SF Giants prospects: Quinn McDaniel is making a great first impression
Quinn McDaniel’s cell phone wouldn’t quit buzzing. Hundreds of texts and social media notifications were pouring in at once, an amount easily capable enough to cease any further functionality on the device. The messages multiplied in quantity as family and friends reached out to congratulate McDaniel on reaching the next stepin his baseball journey. He had been selected in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the SF Giants.
The 20-year-old second baseman who had starred at the University of Maine was surrounded by his immediate family, girlfriend, and grandparents when he received word that the Giants had selected him with the 153rd overall pick.
“Yeah, I'm honestly not really sure if it's sunk in yet,” McDaniel told Giants Baseball Insider in an interview following the draft. “Obviously, there's a bunch of different emotions that I've kind of been feeling and I'm super excited. I'm very happy to be a Giant and I'm excited to get to work.”
McDaniel flew out to Arizona and officially signed his contract with the organization on July 18. He received a $300,450 signing bonus from the team, an under-slot deal.
In his five years as head coach of the Maine Black Bears, Nick Derba told GBI that teams that speak the most to players usually aren’t the ones who draft them. The Giants, however, were an exception to this luck-based trend.
“The conversations with Quinn regarding the draft were very normal,” Derba said. “He's a very confident player. He’s not cocky –– he’s a modest person –– but he knew that he was good enough to go and do this, so the conversation wasn't bigger than him.”
San Francisco was the first big league team to look extensively at McDaniel –– area scout Ray Callari had been in contact with him for roughly two years. Callari has been scouting in the organization since 2008 and is responsible for signing dozens of impact talent from the East Coast, including current prospects Ryan Murphy and Reggie Crawford (Giants Top 9 Prospect).
Despite knowing a limited amount about the Giants franchise, McDaniel says he’s heard about the winning culture from his connections with two current prospects, both fellow Callari-signed players. He overlapped at Maine with right-hander Nick Sinacola, a seventh-rounder by the club in 2021, and has spent time hitting during the offseason with outfielder Jared Dupere –– both are currently playing for High-A Eugene.
“We’re just hyped for our boy and I think that he fell into probably the best baseball situation he could have fallen into,” Nick Rainess, McDaniel’s shortstop at Maine, told Giants Baseball Insider. “We’re just pumped for him.”
Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, McDaniel was a three-sport athlete during his youth but shifted focus to baseball entirely once he enrolled at Marshwood High School in South Berwick, Maine. He grew up an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox and admired the likes of Mookie Betts and Kike Hernandez, two “high-twitch” players he could relate to.
“I think there's always been a little chip on my shoulder coming from Maine, coming from the Northeast and not being able to be outside year-round,” McDaniel said. “I think you can kind of see that if you watch me play the game –– I’ll play the game hard and I play the game really fast. It's definitely something I take pride in.”
The University of Maine wasn’t always a top destination spot for McDaniel, but conversations with Derba about the baseball program’s philosophy changed the dynamics and left a lasting impact on his overall interest. The pitch was enough to sell him on the school –– also on the idea of soon being a staple in the infield.
Rainess is nearly three years older and was a sophomore when McDaniel strolled through the Maine locker room as a freshman for the first time.
“I remember watching him hit for the first time being like, ‘Oh, this little guy is good. Yeah, who is this guy?’ He was someone that I wanted to be around from the first moment I met him,” Rainess said. “You hang out around him, you just get better. That’s how it goes.”
Rainess recalled a moment from last winter when the Black Bears were preparing for another season, but also having to endure the brutal damp climate of the Northeast. An avid fan of honey, McDaniel kept a jar inside his locker that he would refer to a few times a day. One day, he returned from a hitting session to see a flood of visitors invading the snack –– not any of his teammates, but tiny ants wandering the clubhouse floor.
“They seemed to find my honey and tell their friends about it,” McDaniel said. “So there were a bunch of ants everywhere. They were trying to get into my jar of honey and kind of get their lick on that. It was chaos.”
Naturally, a no-food policy was implemented shortly after.
At 5’11 and 180 pounds, McDaniel’s size hasn’t necessarily been a calling card throughout his athletic career. However, teammates considered him a “gym rat” with a quiet and determined personality –– the business-as-usual approach comes in handy when he constantly consumes motivational podcasts and worships mindset tactics established from studying Kobe Bryant.
McDaniel’s off-the-field demeanor and makeup have translated to success between the white lines. In 2023, he played in all 53 games for Maine and slashed .354/.513/.688 with 16 homers, 45 runs batted in, and 32 stolen bases. He also excelled in the plate discipline department, drawing 60 walks –– a single-season America East Record –– to compliment 44 strikeouts.
With twitchy movements at the plate and a pronounced leg kick, McDaniel brings an unorthodox style to his approach. Nevertheless, his offensive statistics have shown a consistent upward trend, year after year. The Giants have every reason to anticipate a continued progression in his performance.
“Obviously a big piece going into college was just gaining strength and kind of putting on some mass and just being able to kind of do damage with my swing,” McDaniel said. “So once I kind of got in the weight room and started to really take that serious, I saw the balls just coming off my bat a little different, which kind of allowed me to see some better power numbers.“
Defensively, McDaniel says he is most comfortable at second base and believes he could stick at the position in professional baseball. Derba agrees but also sees some versatility –– a tool the Giants have obsessed over with many of their infielders.
“I do think he can sit there,” Derba said. “He can play the outfield very well. His bat is his carrying tool so he hits. He’s got four spots he can play very well, he probably could even play a little bit a third. I think he’ll find a spot at second base because of the way he hits but I don't see him having any issues there, especially being in an organization where infielders do get better.”
McDaniel made his professional debut shortly after the draft, appearing in 16 games in the Arizona Complex League before receiving the call-up to Single-A San Jose to finish the season. Splitting time between second base and designated hitter, McDaniel has taken no time adjusting to pro pitching. Across 117 plate appearances between the two stops, McDaniel is hitting .258/.424/.495 with six home runs, eight stolen bases, 28 walks, and 35 strikeouts.
“I think the thing I'm most excited for is just surrounding myself with other people who love the game and using the development team and all the resources to truly make the best of this opportunity and truly just be the best player I can be, and just have fun with it,” McDaniel said.
