Giants place catcher Joey Bart on IL with back strain

NEW YORK — San Francisco Giants catcher Joey Bart was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a strain in the middle of his back.

The move was made retroactive to March 31, and the team recalled right-handed reliever Sean Hjelle from Triple-A Sacramento before its series finale against the New York Yankees.

Bart was scratched from the lineup Saturday with back tightness, and manager Gabe Kapler said a scan showed a “very small” mid-back strain.

“We don’t expect it to be a long-term thing. It feels more short term,” Kapler said. “We discussed the possibility of like, seven days. Maybe a few more.”

Versatile rookie Blake Sabol was set to start behind the plate Sunday at Yankee Stadium. The 25-year-old Sabol was selected by the Cincinnati Reds from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Rule 5 draft for unprotected players at the winter meetings and then traded to San Francisco hours later.

He made his major league debut on Opening Day and started the first two games of the season in left field, but Sabol has extensive experience as a catcher in the minors and in college at Southern California.

“We expected to take a real look at him as a catcher,” Kapler said. “All along, we expected him to catch games for us. So, he’s right on schedule for us.”

Sabol spent most of the spring behind the plate and batted an impressive .348 with three homers, 10 RBIs and a 1.105 OPS in 20 games.

“I think he did a really nice job in camp of receiving and continues to work on his throwing. So, he’s a growing, developing player,” Kapler said. “But also, we’re looking to see if he can carry over the work that he did in spring training into the regular season, which we expect he can.”

San Francisco also has veteran catcher Roberto Perez on the roster. The club signed former Yankees and Twins catcher Gary Sanchez, a two-time All-Star, to a minor league contract Saturday and assigned him to Sacramento.

The 26-year-old Bart was the second overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft out of Georgia Tech. He batted .215 with 11 home runs, 25 RBIs and a .660 OPS in 97 big league games with the Giants last season. He struck out 112 times in 291 plate appearances.

Hjelle, 25, was 1-2 with a 5.76 ERA in eight appearances out of the San Francisco bullpen last season.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.