Patrick Bailey

Giants place Bailey on 7-day concussion IL; Sabol recalled

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The Giants sustained big blow when they placed catcher Patrick Bailey on the 7-day concussion IL prior to Saturday's road game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Blake Sabol was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take Bailey's roster spot.

Bailey left in the second inning of the Giants' 4-3 loss to the Phillies after taking a foul tip off his mask in the first inning. During the game, the team announced the second-year catcher was dealing with blurred vision.

Manager Bob Melvin spoke to reporters in Philadelphia before Saturday's game and expressed hope that Bailey won't miss more than seven days.

"As far as these things go, hopefully it's mild," Melvin said. "You can really tell the ones that really get you, bite you a little bit and I'm not sure he's in that position yet but based on the fact that he's had these before, it was an easy decision to make. Woke up with kind of the same conditions as last night but hopefully it's just a seven-day thing. I think it was last year but you can't be too careful with this."

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Bailey took the foul tip in the bottom of the first and led off the top of the second with a walk before exiting in the bottom half of the inning.

Melvin explained why Bailey didn't immediately come out of the game.

"He said the at-bat was OK and then the inning he ended up waving us over, that's when he was like 'Something's wrong,' " Melvin said.

With Bailey out, Tom Murphy gets the start at catcher against the Phillies on Saturday. He will work with starter Keaton Winn and bat seventh, ahead of Tyler Fitzgerald and Nick Ahmed.

Bailey has played in 25 of the Giants' 33 games this season. He is hitting .278/.344/.456 with five doubles, three homers and 10 RBI.

Murphy, who has started nine Giants game and appeared in three others, will take over the primary catching duties while Bailey is out.

Signed to a two-year, $8.25 million free-agent contract this past offseason, Murphy has started 254 MLB games at catcher, so the Giants' pitching staff is in good hands. His experience is why San Francisco brought him in to back up Bailey.

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