Top 40 Prospects: San Francisco Giants

The Giants’ dusty, tightly-confined backfields abut a gym with the sort of athleisure-wearing clientele you’d expect in Scottsdale. In January of 2019, when most baseball facilities across the country were dark, just feet away from oblivious Peloton riders and tennis-playing retirees, a few lucky scouts and media folks had a religious experience watching the sweetest-swinging teenager on Earth absolutely roast balls fed to his barrel by a high-speed pitching machine. Because of how close you can sit next to the field there, you can feel the sonic force of bat-to-ball impact radiate into your body. When Marco Luciano connects, you feel it to your core. He is not normal. To find bat speed comps you need to look toward Javier Báez, Eric Davis, or whoever the top of your mental catalog might be. And while he already generates plenty of it, Luciano’s square-shouldered frame indicated more power might be coming. After hitting the weight room throughout 2020, he weighed in for 2021 Spring Training at a square-shouldered 208, nearly 30 pounds heavier than his 2019 listed weight. The length created by Luciano’s natural, uppercut swing is offset by the explosiveness in his hands; he’s not particularly strikeout-prone and he doesn’t take out-of-control hacks. Unless something unforeseen is exposed about Luciano’s approach as he moves through the minors, all of this power seems likely to actualize in games. His AZL walk rate is encouraging early evidence that he’s unlikely to be so exposed.

As an athlete and infielder, Luciano is only fair. He might play a passable shortstop one day because his hands and actions are fine most of the time, but he can’t presently make strong, accurate throws from multiple platforms and his routine tosses to first don’t have that silky smooth shortstop vibe. It looks increasingly likely, especially now that he’s added a bunch of weight, that he’ll move to either third base or the outfield, enough so that some scouts have him projected there. But it’s too early, from a developmental standpoint, to cut bait and move him. He has elite hitting talent, he’s produced on paper, and he already has an average exit velo and a hard-hit rate that grade as 65s on the big league scale. If he continues to perform, especially if he hits his way to the upper levels, then this time next year we’ll be talking about Marco Luciano as one of the best prospects in baseball, and if he does so while improving his infield defense, perhaps the best. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)

Is Bart gonna Zunino? The synchronicity is uncanny. A college catcher, whose profile is driven by power and defense, goes in the top five but is rushed to the big leagues before his bat is ready, which has potential long-term consequences for his upside. Bart had only seen about a month’s worth of at-bats above A-ball before the Giants decided to promote him. He did very well in those 32 games, hitting for huge power at Double-A during the final few weeks of 2019, then for the first two weeks of the 2019 Fall League, until a fractured his right thumb ended his season. In that narrow window of health we saw glimpses of Bart’s power with physically fit phalanges. Whether he’ll get to his power in games is now in doubt since Bart struck out in 42% of his big league plate appearances in 2020. He was both chasing and missing in the zone at higher rates than the big league average. This comes after 550 minor league plate appearances with a paltry 6% walk rate. Should we have seen an approach red flag here? Bart walked at a 10% clip in college.

With new questions about his bat, Bart’s defensive tools become the foundation of his skillset. He’s Mike Alstott’s size but with the lateral quickness and ground game of a small-framed catcher. He’s quick out of his crouch and throws accurate lasers to second base. He also has field general qualities: he’s a rousing, vocal leader at times, a calming presence at others. Still likely to be an everyday catcher, Bart’s ceiling is now dictated entirely by how much of his power he can get to in games. (Alternate site, MLB)

Ramos’ feel for opposite field contact developed out of necessity when his physical tools dipped in 2018. That turned out to be valuable when they returned in 2019 and half of his 16 homers were hit to the right of center field. Ramos’ bat head drags into the zone, which would cause most hitters to be late, but Ramos’ swing just scoops fly balls to right field, and his strength pushes them toward the heavens. Some of the strikeout issues (25% at Hi-A, 30% at Double-A) become less concerning when you remember Ramos was 19 years old all year, but they become a bit troubling again when you realize he’s destined for a corner.

Built like a boulder stacked on two Iberico hams, Ramos is already slowing down, and he was an average runner in the 2019 Fall League and has looked rusty in the outfield during his 2021 Spring reps in the outfield. It’s not great if he is suddenly a corner guy with whiff/discipline issues, though his plate discipline was much more palatable in 2019. Retaining that will be important or we’re just talking about a Randal Grichuk sequel. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)

Matos has a freaky ability to rotate and can move the barrel all over the hitting zone. He doesn’t have the typical, big-framed body projection that a lot of power/speed teenage outfielders do, but in some ways that’s a positive, as I think it makes him less likely to outgrow center field. It’s possible he has underlying issues (breaking ball recognition, an expansive approach, or any number of other things) that we just don’t know about yet because rookie-level pitching isn’t capable of shedding light on them and we lost a bigger, more relevant 2020 sample with which to unearth that stuff. But I thought he looked fantastic against advanced Fall Instructional League pitching and his tools are a clip above most elite high schoolers about his age. (Fall Instructional League)

Three months and about three miles per hour of velocity separate Santos and Kumar Rocker. If a college arm were to come out of the gate with stuff as good as Santos showed during 2020 Instructional League, they’d be the early-season favorite to go first in the draft. Santos worked 97-99 and touched 100 while incorporating both a changeup and slider capable of missing bats, and his sliders are often double-plus. His body is big and maxed out but it’s not “bad,” and while his delivery looks a little clunky, it’s never prevented him from throwing strikes. He’s not a touch-and-feel starter type with pinpoint control, but Santos is going to bully the strike zone with plus stuff that tails and bends in different directions. This is not all new from Santos, either, as he’s been 93-96 with a plus slider and above-average changeup in the past. The instructs velocity is an indication he’s healthy. He looked incredible in the spring of 2019 but two IL stints, including one for a shoulder injury, derailed what could have been a breakout year. There’s considerable relief risk here because of the injury history. As such, Santos is on the Top 100 list right next to Luis Medina, who is also 21, has three real weapons, and relief risk. The Giants acquired Santos from Boston as part of the Eduardo Núñez trade. (Fall Instructional League)

Bailey is a polished switch-hitter who performed throughout his college career (he hit .302/.411/.568 during his time at North Carolina State) and plays a premium position. He’s not only a capable hitter from both sides of the plate, but has rare feel for contact from each, utilizing a gap approach from the right side and more of a pull/lift one from the left. Bailey’s swing is minimalistic and effective. He can adjust his posture to help him cover the outer half and he’s so short to the ball that he can catch fastballs at the top of the zone.

Bailey’s a fine receiver and blocker. He caught on one knee until a runner reached base in college (at least in my looks) but has been entirely on one knee (even with runners on) during 2021 big league spring training, splaying one leg way out to the side to act as a dam for breaking pitches in the dirt. Most of Bailey’s good pop times rest around 1.95, which is about average. He has a very good chance to be an everyday catcher but likely lacks the offensive impact to be star, unless he ends up with a 70-grade hit tool, which is in play. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)

Bishop changed his college commitment late (he was originally going to play two sports at Washington), and headed to ASU. After struggling as an underclassman, he arrived for his junior season with a better body and quieter swing, and exploded, slashing .342/.479/.748 in 2019. He sent many non-conference pitches rocketing into Phoenix’s midnight sky before he started seeing — and swinging over the top of — Pac-12 breaking balls. He was hitting .450 when PAC play began, struck out in 26% of his plate appearances, and finished hitting .342. Whether this was a real problem was the subject of many draft room debates, as was Bishop’s relatively short track record of performance. Because the 2020 season was banged due to COVID, we still have very little quantifiable idea of how Bishop will handle a better cross section of breaking balls than he saw early in his junior year. He crushed middle-in pitches at the alt site but continued to waive at back foot breaking stuff. If he can indeed learn to lay off of those or drop the bat head and hit them, then he’s going to be a star.

Bishop has rare physical tools. He’s a plus runner and will post 70 run times to first on occasion, has solid feel for center field and huge, playable power. It’s unclear why his arm strength dipped as a junior when it was an asset earlier in his career, but it’s not a significant part of the skillset and I heard nothing odd about his pre-draft medical, so for now I’m looking the other way. He’s a Pick to Click who just needs to generate a little more confidence in his hit tool. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)

Harrison was tougher to see at 2020 instructs than most other pitchers because the Giants did not allow scouts behind home plate at their minor league complex (which was smart — it’s pretty cramped on those metal bleachers). That meant he had to be seen when he pitched on the road. After he topped out at 94 during his pre-draft summer, Harrison was up to 97 in the Fall of 2020. This is not a traditional high school pitching prospect. Harrison has a prototypical frame but his delivery is an anomaly. He gets very low to the ground and takes a huge stride home, then throws two-seamers from a sidearm slot. The combination of the low slot and drop-and-drive style delivery creates a very low release point, and then flat, sometimes upward angle on Harrison’s fastballs. He can create arm-side tailing action on his heater (to set up a precocious changeup) and also run it up the ladder. And of course because Harrison’s slot makes him a very uncomfortable at-bat for left-handed hitters, and his curveball has the sweeping action most readers associate with a lower-slot lefty pitcher, that pitch is very likely to have at least some amount of utility. He looked like a sinker pitchability prospect during my high school looks but the spike in velocity and improved fastball utility raise his ceiling considerably. Now we’re looking at a young prospect who had a pitchability foundation, albeit one with a strange look, experiencing a pretty significant velocity spike. (Fall Instructional League)

Toribio is another hitter who I’ve seen rake a lot during last two years on the complex, reinforcing my long-term confidence in his ability to hit even though he’s in a high-risk demographic as a corner-only player who needs to rake. Toribio’s approach is geared for all-fields contact but he’s so strong that he often hits for power by mistake. More than any of the other young hitters on this list, and more than most college underclass hitters the same age, Toribio is a fully formed physical entity, a brawny, heavy-footed thumper who looks like Aramis Ramirez did in his prime. That sort of physicality at this age creates risk that he’ll outgrow third base, and it’s very likely that, even if he stays there, he’ll only be passable at the position. But over the last year he’s not only kept his body in check but has actually become a bit more svelte and cut. Toribio’s power and feel to hit — he has some head violence when he takes big hacks, but still generates a loud, heavy thwack when his swing is more controlled and precise — means he might profile at first base should he have to move. If he stays at third and the bat-to-ball skills hold, he could be an above-average regular. (Fall Instructional League)

Corry was a pretty raw fastball/curveball high school prospect, and to some extent that overview still describes him even though he paved over Low-A hitters in 2019, striking out 172 in 122 innings. Corry walked a batter every other inning that year, and yet it was his most consistent stretch of strike-throwing as a pro. His heater wandered again throughout 2020 instructs, but Corry exhibited an uptick in velocity there (92-95 in my look, which is up from 90-94 in 2019). Though it’s not as consistent as his shapely curveball, Corry’s changeup has improved in pro ball, giving him three viable weapons. It’s starter’s stuff with reliever’s control, which is why Corry projects as a multi-inning reliever at present.

Ordinarily I’d worry about Corry’s curveball playing down a bit because it’s paired with a sinker, but it has really great depth and, at times, some arm-side action that gives it extra utility against righty hitters. Folks who have seen young Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal can use that as a fair delivery comp for Corry, who also has a swooping, high-3/4s arm swing that creates tough angle on his stuff, though Corry’s isn’t as loose and fluid as Skubal’s. He’s a fairly stiff, short strider, just not the type of on-mound athlete who typically ends up starting. But again, Corry has a heavy mid-90s fastball with tough angle, a plus curveball, and enough sink on his change to induce weak contact, at least. I think this sort of pitcher is best deployed as a four-out fireman. (Fall Instructional League)

Wilson was an Angel for half a year before he was tethered to Zack Cozart‘s contract and traded to the Giants during the 2019 Winter Meetings, a prospect burp to clear budgetary room at the big league level. Except for his bat speed, Wilson was not a traditional first round talent based on visual evaluations. He’s a relatively projectionless, medium-framed infielder. He lacked the strikeout-to-walk ratios usually associated with the analytically-driven first round college hitters but he was very young for a college player, still just 20 on draft day. Wilson’s hands work great in the box and his swing is as compact as his frame, so he’s tough to beat with velo. It’s becoming more common for teams to seek profiles like Wilson’s, in the Jedd Gyrko/Paul DeJong mold. Defensive issues that might disqualify a player in a vacuum are hidden by improved defensive positioning, and it lets teams shoehorn someone with more pop than is ordinary at a valuable position. This encapsulates Wilson, who is seeing time all over the infield. He doesn’t have the pitch-tracking/hand-eye skills I typically associate with that kind of hitter but he’s going to make a ton of contact because of how short his swing is, and a lot of it will be hard because of his bat speed. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)

Beck was a central casting SoCal prep pitching prospect (88-92 with frame projection and one hell of a curveball) whose senior season of high school was beset by weird injuries, including a bout with severe dehydration and an on-field collision. He ended up at Stanford, but missed his draft-eligible sophomore year due to a stress reaction in his back. When he returned as a redshirt sophomore, Beck’s stuff was back but his command was often erratic. The Braves took a fourth-round flier on him in 2018, and by the time they traded him to San Francisco for Mark Melancon in 2019, Beck was throwing harder and working with a much better changeup.

He now has four viable pitches. The curveball is still the headliner, but the change is flashing plus now, too. He was sitting 93-94 when I saw him in the Fall. If I shot him with the high speed camera that day, I can’t find the files. His previous slomo footage (in the linked video) showed clear room for improvement in his fastball release. That’s from his first start with the Giants org, and it’s possible that’s gotten better. He looks like a No. 4/5 starter and might be more than that if his feel for creating action on his fastball can still improve. (Fall Instructional League)

Canario is still not a polished, skillful hitter — he has mediocre natural timing and feel to hit, and his front side often leaks, which leaves him vulnerable against breaking balls — so his 2019 batting average was higher than what I expect moving forward. Barring some kind of approach and pitch recognition miracle, Canario is likely to have a 40-grade bat and needs to hit for huge power to profile in an outfield corner (he’s not fast enough for center field). But he does have ridiculous power and elite bat speed, way up there in Clint Frazier land, which gives Canario a power-driven pathway to everyday duty.

Canario struggled with swing and miss all over the zone at the Giants’ alternate site but he also continued to barrel pitches down and away from him. A lot of pull-heavy power hitters like the inside pitch, but Canario is best when he’s getting extended and catching stuff away from him. His swing is a bit grooved, and he can’t move the bat all over the zone to make good contact; it just comes middle-away. He came to 2020 instructs a high-priority evaluation for opposing teams because of his pending 40-man/Rule 5 deadline, and matters were complicated when Canario tore his left labrum and needed surgery. It arguably made him more draftable in the Rule 5 since he could perhaps spend more of the following year on the IL. The Giants 40-man’d the raw 20-year-old, but he’s probably behind several NRI players on any sort of practical org depth chart because his at-bat quality is so green. This is a risky corner bat, but Canario has potential middle-of-the-order talent because of the raw power. He has huge ceiling if the hit/approach component improves, but I wonder if the compressed developmental timeline created by his presence on the 40-man and potential lingering effects from the injury might make that tough. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)

Genovés is an acceptable receiver with a plus arm. He’s built like one of the Moai sculptures on Easter Island and lacks lateral agility, which might lead a few extra wild pitches to skip away from him, and this is especially true now that he’s begun catching on one leg, even with runners on base. He profiles back there pretty comfortably, even though he’s not yet a perfect, complete defender. Genovés is procedurally advanced for a 20-year-old, and he has the leadership qualities and intangibles that have an outsized impact at catcher. Because he’s going to stay back there and because he has impact power, enough to put balls out to right center, Genovés has a puncher’s chance to be a regular.

There’s some obvious positional redundancy in this org. Joey Bart and Patrick Bailey (especially as a hitter) are both more advanced than Genovés, but Genovés’ 40-man timeline (he’s already Rule 5 eligible at age 21) means he’ll need to be rostered before Bailey. That might compress his development in a weird way, or make him a trade candidate. There are lots of catchers who only first make an offensive impact in their mid-20s and most of them are like Genovés: huge-framed guys with power. I think Genovés may be an early-career backup who ends up an everyday player toward the backend of his pre-free agency years, so I’ve got him placed pretty aggressively here, especially for someone who was just passed over in the Rule 5. This is also a bet on 2019 minor league xStats I’ve sourced that show that Genovés’ output was superlative. (Fall Instructional League)

Schmitt’s report reads like a watered down Matt Chapman or a variant of college Sheldon Neuse or J.D. Davis, all 3B/RPs. Schmitt has a solid, well-rounded offensive skill set that combines above-average bat control and hitting ability with fringe raw power. It’s not a sexy, high-ceiling look, but when you pair it with plus defense at third base, the entire package starts to look like an everyday player. Schmitt can make throws from all kinds of weird platforms and he has plus raw arm strength (he was up to 96 on the mound in college) that helps him on defense, too. He may need to refine his approach to hit for sufficient in-game power to actually play every day. Right now he has a take-what’s-given approach on offense and his feel for contact is good enough to make that work (he eliminates his leg kick with two strikes). He looks like a David Freese-type of player. (Fall Instructional League)

Swiney pitched out of the North Carolina State bullpen as a freshman and sophomore (and he walked a hitter roughly every other inning), then went on a dominant four-start run to begin the shortened 2020 season (28 innings, 42 K, 6 BB). During that stretch he had surprisingly precise east/west fastball command even though he has a high-effort delivery that includes a head whack similar to Hideki Okajima‘s. He only sits 89-92 and peaked at 93, but because of how he locates and the deception added by the delivery, Swiney’s heater plays fine. His changeup and spike curveball are both above-average pitches at their best, and Swiney’s cambio is the more consistent of the two, both in quality and location. It’s No. 4/5 starter stuff with some weird, value-adding secondary traits that could enable more, so long as the one-month stretch of better command actually sticks. (Fall Instructional League)

Pomares’ nutty triple slash line in the 2019 AZL is a caricature of his true ability, especially his power, but I was still pretty surprised when I sourced his exit velo data and found it was already above the big league average. Pomares not only makes impact contact to his pull side but also has the ability to slash balls the other way. He punishes pitchers who try to double up on breaking balls against him, and he has several other hitterish traits, so his bat-to-ball skills are what drives his prospect profile right now. He’s not a speedster and has more of a tweener defensive look, so he needs to hit for more in-game power than I have currently projected to profile as a slam dunk everyday player in a corner. It’s a skill set very similar to Mickey Moniak‘s (above-average feel for contact, below-average approach, fringe fit in center) but just a couple years behind him developmentally. (Fall Instructional League)

Rivera has an Emilio Pagán body and delivery comp, and he has natural proclivity for spin. His power stuff — 92-96 with cut action and a plus-plus curveball — fits like a glove in a relief role, projected here as a third banana sort, a single-inning guy you’d see in the seventh or eighth. (Fall Instructional League)

There’s no change to Hjelle’s blurb since he was not at last year’s alt site, instead doing remote work in Richmond, VA: Hjelle body comps to a young Pau Gasol and he’s remarkably athletic for his size. His delivery is graceful and fluid, and he has no trouble repeating it nor fielding his position, as he’s quick off the mound to corral bunts and cover first base, both of which can be challenging for XXL pitchers. Hjelle’s (it’s pronounced like peanut butter and _____ ) fastball only sits in the low-90s but plays up because of extension, life, and the angle created by his height. Those traits in concert with one another make for a heater that competes for whiffs in the zone. The secondaries are closer to average, often below, though Hjelle can locate them. He’s a pretty safe No. 4/5 starter candidate, though I might be underrating how uncomfortable he is to hit against. (At-home dev)

Castro had been in the Honorable Mention section of the Giants list because he was a young conversion guy with arm strength whose fastball had impact underlying traits (spin axis, flat angle). He also flashed a plus changeup during past Instructional League looks, but at 2020 instructs he showed both a little velocity bump (he was 91-94 in 2019, then touching 97 last fall) and a power-pitcher’s 12-to-6 curveball. The quality of that curveball varies, but it has been his secondary of choice throughout this spring, when Castro’s fastball has again been sitting mid-90s, touching 98 just before list publication. It’s possible that Castro shows rapid improvement in his breaking balls consistency because a) this guy is a converted catcher, b) he’s missed a year and a half of development rehabbing from TJ and c) based on my in-person notes, he was once a fastball/changeup guy and the curveball might be very new. Converted pitchers who become impact bullpen arms typically have 18-24 month ascents (Jason Motte, Kenley Jansen, Joe Nathan, Sean Doolittle, etc. all happened fast, with Carlos Marmol and Alexi Ogando 오간도 the two exceptions I’m aware of), but this guy converted very young and missed a bunch of time because of surgery. The arrow here is pointing very vigorously upward, and at some point in the next few months we’ll have a better idea if Castro is a high-leverage power arm or just a solid middle-reliever. (Fall Instructional League)

I have a newfound appreciation for Glowenke’s ball/strike recognition and bat control after seeing him against pro pitching during 2020 instructs. He is not an exceptionally gifted athlete and at best projects as a shift-aided second base sort of defender (his actions are pretty good), but Glowenke’s eye for the zone is so good that I’d be unsurprised to learn if he were sired by a Trackman unit or Defense Department satellite. This guy doesn’t chase, and he can put the bat on the ball all over the zone, fastballs and breaking balls both. His combination of pitch recognition and bat control is very rare, though in this case it comes in a hitter who just doesn’t have much raw power. Most of the other heavy-footed, squat, role-playing infielders in baseball have big strength and power like Brad Miller or Wilmer Flores. That’s not present here, though several other exceptional abilities are. (Fall Instructional League)

Dabovich spent much of his ASU career in the bullpen and had a velocity spike right before the draft, touching 98 during an ASU road series before the shutdown (I’d only ever seen him up to 96 before that). Both of his breaking balls (a mid-80s slider with some vertical action and a low-80s curveball) need to be manicured, but it’s reasonable to hope one of them will be above-average with reps (I’m betting on the slider), which Dabo hasn’t yet had many of because of his college relief role. Because of the arm strength, Dabovich has a shot to pitch at the back of a bullpen if one or both of his breaking balls becomes a real weapon. (Fall Instructional League)

Tilt Berroa’s cap another 15 degrees and he’s a dead on-mound ringer for Fernando Rodney, both physically and mechanically. Right now, he’s just a guy with premium arm strength and somewhat inconsistent secondaries, both of which flash at least average. He was up to 98 in 2019 and again during 2020 instructs, bending in a power curveball in the 82-84 mph range; his changeup is typically around 90. Both secondaries will likely depend on location to work, and Berroa needs to bury that curveball to create enough depth to miss bats, as it looks hittable when it hangs in the zone. He doesn’t currently repeat his delivery consistently enough for that. But he has a chance to, which means he could end up with several bat-missing offerings and profile comfortably in a rotation. If only one secondary comes along, which is more likely, he’s still a good reliever. (Fall Instructional League)

Doval is one of the weirder pitchers in all of the minors, as his delivery and stuff are each as odd as they are inconsistent. When he’s right, the long-armed, side-winding right-hander chucks upper-90s stuff with either heavy sink, or rising cut action caused by his arm angle. He also throws a hard, horizontal slider. The Trackman readout for Doval is shocking. His primary fastball/cutter spins in at about 2700 rpm, which is incredible considering how hard he throws. He also generates nearly seven feet of extension, and the effective velocity of his fastball is about 2 mph harder than its actual velo. There are outings where he’s untouchable for several innings. He also has nuclear outings where he walks everyone and gives up a bunch of runs before registering an out; this has now been the case for several years.

Doval has been 94-97 during 2021 spring training and is on the 40-man, but is still a prospect of extreme variance since his stuff has almost no precedent and I can’t decide if that’s good or not. With someone like Kervin Castro it’s easy to see the fastball angle and carry and know that’s going to play, while Doval could be a waiver wire roller coaster or answer the question “What if Brad Ziegler had elite velocity?” (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)

There’s no change to Teng’s blurb as he was not stateside for any 2020 activity: Teng was one of two players, along with Yunior Severino, who the Twins signed after voiding amateur shortstop Jelfy Marte’s $3 million deal due to vision issues; they then flipped Teng to the Giants with Berroa for the recently-suspended Sam Dyson. Teng has a thick lower half and is a middling athlete, but he’s very well balanced over his blocking leg and otherwise has a smooth delivery that should not only enable him to throw enough strikes to remain a starter, but perhaps develop plus command, as well.

There’s already strong breaking ball utility here, the ability to vary shape based on location, and competitive, arm-side changeup feel, too. Teng’s frame is maxed out, so he probably won’t add velo, but that’s still a No. 4/5 skillset. (At-home dev)

Rosario has the pure athletic ability to play shortstop but has had some fundamental issues in my looks at him (both his hands and arm accuracy). He does have serious pop, though, and even if the defensive problems linger, there’s a shot Rosario hits for enough power to profile somewhere else. His swing had a more open stance and bigger leg kick during 2020 instructs and I thought it led so some even bigger, more explosive swings, though the interplay of this kind of hack and Rosario’s already swing-happy approach adds volatility to his profile in my opinion. (Fall Instructional League)

There’s no change to Arteaga’s blurb since he was not stateside for 2020 instructs: The timing of Arteaga’s deal, combined with scouts’ general reticence to work in Venezuela, made him tough to evaluate ahead of signing day. He’s been a bit more visible since then, and the carrying tool is going to be the glove. Arteaga’s range, footwork, actions, and athleticism are all terrific. He doesn’t have a clear path to an impact bat based on what teams have seen so far, but his frame is projectable. (At-home dev)

Wong is listed on the Giants instructs roster but I didn’t see him myself and the couple of scouts I talked to about SF instructs looks didn’t run into him either; his blurb remains the same: Wong was holding 93-96 with sink deep into games as a junior at Grand Canyon and his strike-throwing ability carried over to pro ball. Even though he doesn’t spin the ball exceptionally well, he does create some life on his heater and his changeup has improved a bit already. He projects as a No. 5 starter or innings-eating bulk reliever. (Fall Instructional League)

The son of former big leaguer Rodney McCray (yes, the one who crashed through the fence), Grant is a twitchy, plus runner with plus bat speed. He was a somewhat surprising 2019 AZL performer who ended up with a .380 OBP even though he was billed as more of a dev project. McCray’s feel for contact was just much better than expected. I think he might benefit from a longer stride, as he’s currently a very upright hitter and can’t really turn on balls to hit them with real ferocity, but his lower half looks pretty tight to me, so that might be easier said than done. (Fall Instructional League)

There’s no change to Hilson’s blurb. The Giants had two instructs rosters worth of guys and Hilson was not one of them, which is perhaps a bad sign; this is a player who needed the reps. He’s a tools-over-feel prospect who’d typically be found in the 35+ tier, but because Hilson’s are so profound, I’m leaving him in the 40s for now: The gap between what Hilson is now and what he might be is perhaps the widest in pro baseball, a yawning chasm that the Giants player development staff will try to close. A complete lack of bat control undermines his scintillating physical ability, and his grooved swing leads to a lot of whiffs on pitches in the zone. Hilson’s chances of becoming a big leaguer are fairly low, but because of his physical talent, he also has a chance to be a David Dahl sort of player if he develops even a 40 hit tool. (At-home dev)

McDonald was a pop-up prep arm from rural Mississippi, almost smack in the middle of the triangle created by the highways that connect Biloxi, Hattiesburg, and Mobile. Every team saw him up to 96 with a good, two-plane breaking ball but had very different projections on how the stuff and body would mature because his low, long arm action is pretty bizarre, and it’s still scary enough for me that I’m leaving him in the 35+ tier even though his stuff looked better than that during 2020 instructs. Matt Sauer’s delivery is a fair, recent mechanical comp. McDonald was working with four pitches during instructs: his tailing heater was up to 95, his changeup and slider were often in the 84-86 mph range, and his curveball had more depth and was in the low-80s. The arm angle is really tough on righties and McDonald will freeze them with breaking stuff that falls into the zone. It looks like a No. 4/5 starter’s mix, just with a scary delivery from a scary prospect demographic. (Fall Instructional League)

Wyatt has a fantastic idea of the strike zone (he walked 20% of the time in college) and his hand path is super short back to the baseball. The combo of the approach and hitting elements make him a notable prospect but Wyatt is also a maxed-out first base-only prospect with 50 raw power and his swing doesn’t allow for that power to totally manifest in games. I think he’ll end up hitting enough to be a pre-arb 1B/DH stopgap but I’m not betting on him being an everyday guy. (Fall Instructional League)

The same disclaimer that precedes Wong’s report applies here. You need to dream to see Vinicio as a future big leaguer but he gives you plenty of reasons to hope. He is athletic and well-made, graceful, balanced, and loose. His curveball has shape but not power, something that will need to come as his body matures, just like his velocity generally. In his changeup, Vinicio has an out pitch, something that will entice swings and misses as soon as he steps on a pro field. (Fall Instructional League)

Fitzgerald has everyday tools and he was a big name in high school, but apart from some spurts, he never quite performed up to his physical potential at Louisville. He has a solid shot to stick at shortstop and develop at least average power, especially if San Francisco can help him better incorporate his lower half into his swing. His 2019 pro exit velos were below big league average even though Fitzgerald was facing low-level pitching but we never got a 2020 season to see if changes could be made or if they’d manifest in performance. (Fall Instructional League)

Núñez was among the 2019 minor league leaders in fastball spin rate, which is impressive considering he doesn’t throw all that hard. And the heater misses bats, generating a 15% swinging strike rate even though as a starter he sat just 89-93 (I have him touching as high as 96). He also has a good two-plane curveball that works best when it’s dumped into the strike zone after one of his fastballs is located at the letters. He could be a bullpen weapon if he throws harder in relief. (Mets Fall Instructional League)

After missing long stretches with injuries over the last several years, the Giants moved Vizcaino to the bullpen in 2019 and he dominated Hi-A for a month before settling in at the upper levels, where he was just okay. He has no-doubt, big league middle relief stuff but is a 30 athlete with 30 control, so everything plays down because too many pitches end up in non-competitive locations. I didn’t see him during instructs but he was up to 98 for Estrellas Orientales during LIDOM, and both his slider and changeup flashed impact movement. (Fall Instructional League, LIDOM)

Vosler spent 2020 at the Padres’ alt site and they did not opt into video or data sharing, so his report is the same as last year. San Francisco signed him as a minor league free agent: Vosler is a lefty corner power bat with limited defensive mobility. He could be a four corners platoon option or a power bat off someone’s bench if given the opportunity. (Alternate site)

Marred by multiple injuries and a serious illness during his senior year of high school, Frechette went from intriguing power projection prospect to relative afterthought during his pre-draft spring. Once he signed and got going in the AZL, some of the explosion that made him interesting the summer before had returned. He’s athletic enough to give it a try in a corner outfield spot for now, and I like his present raw power and frame projection. My 2020 instructs look was about the same. (Fall Instructional League)

Waites has a great frame and big time arm acceleration. He was sitting 96-99 during 2020 instructs but has very little feel to pitch at present. He’ll also show an occasionally good slider. He’s a very raw small school prospect but has really exciting arm strength and an ideal pitcher’s frame. (Fall Instructional League)

Cannon has serious juice, legitimate 80-grade raw power. He’s enormous and has mobility issues created by his size and exacerbated by multiple knee surgeries. There’s extreme risk here due to the R/R first base profile and the medical, which goes beyond the knee stuff, but he has to be on here because of how loud the power is. He also needs to perform immediately to stay on it. (Fall Instructional League)