San Francisco Giants Catcher Blasts Home Run Against Former Team

For years, the Texas Rangers hoped that Sam Huff would be their catcher of the future.

Selected in the seventh round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Ariz., he was at one time their top-ranked catcher. He was a two-time organizational all-star, the MVP of the 2019 MLB Futures Game. Texas started the clock on him during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

But his prodigious power in the minor leagues never translated consistently to the Majors. In 198 at-bats with the Rangers, he slashed .258/.313/.768 with 10 home runs and 20 RBI. Jonah Heim became the starter, and Huff was unable to hang onto the backup job.

The San Francisco Giants picked him off waivers in January and dropped him in the hopper of catchers vying to be Patrick Bailey’s backup. On Saturday, Huff started behind the plate for the Giants against … the Texas Rangers.

He had an eventful game.

First, Huff became the first Giants player to use the automated ball strike system (ABS) to challenge a play during a game. Per the San Francisco Chronicle, Huff challenged a called ball by his pitcher, Landen Roupp, with Rangers slugger Jake Burger at the plate. The ABS system overturned the ball and called it a strike.

The ABS system is being used in spring training and only certain ballparks are equipped with the technology. Surprise Stadium, the home of the Rangers and the Kansas City Royals, is one of those parks. Major League Baseball is testing the ABS system as a way of assessing its potential for use in regular-season games as soon as 2026.

Later, Huff did something much more important to his goal of making the opening-day roster — he hit a home run.

Huff’s shot off Rangers starting rotation candidate Tyler Mahle went deep to center field. The two-run home run was his first spring training home run for his new team.

The first #SFGiants homer of 2025 belongs to Sam Huff 👏 pic.twitter.com/lMOO0ldilU
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) February 22, 2025

The Giants have declared the race behind Bailey to be an open competition. Huff and Tom Murphy are on the 40-man roster, but Murphy hasn’t worked out in several days due to an oblique injury.

San Francisco has two other non-roster catchers in Logan Porter and Max Stassi, both of which have Major League experience.

The longer Murphy remains out, the more likely the competition comes down to Huff, Porter and Stassi. Huff’s bat, which remains relatively untapped at the Major League level, may give him a edge.

Just ask the Rangers.

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