SF Giants send Marco Luciano to Triple-A to practice new position
With injuries and lack of offensive production leaving a void on the roster, it was yet another burst of energy supplied by a young player when the SF Giants decided to promote their top position player prospect, Marco Luciano, on July 27.
Marco Luciano warms up before the game against the Oakland Athletics. (Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports)
After just a few games in the big leagues, the rookie shortstop is back at Triple-A Sacramento with a specific task from the organization: learn second base.
The Giants announced before Tuesday’s contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks that Luciano was optioned in favor of newly acquired veteran outfielder AJ Pollock, who was activated from the injured list.
The post-trade deadline transaction may have raised some eyebrows, but Luciano’s path to consistent plate appearances wasn’t clear with veteran Brandon Crawford’s return from a left knee injury on Saturday and the impending activation of second baseman Thairo Estrada from a fractured hand. Equipped with flexibility at just one position, Luciano was the odd man out of their infield mix.
As an organization built on versatility, the Giants plan to use Luciano regularly at second base for the immediate future –– a position he’s never spent a second at in over 2,000 minor league innings across four seasons. During his brief stay with the team, he was spotted taking pregame grounders at second multiple times, generating conversation about his future usage.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler explained the decision-making after Tuesday's 4-3 victory over the Diamondbacks.
“Craw playing regularly is a big piece of that and Luciano not quite being ready to play second base –– by the way, all the skills and tools to play second base are intact,” Kapler told reporters. “The pregame work that we've done with him has been good, but we wanted him to go down and actually play some second base.”
Kapler also mentioned the uncertainty of the roster in the immediate future, teasing that Luciano could be back in the mix very soon.
“The conversation with Luci was 1,000% positive because he came here with a tremendous attitude, hard-working mindset and all he did was good things for us –– good at-bats, quality at shortstop, quality in the clubhouse, ready to play all the way through the games that he started. And just outstanding across the board.”
The quest for versatility is far from a new trend around baseball. In fact, the Giants are among the clubs that regularly utilize their defensive flexibility around the infield. They’ve mixed and matched with Estrada, when healthy, filling in at shortstop when Crawford is injured or needs a day off. Wilmer Flores has been another piece who can moonlight at the corner infield spots, also second base from time to time, too.
No example of infield versatility –– also what the Giants may want to see Luciano turn into at some point–– has been Casey Schmitt’s value at three infield spots. Schmitt, a natural third baseman, has arguably stuck on the big league roster long enough because of his ability to play above-average defense at shortstop and second base as well.
Schmitt never played shortstop professionally until arriving at High-A Eugene in 2022. He started just three games at second base in Sacramento before getting the call-up. For someone expected to spend most of his time at the hot corner, Schmitt has spread out his innings –– 265 at shortstop, 116 at third base, and 118 at second base.
“I think it makes players much more valuable and I don't think it hurts their development,” Kapler said ahead of Wednesday’s game against Arizona. “So you usually have two camps in player development: one camp, you draft a player, they're learning to play that position, and they have to play exclusively that position because you don't want to miss out on any of the reps –– so you're gonna play 130-140 games at that position. And then there's this other school of thought that it's totally fine to play 100 games at that position and another 30 or 40 at another position. In fact, you can make the case that it makes them better at that position that they're getting a little bit of a break from and learning some new skills and staying sharp and a different way.”
Kapler says he falls into the latter category, saying it’s best to expose players to different positions since MLB organizations “want as many paths for those young players to get to the big leagues and stick in the big leagues as possible.”
Luciano went 1-for-4 during his first start at second base for Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday afternoon. He committed a missed catch error when the River Cats attempted to turn a double in the second.
The 21-year-old went 3-for-11 with a double, a walk, and four strikeouts in four games for the Giants.
