San Francisco Giants Top 39 Prospects

After adding nearly 30 pounds of muscle since his last minor league season, 2021 was our first glimpse of Luciano’s new square-shouldered frame in action. His explosive bat speed is still remarkable, perhaps even more so than in 2019, with his added strength supplying even more power potential to his natural upper-cut swing. He put that power on front street at Low-A, hitting 18 home runs and 14 doubles for a 138 wRC+ over his 70 games there. His walk rate stayed in the double-digits and while his strikeout rate was inflated compared to his previous seasons, it was still of little concern given the way he was hitting. But upon his promotion to Eugene, where he became the youngest player in High-A West, Luciano struggled to adapt to the more advanced pitching, particularly breaking balls away. He’s never been particularly strikeout-prone, but in his first five High-A games he fanned 13 times in 23 plate appearances without recording a walk. Meanwhile, his arm accuracy has not improved enough for him to project as a long-term shortstop. His likely relocation from a premium up-the-middle position, combined with his High-A growing pains, is enough to keep him from being considered baseball’s best prospect — an honorific that, had both of those factors broken more in his favor, seemed possible as of last year’s report — but his bat still provides more than enough potential to project him as a future major league All-Star.

Matos had a tremendous 2021. He spent the season at Low-A San Jose, where he slashed .313/.358/.494. That was good for a 121 wRC+ and Low-A West MVP honors, all before his 20th birthday, which occurred a few days before publication. He struck out in a minuscule 12.4% of his at-bats with a 41% fly ball rate. He still demonstrates freaky rotational ability and can smack his barrel into the ball no matter what hitting zone it’s in. His ability to connect with whatever the pitcher hurls his way leads to a relatively common profile for a hitter his age, as Matos swings more often than he should rather than waiting for the pitches he can really punish. His walk rate was only 5.7% in 2021 (though it did trend upward toward the end of the season) and his BABIP was unsustainably high, so refining his pitch selection will be a key part of his progression toward the higher levels of the minors. There’s huge ceiling here, that of a center fielder with a potent combination of hit and power, but the pitch selection piece of Matos’ profile is a little bit concerning and is keeping him in the 50 FV tier for now.

Between Buster Posey hanging up his chest protector this offseason and a relative cooling on Joey Bart, Bailey seems a likely and necessary role player for the Giants as they phase into the post-Posey era of catching in San Francisco. A first rounder in 2020 out of North Carolina State, Bailey made his professional debut in ’21. After struggling at High-A while dealing with a back issue and then taking a couple of games in the Complex League to regroup, he landed at what seemed a more comfortable level at Low-A San Jose. After a couple of weeks of gradual return to form, Bailey was sidelined with a concussion in mid-August, then came back to absolutely demolish the competition for the remaining four weeks of the season. Bailey went 39-for-99 with six homers, 11 doubles and a whopping 1.146 OPS, good for a 193 wRC+ over his last 25 games, then hit .292/.375/.417 while picking up reps in the Fall League. A switch-hitter with rare feel for contact from both sides, Bailey prefers a gap approach from the right side, while favoring a pull/lift approach from the left. Unlike other young guys whose bat control results in a swing-happy approach, Bailey’s sometimes sways too far in the opposite direction, and can be overly selective, bordering on passive.

The Giants lured Harrison away from his UCLA commitment with a third-round selection and a $2.5 million bonus in 2020, and his first year of pro ball reinforced the club’s confidence in the young southpaw. He issued strikeouts at a 35.7% clip while only allowing three home runs in his 98.2 innings of work, the best of any qualified Low-A arm on both counts. His physique is prototypical of a starter but with a noticeably strong lower half, which he uses to get low to the ground and push off the mound for a monstrous lunge toward the plate. He exaggerates the weirdness of his delivery by slinging his arm in a low three-quarter slot, creating a unique angle and making the ball that much more difficult for hitters to track, particularly lefties.

Harrison’s fastball seems to come upward, keeping hitters off balance and allowing him to pound the top of the zone. When that’s working for Harrison, he’s deadly, as illustrated by his numbers. But his effectiveness largely depends on consistently maintaining that odd arm angle, with very minor location discrepancies resulting in his fastball catching too much of the heart of the zone. His sweeping slider, meanwhile, has been dominant against lefties and thanks to that arm angle, it’s likely to stay that way. But the pitch’s effectiveness against right-handed batters, while impressive in Low-A, could diminish against more advanced righties who are able to adapt it. Still, his location issues are those most in need of attention; in 2021, he walked 11.8% of his opponents and issued 15 free bases by way of HBP. Right now he looks like he’ll end up in the back of a rotation, but if San Francisco’s coaches can conjure up the same alchemy they’ve used on other recent pitching prospects (and Harrison is able to rein in his arsenal), he could find himself in a more pivotal starting role.

Ramos has been pushed aggressively through the Giants system, and even with the lost year of development, he was among the younger players on both the Double- and Triple-A rosters he graced in 2021. That helps mitigate a ho-hum overall line of .254/.323/.417 across the two levels, but Ramos’ prospect star clearly doesn’t shine as bright as it once did. While it’s easy to call him a five-tool player, as he’s competent in every aspect of the game, scouts struggle to figure out what Ramos’ one carrying tool is. His approach is solid but unspectacular, some swing-and-miss issues leave his pure hit tool with an average grade, and his mechanics are tuned more for line drives than loft, leaving his in-game power in the 15-20 home run range. He’s added significant bulk to his frame since being drafted in the first round of the 2017 draft, and he’s now an average runner who is stretched in center field, though his arm is plenty good for right. Ramos feels like a slam dunk big leaguer down the road, but the path to stardom will require some unexpected leaps.

Bart was seen as one of the best catching prospects in the game, getting a golden opportunity to prove himself in 2020 when Buster Posey opted out of the COVID-shortened season. Two years later, he’s once again being given the chance to prove he’s the answer behind the plate for San Francisco, but the questions about his future are both more numerous and much louder. Bart is a massive human being with immense strength, but at times his size works against him, with multiple scouts believing that his bulk leaves him a touch behind the speed of the game on both offense and defense. Further hampering Bart are swing decisions that were among the worst in all of baseball during his 2020 big league debut and showed little progress back at Triple-A last year, as he whiffed at a nearly 30% clip and continues to be prone to wild chases. He moves well for his size and receives and throws well, projecting as an average defender if not a tick above, but his future is going to come down to his bat. There’s a low average/high power catcher in here, but he’s masked by the disastrous approach that has the potential to be Bart’s undoing. With Posey retired, 2022 represents a make-or-break year for 2018’s No. 2 overall pick.

Santos was one of the bigger stories from the Giants’ alternate site in 2020 and seemed primed for a prominent role in the big league bullpen in ’21, but his season was waylaid by an early season 80-game suspension for PED use. His stuff was as impressive as ever upon his return, but the utility of that stuff remains a work in progress. With broad shoulders, long levers and an incredibly fast arm, Santos generates elite velocities, sitting in the 97-99 mph range while hitting or exceeding triple digits with regularity. The pitch is a bit flat and gets hit more than the radar gun would suggest, but it’s not even his primary pitch. In fact, opposing hitters see more of his impressive slider, which is noted for both its velocity at 89-91 mph and its unique shape, with good horizontal action and far less vertical movement than most hard breakers. Santos is a bit of a bull in a china shop who just lets it fly and hopes for the best. He generally fills up the zone, but shows little aptitude for working north-to-south or east-to-west. Originally developed as a starter, Santos is a pure ‘pen arm at this point and will head to spring training with a chance to once again impact the Giants relief corps. He projects as a set-up man sort.

Bishop’s exceptionally loud tools made him the 10th overall pick in the 2019 draft despite questions about his ability to make consistent contact. Nearly three years later, those questions remain, mostly because Bishop hasn’t been able to get the necessary reps thanks to a global pandemic and a 2021 season that was mostly lost to shoulder issues. Bishop has plus-plus raw power and is capable of moonshots when he gets a hold of one, but that’s rarely been on display as a pro. While he’s exceptionally patient, at times bordering on passive at the plate, he has a grooved swing that just doesn’t cover much of the zone and leaves him strikeout prone despite the fact that he rarely chases. He remains a plus or better runner who covers more than enough ground in center field, but his fringe arm dipped to disturbingly below average following his return to action. More than anything, Bishop just needs a full and healthy season to get his development back on track, but it’s now been three years since he was a dominant force, which he really only was for a few weeks of pre-conference play during his draft spring.

Bednar didn’t begin the 2021 season as a potential first-round pick, but he ended up going 14th overall after seeing his stock rise throughout a fantastic spring at Mississippi State that included a big bump thanks to his dominating performance in the College World Series. Bednar’s best pitch is a plus low-80s slider with plenty of bite. He does a good job working the edges with the pitch and can generate swings and misses both in and out of the zone. His fastball sits 92-94 mph with plenty of 95-96 offerings thrown in, and he commands the pitch well, showing the ability to elevate with two strikes while also working both sides of the plate. While his changeup was rarely seen in college, it has good action and shouldn’t be a detriment to his development. While Bednar has a sturdy frame that’s built to withstand innings, his delivery is far from pretty, with a quick, violent finish that features a big spin off to the first base side and gives some evaluators reliever vibes. He’ll certainly remain a starter for some time to come, and could move quickly through the system.

Pomares missed the beginning of the 2021 season with a back injury, but upon his return he wasted no time proving his funhouse mirror ’19 AZL slashline was not only repeatable, but surpassable and at a higher level. In his time at Low-A, the then 20-year-old slashed .372/.429/.693 with 14 home runs and 22 doubles. Only once in those 51 games did he go hitless in two consecutive games. That forced a promotion to High-A, which in turn exposed the vulnerabilities in his approach – Pomares struck out 33 times in his 104 plate appearances while walking just once – though he still slugged over .500. Assuming his offensive dip was due to transitional woes that can be worked through, the in-game power he’s shown gives him a much-improved shot at becoming an everyday player.

Toribio split his time between the infield corners in 2021, sharing reps at third with the glove-first Casey Schmitt, but by the end of the season he had been relegated exclusively to first. Even when Schmitt’s season was shortened by injury, the club promoted Yorlis Rodriguez to fill in rather than give Toribio more reps at the hot corner. Given his frame and footwork, that was no real surprise, but it obviously ups the importance of his bat maintaining the boom it promised when he was a teenager. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened for the now 21-year-old at Low-A San Jose in 2021; instead, Toribio struck out 28% of the time and slugged just .356 with a ton of whiffs and groundballs. He would work deep into counts with a patient eye (his walk rate was over 15%) but then find himself lost, looking for heat and sometimes offering goofy swings at breaking balls. There’s no question that in a system that saw many young prospects make notable progress last season, Toribio faltered, with 2021 at the very least serving as a stumbling block. Now that he’s looking like a 1B/DH guy, an offensive return to form is all the more crucial.

Arteaga was a hard prospect to get eyes on before he signed in 2019 and didn’t come stateside for instructs after the 2020 shutdown, adding an air of mystery to the teenage infielder. He bypassed the DSL, instead starting his professional career in Arizona, where he was a standout in the Complex League. While his defense is still his carrying tool – his range, footwork, actions, and athleticism are all stellar – he bucked expectations right away, displaying power at the plate early in the season, including homering in four consecutive games in early July. By the end of the season, he ranked third in home runs and first in RBI in the league. The collection of fields that make up the Giants’ new minor league facility at Papago Park is built on an elevated part of the grounds and there’s nothing to knock down the desert’s swift summer wind, which is often at the backs of the hitters. That’s something to keep in mind when considering the complex performance of Giants bats, including Arteaga. His numbers also came with a strikeout rate over 30%, so there’s still plenty of room for improvement in his approach, but his early production is very promising and there’s room to bulk up on his skinny frame. He was promoted to Low-A San Jose for the last game of the season and can be expected to slot in as their everyday shortstop in 2022.

Schmitt was considered the best two-way player of the 2020 draft when he was selected in the second round, having shined at both third base and as a closer for San Diego State. The Giants committed him to the hot corner, assigning him to Low-A to start 2021. For a college position player draft pick taken as highly as he was, that assignment might have seemed somewhat conservative, but Schmitt still took time to find his footing. In his first month in San Jose, he hit just .143. But even while he was struggling, he was impressively selective at the plate, striking out just 16% of the time against walking at an 8.6% clip, and maintaining solid defense throughout his otherwise rocky first month of pro ball. After that first month, his offensive numbers improved steadily; when his season ended early due to a hand injury in mid-August, his wRC+ stood at 91, but lopping off that first month shoots it up to 117.

Schmitt’s calling card is undoubtedly his defense at third. His combination of quickness, range, and arm strength allow him to make throws from all over the place. In a live look in June, Tess saw him make a diving snag on a grounder that chopped unexpectedly over the bag and still manage to throw out the speedy Noevli Marte at first by half a step. Offensively, Schmitt’s bat path allows him to make solid fly ball contact, but he could afford additional strength from his lower half, which can be a bit stiff. His viability as an everyday player is pinned to his ability to pair his plus defense with in-game power, which he has yet to display.

Mercedes is an ultra-loose, projectable teenager who is already throwing 94-97 mph. He throws from a low arm slot that eliminates the perceived rise created by more over-the-top deliveries and adds tailing action to his fastball, making it crucial that he hit his spots or risk quickly being punished by advanced batters. His body and athleticism lend credence to his ability to start, but his long arm action and borderline-violent delivery add a healthy dose of relief risk to his profile. Mercedes’ looseness has been likened in the past to that of Jacob deGrom, and his delivery has drawn comparisons to those of Camilo Doval and Luis Castillo. Those comps alone speak to his many possible outcomes as Mercedes continues to develop. His fastball shape would best be paired with a changeup, a low-90s version of which he’s mixed in on occasion. His secondary of choice is still his mid-80s slider, which flashes deadly when his feel for it is there, though that feel has been inconsistent. He threw 56.1 innings on the complex in 2021, issuing 62 strikeouts, 25 walks, and 7 HBP, which illustrates the importance of honing his command given the lateral movement on his fastball. He’ll likely slot into the rotation at Low-A San Jose in 2022.

Corry put up some downright silly numbers while earning 2019 South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year honors, but his ’21 showing was defined by plenty of missed bats (as evidenced by a 31.5% strikeout rate) and plenty of pitches missing the zone (as evidenced by a nearly 20% walk rate). Corry has one of the better curveballs around, as the low-80s pitch is a plus-plus banger with heavy two-plane action and late bite. He complements it with a fastball that sits 90-94 mph while touching 96, but the shape of the pitch leaves something to be desired. He’ll flash a plus change that should play a bigger role in his mix if he continues to develop as a starter. Corry can carve up a lineup when he throws strikes, but that was a rarity in 2021, as he had more walks than innings pitched in nearly half of his starts. His lunging, off-line, cross-fire delivery plays a role in his inability to locate, and he struggles mightily to get his fastball to stay on the arm side, leaving him susceptible to damage from opposite-side hitters. Corry finished the year in the bullpen and saw greater success there. His future role is still up in the air and really doesn’t matter until he fills up the zone more.

Mikulski returned for his senior year at Fordham to begin the 2021 season and saw his velocity go from average to excellent while dominating against lesser competition (a 46.8% K rate); he ultimately went to the Giants in the second round. Once topping out at 94 mph, Mikulski now sits there and above, with a 93-96 mph fastball that consistently gets into the upper-90s. He has two breaking balls but his mid-80s slider will have far greater professional utility than his slow, looping curveball, which will likely see reduced usage as his development progresses. Despite the ability to overpower hitters with the hard stuff, Mikulski also has confidence in a solid changeup that drops off the table at times. It’s an intriguing package, but with it comes fringy control and command and some questions about a delivery that features a sizable head whack and plenty of off-line momentum, leaving scouts mixed on his future role. Mid-rotation duty and high-leverage relief work are equally likely down the road, but this is a nice piece of clay to hand to San Francisco’s player dev group.

Dabovich was seen as a reliever who could get to the big leagues quickly when the Giants made him a fourth-round pick out of Arizona State in 2020 and he showed why during his pro debut, putting up a nearly 50% strikeout rate while reaching Double-A. There’s nothing complicated about Dabovich’s approach. He attacks with a 95-97 mph fastball than touches 99 while featuring plus vertical action, and complements it with a plus curve than gains greater efficacy from its velocity than its movement. The Giants quickly recognized this and had Dabovich throw his breaker harder as the season went on; it now sits in the 85-87 mph range. Dabovich has the kind of stuff he can just let eat if he throws strikes with it, but his control waivers, and it completely abandoned him at times during an Arizona Fall League stint during which he allowed just four hits while striking out 15 over 10.2 innings, but also walked 12. He has eighth-inning big league stuff and could reach San Francisco at some point during the 2022 season, but it will take more strikes to get there.

Swiney turned a dominant (and unexpected) four-start run at North Carolina State during the COVID-shortened 2020 season into a seven-figure bonus as a second round selection. He put up a 42% strikeout rate in his pro debut, but was limited to just 32.1 innings due to a concussion. Swiney has excelled so far off funk, deception, and quality offspeed pitches. He has one of the better changeups in the system, with excellent tumbling action, and the Giants were able to add of couple of ticks of velocity to his curveball, which now sits in the upper-70s and features tremendous depth. Both are above-average offerings, and he needs them, as his 88-92 mph fastball is underwhelming. Swiney and the Giants both understand his strengths and weaknesses, and he pitches backwards, throwing his fastball less than a third of the time. The Giants have also smoothed out his mechanics, and while he’s still not the picture of athleticism on the mound, he has a much calmer finish to his delivery than he once did. Swiney’s secondary pitches feature so much movement that he has trouble commanding them, leading to walks and high pitch counts; this will be a focus of his development in 2022. He has the ceiling of a No. 4/5 starter.

While he lacked impressive tools, Wilson’s performance over his three years at North Carolina State was hard to ignore. The Angels made him a first-round pick in 2019 but quickly moved him to San Francisco in order to facilitate dumping Zack Cozart’s salary. Wilson’s full-season debut was a massive disappointment, leaving scouts wondering about his future defensive home, as well as the utility of his bat. Wilson’s most promising skill is his combination of power and the ability to play up the middle. He has the strength and bat speed to produce 20-plus home runs annually, but that’s going to take more contact, as he struggled to adjust to pro-level velocity and break in 2021, and his big leg kick at swing initiation has a tendency to create timing issues. He’s not a twitchy shortstop and is a fringy runner, but he has the instincts and arm to make him a competent defender in the 40-45 range there. He played six different positions during his Arizona Fall League stint, which might be where he future lies: as a utility player who can run into a few home runs coming off the bench.

Beck was seen as a low-variance/low-ceiling starter in the 2018 draft, but he’s had trouble staying healthy as a pro, as back issues (which also hampered him in college) limited him to just 37.1 innings last year, which means he still needs to prove he can handle the grind of taking the bump every five days over the course of an entire season. When healthy, Beck still looks like a potential No. 5 starter, with a game defined more by location and the depth of his arsenal than pure stuff. Beck’s best offering is a plus curveball with tight spin and hard downward break. It’s his only offering to consistently miss bats, as he tries to set it up with a relatively generic low-90s fastball while also mixing in an average slider and change to go with an occasional cutter. He’s a control over command type who will need to find greater precision in order to navigate a dangerous lineup. He currently fits into the very large bucket of future up-down starting pitchers, but 10% of that group finds a way to stick. To do that, Beck has to stay healthy first.

Murphy was a money-saving fifth round pick in 2020, but he’s turned himself into a bit of a prospect after putting up one of the best statistical seasons in the system during his pro debut, with a bonkers 164-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 107.1 innings. Murphy dominated A-Ball mostly as a result of plus command and control. He not only pounds the strike zone but also shows an uncanny ability to locate both north-to-south and east-to-west. That said, scouts still wonder if he has a true in-zone weapon that will work against more advanced hitters. His stuff isn’t bad, so much as it’s a kitchen sink of average offerings, including a low-90s fastball, two breaking balls (with the slider exceeding the curve), and a solid changeup. Murphy has put himself on the prospect map and has the potential to assume a back-of-the-rotation spot, but he’ll need to prove it at every level.

Ragsdale looks every bit of his 6-foot-8, somehow seeming to tack on additional length on the mound with an over-the-top delivery. The angle created by his height aids a snappy curveball, and while his mid-90s fastball lost some velocity over the course of the 2021 season, there’s still room on his lanky frame to add muscle and sustain his velo for a whole summer. His location also faltered a bit in the last few weeks of the season, but given the fact that he threw more innings than anyone else in Low-A in his first year of professional ball (113.2) and posted a 33.8% K-rate in the process, the relative lack of stamina is understandable. His fastball/curveball combination is enough to land him at the back of a rotation, with the possibility of moving up if he develops a consistent third offering (there’s a cutter in there somewhere) and the bullpen there as a fallback.

Genovés was seen as a defense-first catcher with some power entering the year, but dramatic improvements in the quality of his swing decisions led to a big first half at the plate, though he failed to replicate that breakout after moving up to High-A. Genovés has plus raw power that he began to tap into more in 2021 thanks to a more patient approach that saw him using a greater portion of his swings on pitches he could drive. There’s nothing subtle about his mechanics, and he will likely always have some swing-and-miss issues, so the hopeful projection is for a low batting average that is buoyed by walks and home runs. Despite his bulky frame, Genovés moves well behind the plate and has plus arm strength, a combination that provides for a projection as a plus defender. Further adjustments with the bat could lead to a future as a second-division starter, but we’ll need to see more of the first-half Genovés and less of the second-half one in order to say that with greater confidence.

Rodriguez entered the year as a dime-a-dozen smallish reliever with some arm strength, but an impressive full-season debut at San Jose put him firmly among the better reliever prospects in the system. He has incredible arm quickness, sitting 94-96 mph and touching 99. The fastball comes out of a three-quarters release and fails to shine in terms of shape and spin, but Rodriguez’s closed off delivery hides the ball well and seems to add a bit of deception. He complements the heater with a low-80s slider that grades out as plus and features the big horizontal sweeping action that is becoming fashionable in the pitch data world. Rodriguez throws more strikes than your average young power ‘pen arm, which should help accelerate his development. He has set-up possibilities and several paths to a variety of big league relief roles.

A 23rd-round pick in 2017 out of a MAC school, not much was expected from Delaplane, but he’s whiffed more than 40% of minor league hitters as a pro, including posting a rate over 45% in ’19. Unfortunately, that’s the last time he threw a professional inning, but his performance and pitch data was enough for the Giants to pick him up in a waiver-wire move last May despite the fact that he was going to miss the year due to Tommy John surgery. Delaplane has middling velocity for a reliever, parking his four-seam fastball in the 92-94 mph range while reaching back for 96 at times, but the heater lights up pitch grades thanks to outstanding, exceptionally vertical shape and plenty of rising action. His mid-80s slider features big spin but little break due to the spin being of the rifle variety, but that lack of action can provide a strange deception and it’s hard to argue with the results. His command and control have improved as a pro, and grades out as average. Delaplane won’t return to the mound until 2022, but a healthy version has the ability to help the San Francisco bullpen in ’23.

Castro converted from catching to the mound late in his amateur career and while he hadn’t pitched outside of short-season ball entering the 2020 season, he was the talk of Instructional League and moved to a bullpen roll in order to hasten his advancement to the big leagues. Challenged with an assignment to Triple-A to enter the 2021 season, he excelled in short stints and ended the year with 10 scoreless appearances with the major league club. Nearly as wide as he is tall, Castro leans heavily on a two-pitch mix, with his bread and butter being a mid-90s fastball that can touch 98 mph and plays even better than the velocity thanks to vertical shape and rising action. He has a weird low-80s curve that features solid depth despite low-spin rates, but the pitch is highly inconsistent, flashing both plus and fringy. Unlike many ex-catchers on the mound, Castro has an easy arm action and repeats his delivery well. But while his control is solid, his command can be a bit spotty at times. He’ll likely break camp in the big leagues, and should have a long career as a seventh/eighth inning type.

Sugastey was another member of the Giants’ consequential 2019 international signing class. He spent 2021 on the complex, where his ability to hit consistently was on full display; he ended the season hitting .358 and striking out just 16% of the time. His catching is significantly less spectacular, but it’s fair to allow some runway as he develops new defensive habits under professional coaching. Despite being just 19, his frame is fully filled-out, leaving little in the way of body projection. But his bat is loud and he plays a position of extreme difficulty, one lacking offensive competence at the big league level.

Hjelle has made a slow and steady climb towards the big leagues since being a second-round pick out of Kentucky in 2018, but some Triple-A struggles during the second half of last season still have him more on the verge of the majors than actually ready for them. Any discussion of Hjelle starts with his NBA center frame. His height and long arms create an exceptionally unusual look for hitters, but unlike most pitchers of immense size, Hjelle is actually more of a finesse arm who fills the zone with decent-at-best stuff. His 92-94 mph fastball features sub-optimal shape and got hit hard at 2021 amid a nearly 400 rpm drop in spin rate compared to his numbers in ’19. Most evaluators prefer the quality of his low-80s slider, but he tends to use the pitch solely to generate chases as opposed to trusting it within the zone; his slider spin rates were also down a few hundred rpm. His changeup, meanwhile, has improved since his college days but remains fringy. There’s some chance that he tightens things up and becomes an acceptable No. 5 starter, but there’s an equal chance that he’s just an up-and-down starter or the type who finds success playing in Asia.

Teng has performed at every level since signing out of Taiwan, including a 2021 campaign that saw him register 142 punch outs over just 95.2 innings at High-A Eugene. Teng’s offspeed arsenal is of big league quality. He has a pair of power breakers in the low-to-mid-80s — a clearly distinct slider and curveball — and he shows the ability to challenge hitters in the zone or elicit chases with both. Some evaluators have also put plus grades on his sneaky changeup. He’ll need to lean on those offerings more as he moves into the upper minors, as his low-90s fastball is disturbingly flat and a below-average pitch. Listed at 260 pounds, Teng’s chunky frame limits his athleticism, and despite one of the simpler, easier looking deliveries around, his ability to locate can waver at times. He has a chance to backwards-pitch his way into a back-of-the-rotation role, with the backup plan of being a middle reliever who keeps hitters off balance with a steady diet of secondary pitches.

The Giants drafted Rivera out of an Alabama JUCO twice, moving him up the board from a 32nd round selection in 2017 to a fourth round pick 12 months later. As a pro he’s shown good stuff while struggling to locate, and he missed most of 2021 with shoulder issues. Rivera has two plus pitches. His over-the-top delivery generates ideal shape on a 93-95 mph fastball, and once ahead in the count, he can end at-bats both in and out of the zone with a plus power curve than features outstanding spin rates and depth. He’s not wild but he’s far from precise, and his fastball always up/curveball always down approach can become a bit predictable. He can change the grip on his fastball to create more of a two-seamer, but the pitch doesn’t really drop as much as it creates a worse shape. He also has a decent change. It’s a bit of a heave in terms of delivery and most scouts think he’d be better off in the bullpen. How the Giants see Rivera will be revealed with his 2022 role, but most see the makings of a future big league reliever within.

Auerbach is just flat out fun. He played two years of JUCO ball before transferring to Alabama in 2019. After putting up serviceable numbers during his junior year and on the Cape during the summer that followed it, he absolutely erupted as a senior. He was slashing .388/.506/.642, walking nearly twice as often as he struck out, and had already swiped 12 bags in 17 games when the season was abruptly cut short due to the pandemic. Still, Auerbach went undrafted that summer, and in truth, the sample provided by his 86 plate appearances in 2020 likely wasn’t the only thing deemed too small to bank on, as Auerbach is listed at a perhaps generous 5-foot-9. His swing is quite flat and he was somewhat vulnerable to fastballs at his hands in college, which heightened concern about his ability to produce consistent power.

After spending 2020 honing his swing mechanics and reworking the rotation in his lower half, Auerbach signed with the Giants, and was determined to demonstrate his potential in his first year of pro ball. He spent his first two months at Low-A, where he walked a ton and posted a .907 OPS. That earned him a promotion to High-A, where his average and walk-rate dipped a bit but his power exploded. And that’s before you mention his defense. He split his time between third base and catcher at ‘Bama, and he would regularly post in-game pop times under two seconds behind the plate. As a minor leaguer, he’s already spent time at catcher, second, and third, as well as all three outfield positions, adding value to his overall profile. He’s a pocket rocket utility guy who it’s easy to picture as a coveted role player, especially if the power is sustainable.

Glowenke was stationed at second base all of 2021, which was no surprise given his arm issues and relative lack of quickness on the left side of the infield pre-draft. His profile heading into last season was that of a heavy-footed, role-playing infielder, but without the power to make him truly comparable to a Wilmer Flores type. His 2021 was hard to hang a hat on, characterized by alternating extended streaks of misery and success. He did tap into power in spurts during the season, though when his power increased, it seemed to come at the expense of what is typically a remarkably low whiff-rate (he hit five doubles and five home runs, but struck out 32% of the time, as opposed to the low-20s he’d been maintaining prior). The trick will be maintaining the increased power without it resulting in errant hacks at pitches he’d otherwise know to lay off. We still think Glowenke has a good shot to be an above replacement-level player in a low-impact bench role.

Plassmeyer is already on his third organization and nothing has changed about his scouting profile as a low-ceiling extreme strike thrower with sub-standard stuff. His 89-91 mph fastball features a bit of sink, and while he’s tried to cover the heater by adding a cutter to his profile, it’s yet to develop into a true weapon. His slider and changeup both fall into the average bucket, but what makes Plassmeyer stand out is his ability to throw strikes, as evidenced by a career professional walk rate under 5%. He not only fills the box but locates within it as well, which allows everything to play up a bit. Every system has one or two of these guys and only one or two out of that entire pool end up being precise enough to survive in the big leagues.

Silva’s smallish frame scared teams out of first-round consideration, but the Giants still selected him in the fourth round and signed him to a bonus more apt for the early second. What Silva lacks in size, he makes up for in terms of athleticism and stuff. His fastball settles in at 92-94 mph and can touch 95-96 at times, but the best part of his arsenal is a pair of power breaking balls, with both his slider and curveball featuring plenty of spin and movement. He shows some feel for a changeup that was rarely seen in high school and will be a big part of his development going forward. He has an aesthetically pleasing delivery and throws strikes, so it’s a starter package if he can show the ability to hold up to a full season’s workload.

McDonald was a late pop up in the 2019 draft out of a high school in rural Mississippi; the Giants used their excess bonus pool money to sign him out of the 11th round for nearly $800,000. His 2021 season in the Complex League was a mixed bag, but he dominated at times. McDonald’s breaking balls are his ticket to the big leagues. His low-80s curveball has more sweeping action than his down-turning upper-80s slider, but there’s natural ability to spin on display (his breaking ball spin rates are were up a few hundred rpm in 2021 compared to our previously sourced data) and he’s comfortable throwing either pitch at any point the count. His fastball sits 93-95 mph and features a bit of sink and run thanks to a long, slingy arm action and low three-quarters release. His changeup has decent action, but is often too firm. He’s not the most physical presence, and between that and the delivery, there are still some fair questions as to his future role. Those questions will be much easier to answer after a full 2022 campaign.

A third round pick last July, Black impressed scouts in a pair of sterling summer-league performances but never really dominated Patriot League hitters as much as one would expect. He has a power frame to go with a strong delivery that features tremendous extension thanks to a huge stride, and sits 93-96 mph with a fastball that features good shape and movement. He has a solid changeup but his slider is of the fringy variety, and there are questions as to just how much natural spin he has. There’s reliever risk here, and like many pitchers drafted in 2021, he’s yet to make his pro debut. He’ll likely begin his career as a starter, with the Giants adjusting from there if necessary.

A fourth round pick out of Louisville in 2019, Fitzgerald began to tap into his raw power during Instructional League play in ’20. That progress carried into 2021, as after hitting just one home run over 214 plate appearances in his pro debut, he blasted 19 over 103 games for Eugene. Black has plus bat speed and makes consistent hard contact from gap-to-gap, with nearly half of his 2021 hits going for extra bases. He can get aggressive in the box and is prone to chasing at times, and with his new found pop has come a longer bat path with a big leg kick and significantly more swing-and-miss than had been seen in the past. Fitzgerald isn’t especially twitchy and while he can man shortstop at a 40-45 clip, he also saw plenty of time at second and third base in 2021. If he can find the right balance between his hit and power tools, there’s the ceiling of a second-division starter in Fitzgerald, but his most likely big league outcome is that of a utility player.

A little-known 18th round pick out of West Alabama in 2019, Waites missed most of the 2021 season recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus, but when he returned, he whiffed 31 of the 47 batters he faced while allowing just one hit. Waites certainly has the presence of a big league closer, with big hair, a prominent beard, and a fiery intensity to his game. He sat 96-98 mph early in his return while touching triple digits on multiple occasions, but slipped to a more frequent 95-96 range by season’s end. His mid-80s slider is driven more by velocity than movement, but it still grades out as plus. Waites’ violent delivery features all sorts of arms and legs coming at hitters, and while that creates some additional discomfort for the opposition, it also creates quite significant command and control problems. Waites has high-leverage relief potential if he can harness his stuff, but it’s far from the most likely future scenario.

Berroa put up an impressive 32% strikeout rate during his full-season debut in 2021, but between his sub-six-foot frame, a rough delivery, a lack of command and his reliance on just two pitches for the most part, everything about him screams future reliever. Berroa certainly has arm strength, sitting 94-96 mph with his fastball while getting into the upper-90s and leaving many scouts with the belief that he could sit there with greater regularity in shorter stints. He’s missing a plus second pitch, with his slider just average and his rare changeup still in the 40-45 range. There’s a wildness to Berroa’s overall game, and there are stretches where he just flat out can’t find the zone. At some point, the Giants will give up the starter ghost on Berrea and when they do, he could move quickly into a middle relief role and possibly more if his stuff ticks up out of the ‘pen.