The Giants kept reshaping their roster on the fly Tuesday, turning to catcher Andrew Knizner while moving on from infielder/outfielder Eddys Leonard.
Knizner’s arrival comes with a flurry of other moves. San Francisco optioned catcher Zach Morgan to Triple-A Sacramento, reinstated outfielder Victor Bericoto from the 10-day injured list and designated Leonard for assignment. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to note before the official announcement that Knizner already had a locker in the clubhouse.
The catching situation in San Francisco has been anything but settled this season. Patrick Bailey once looked like the long-term answer behind the plate, but the Giants have instead cycled through rookies Daniel Susac, Jesús Rodríguez and Drew Cavanaugh for playing time.
Bailey was traded to the Guardians in May, and injuries have kept forcing more turnover. Rodríguez landed on the injured list on the first day of this month with right elbow neuritis, then Susac joined him yesterday with a patellar fracture.
Morgan was summoned quickly to fill Susac’s spot, and now the Giants have pivoted again, this time to a more established name.
Knizner became available after opting out of a minor league deal with the Red Sox a few days ago, and he has been productive in the minors this year. Between Triple-A stops with the Rockies and Red Sox, he hit .294/.393/.552 in 234 plate appearances. His 12.4% walk rate and 16.7% strikeout rate both stand out.
That kind of offensive line hasn’t shown up often in the majors. Knizner owns a .211/.281/.316 slash line in 975 career plate appearances, and his defensive grades have generally been poor, even if they have been closer to average in recent seasons. Still, if he can bring anything close to his minor league production to the big leagues, he gives the Giants a workable stopgap.
Leonard’s exit lands especially hard because he had only just joined the roster a week ago. The 25-year-old got into eight plate appearances and picked up two hits. The Giants appeared to view him as a short-term solution while waiting for Bericoto, and now that temporary role has ended with a DFA.
His path to this point was a long one. Leonard held a 40-man roster spot from November of 2021 through the end of the 2024 season with the Dodgers and Tigers without getting called up, and he burned through his option years during that stretch. Detroit later non-tendered him, and he spent more than a year buried in the minors before finally reaching the majors with the Giants this month.
With the trade deadline already behind them, Leonard will go on waivers. He has almost no big league résumé, but he has hit well in the minors.
Before his promotion, he logged 321 Triple-A plate appearances split between the Brewers and Giants affiliates, batting .272/.361/.509 with 16 home runs. He also posted strong walk and strikeout rates of 10.3% and 19.3%, stole eight bases and handled all four infield positions plus the outfield corners.
If another club claims him, he can be kept for the rest of this season and six full seasons beyond that.
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