Giants' Patrick Bailey makes notable adjustment to improve from right side originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SCOTTSDALE — Patrick Bailey’s 2025 MLB season was not a strong one offensively, but you wouldn’t know that if you watched a highlight reel of the Giants season.
In addition to winning a second straight Gold Glove Award, Bailey provided two of the biggest moments at the plate for the Giants. He put his name in the history books in July with a rare walk-off, inside-the-park homer against the Philadelphia Phillies, and two months later he stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers with a walk-off grand slam.
Bailey smiled Monday when asked which highlight he watched more often over the winter.
“I feel like I get tired when I watch the Phillies one,” he said. “So I like the Dodgers one.”
That second walk-off was notable for more than just allowing Bailey to become the first player in MLB history to check both of those specific boxes in one season. It came from the right side, and it was his first homer against a lefty in two years.
Bailey hit .212 with a .566 OPS from the right side last season, but he responded with a quick “no” during a group session last week when asked if there was any thought of giving up switch-hitting. The other five catchers in camp all hit from the right side, including both young options on the 40-man roster — Daniel Susac and Jesus Rodriguez — so the Giants are positioned to limit Bailey’s exposure to tough lefties if they want to, but he doesn’t intend to cede any playing time.
During a live batting practice session over the weekend, Bailey scorched a ball into the gap off lefty reliever Matt Gage. The swing showed off some mechanical changes made over the winter.
Bailey’s hands are lower and he has a much bigger leg kick from the right side than he did in 2025. The latter adjustment came when he was doing a drill that required him to hover his lead leg in the air and then bring it down in a controlled manner.
“I took a couple of good swings that way and I was like, ‘You know what, let’s just lift my leg really high and give myself more time,'” he said. “I almost feel more athletic when it’s up in the air. Pitchers do it, so it feels like an easy timing mechanism. It feels really good so far.”
Bailey is hopeful the changes help him rediscover some of the results from his rookie year, when he had a .829 OPS against lefties. But he also knows there’s a long way to go on his left side, too. Bailey’s OPS against righties last year was .615; overall, he had a .602 OPS and six homers, both career lows.
The strange thing about Bailey’s 2025 season was that he was actually one of the Giants you might most want up late in a game. He hit .290 in what were deemed “high-leverage” plate appearances, with a .739 OPS that was comfortably above the league-average mark of .717. Bailey drove in 28 runs in 107 high-leverage plate appearances and 27 in his other 345 plate appearances.
The new staff is diving into those specific numbers, and Bailey is well aware of the splits. He said he enjoys the big moments, but he’s working with hitting coach Hunter Mense on trying to be more balanced and improve his swing intent earlier in games.
The splits are odd, but there also might be a simple explanation. Bailey is the game’s best defensive catcher and expends a lot of physical and mental energy before and early in games leading the pitching staff. At the same time, he’s a first-rounder who has shown flashes of being a good big-league hitter.
It would make sense if Bailey had a bit more focus in those tense moments late in games and was able to tap into more of his natural talent. But that’s not something he’s leaning on.
“Obviously what I do with catching a lot is a grind, but at the end of the day, a lot of other guys do it,” he said. “I’ve got to hold myself to that standard whether it’s the ninth inning or the first inning. Each run is the same. But yeah, we’re definitely kind of trying to play around with intent on each swing and just trying to be the same.”
Even with a subpar offensive season, Bailey was worth 3.2 fWAR, ranking him eighth among MLB catchers and behind only Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames among Giants position players. His defense is simply that valuable, and the Giants don’t anticipate that changing much with the implementation of ABS. Bailey will take the lead in requesting their challenges, and given that they’re limited, his pitch-framing skills are likely to still have a huge impact.
A step forward at the plate would be huge for the lineup and could turn Bailey into an All-Star, which would be nice timing given that he’s about to go through his arbitration years. So far, he’s encouraged by how he’s feeling after offseason adjustments.
“I wasn’t happy with either side last year,” he said. “But I’m super confident this year, both right-handed and left-handed.”