Eric Haase’s Grand Slam Shows Giants Back-up Catcher Race Isn’t Done

Much of the talk in San Francisco Giants spring training has been the competition to be catcher Patrick Bailey's backup in the regular season.

There's Daniel Susac, the Rule 5 draft selection who also happens to be the younger brother of Andrew Susac, who backed up former Giants star Buster Posey a decade ago. There's also Jesus Rodriguez, who was acquired in the Camilo Doval trade last July. He’s shown a promising bat in the minor leagues. Neither player has made their Major League debut.

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That's why it's important to have veteran depth in spring training to push these younger players. But, Eric Haase is not playing like he's pushing younger players to be better. So far in Giants spring training, he's playing like he could be Bailey's backup come opening day.

Eric Haase’s Spring Training Surge

Grand Slam Haase 💥 pic.twitter.com/dXnM5xR3af
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) February 28, 2026

That was never more evident than on Saturday when he hit a grand slam in the Giants’ spring training game victory over the Athletics. It was the second straight game that a Giants non-roster invitee hit a grand slam. Outfielder Victor Bericoto did it on Friday.

In six spring training games and in 10 at-bats he’s slashed .300/.364/.600 with one home run and four RBI. That grand slam showed that the former seventh-round pick of the Cleveland Guardians in 2011 still has the power he showed as a prospect and as a Major Leaguer with the Detroit Tigers.

Haase has been the definition of a solid backup catcher since he made his Major League debut with the Cleveland Guardians in 2018. In the Cleveland organization he was a five-time MiLB.com Organizational All-Star. But he didn't get a full season opportunity in the Majors until he ended up with the Detroit Tigers in 2021. Cleveland designated him for assignment in December of 2019, and the Tigers picked him up several days later.

With the Tigers in 2021 he showed all the promise he had in the minors, as he slashed .231/.286/.459 with 22 home runs and 61 RBI in 98 games. He followed that up with a 110-game season in 2022, as his slash went up to .254/.305/.443, but his power dropped to 14 home runs and 44 RBI.

In 2023 he was designated for assignment in August and, incredibly, he ended up back in Cleveland for the remainder of that season. But his numbers dropped to a slash of .201/.247/.281 with four home runs and 26 RBI. He spent the past two seasons as a back-up with Milwaukee.

He has Major League experience and he has postseason experience. More games like Saturday and it could be Haase behind Bailey when the Giants start the regular season.