SF Giants promote top power-hitting prospect to Triple-A Sacramento
The SF Giants promoted shortstop Marco Luciano (Giants third-best prospect) to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday, officially bringing one of the most exciting players in the farm system one step closer to reaching the major leagues. Luciano has spent the entire season at Double-A after missing the first month of the season with an injury, hitting .228/.339/.451 with 12 doubles and 11 home runs in 56 games. Luciano is represented by the same sports agency as Giants infielder Wilmer Flores.
Luciano's numbers may not jump off the page, but the Giants Double-A affiliate in Richmond plays in the Eastern League, one of the most pitcher-friendly environments in the minors. Weirdly enough, Luciano may actually be more statistically productive facing Triple-A pitching because of the hitter-friendly environments throughout the Pacific Coast League.
Luciano's 29.8% strikeout rate may be higher than ideal, but it has been more driven by a patient approach (14.9% walk rate) than any excessive struggles with swing and miss. Furthermore, Luciano-who will not turn 22 until September-was nearly three years younger than the average player in the league.
Since June 10th, Luciano has been scorching hot. In 113 plate appearances (26 games), he hit .306/.416/.564 with six doubles, six home runs, 18 walks, and 32 strikeouts. That stretch of play convinced the Giants that he was ready to face more advanced competition.
It's also worth noting that Luciano has quietly been showing more defensive consistency at shortstop in the past month. Most evaluators still believe Luciano will be forced to move to third base or the outfield long-term, but it seems more plausible that he could stick at shortstop than it seemed earlier this year.
Luciano has been one of the best prospects in the Giants organization since he was the team's top signing during the 2018-19 international free-agent period in the same class as outfielder Luis Matos. Luciano crushed the Arizona Rookie League in his professional debut, hitting .302/.417/.564 between the Arizona Rookie League Short-Season as a 17-year-old.
After the pandemic-canceled 2020 season, Luciano made his full-season debut in 2021 and was one of the best players in the California League. At Single-A, Luciano hit .278/.373/.556 with 18 home runs in 70 games.
Last season, Luciano hit .263/.339/.459 with 10 home runs in 57 games with the Giants High-A affiliate in Eugene. He missed several weeks in the middle of the season with an injury and was promoted to Double-A for the Flying Squirrels' postseason run. He went 2-for-8 with three strikeouts in a pair of games.
It's worth noting that Luciano is already on the Giants 40-man roster. Given both Casey Schmitt and Brandon Crawford's struggles this season with the big-league team, it's not out of the question that Marco Luciano could play his way into the SF Giants lineup this season if he continues to have success at Triple-A.
