RECAP: Dodgers 8, Giants 1]
Bochy couldn’t say how long Sanchez would be out or whether he would go on the 7-day disabled list for players with concussion symptoms. But it’s common sense that the Giants cannot put him back on the field any time soon, given the position he plays, the risk of a recurrence and the Richter Scale-like effect that multiple shots to the head can have.
Not only is Sanchez the only catcher other than Buster Posey on the active roster, he’s the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Whether Sanchez goes on the DL or not, it’s likely the Giants will have to purchase the contract of Guillermo Quiroz or Andrew Susac from Triple-A Fresno to give them short-term coverage.
[NEWS: Sanchez takes foul tip to the mask, leaves game]
Quiroz has major league experience and would be the reflexive choice under normal circumstances. But the Giants are playing very short in their lineup without Brandon Belt and Angel Pagan, and because Posey is their best offensive player, they tend to use their backup catcher more than most teams.
They might be tempted to bring up Susac, who is hitting .268/.379/.451 with 10 home runs and would offer more offensive upside. Quiroz is hitting .267/.306/.360 with one home run.
Posey took a hard shot to the mask in the later innings as well, and moved his jaw around while taking awhile before the next pitch. But he said he was fine and he wouldn’t have risked his health by staying in if he were injured, even though the Giants were out of catchers at that point.
