Giants' Tom Murphy to miss significant time with knee injury

The Giants placed backup catcher Tom Murphy on the injured list due to a knee sprain over the weekend but didn’t provide a timetable for his return, as the veteran was headed for an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. Skipper Bob Melvin announced to the Giants beat Monday that imaging revealed a Grade 1 to 2 sprain.  Murphy won’t require surgery but is expected to be out of action for at least four to six weeks (X link via Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic).

The relatively lengthy absence for Murphy comes at a time when the Giants are also without starting catcher Patrick Bailey, who’s on the injured list due to ongoing concussion symptoms. San Francisco traded former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart to the Pirates early this season because he was out of minor league options and the team didn’t want to carry three catchers in the long term. Since that swap, both catchers ahead of him on the depth chart have gone down with injuries. The result is a catching corps consisting of former Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol and recently promoted journeyman Jakson Reetz (who homered in his first game with the Giants yesterday).

Murphy, 33, has gotten out to a dismal .118/.211/.235 start after signing a two-year, $8.3MM deal over the winter. That’s come in a sample of just 38 plate appearances, however, far too small to glean meaningful conclusions. In 807 plate appearances with Seattle from 2019-23, Murphy batted .250/.324/.460 with 38 home runs. He was particularly dangerous against left-handed opponents, bashing them at a .287/.379/.539 clip.

With both Bailey and Murphy on the shelf and Bart now in Pittsburgh, the Giants’ catching depth has quickly dried up. Sabol is in line for the lion’s share of playing time, but he hit just .235/.301/.394 last season with a 34% strikeout rate. He was hitting .243/.378/.324 in Triple-A Sacramento this season, again showing worrying contact issues (30.8% strikeout rate). Reetz appeared in 15 games with Sacramento prior to his call-up and batted .217/.357/.435 in 57 plate appearances. Yesterday’s home run came in his first big league at-bat since 2021 — just the third MLB plate appearance of his career. Reetz is a career .234/.328/.478 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.

It’s not a great update for the Giants, but Murphy avoided a worst-case scenario that’d have sidelined him for a much longer period. The Giants also provided a small update on reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell on Monday, with Melvin telling the team’s beat that the lefty pitched a bullpen session without issue and is slated to pitch three innings in a simulated game against live hitters tomorrow (X link via Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle). Snell, who was rocked for an 11.57 ERA through his first three starts, hit the 15-day IL due to an adductor strain last week.