SF Giants prospects recap: Tyler Fitzgerald, Kyle Harrison knock on the door
Welcome to the weekly SF Giants prospect recap, where we take a look at the organization's prospects and minor leaguers who stood out this past week.
Before reading, be sure to check out our top 42 prospects ranking and the prospects who just missed the list to get acclimated to players throughout the system.
SF Giants Triple-A affiliate: Sacramento River Cats
Hitters
Tyler Fitzgerald (Giants #20 prospect) had a big week against Sugar Land this week where he flexed his muscles with four homers this week, including hitting an inside-the-parker last Thursday and two last Sunday. It brought his home run total to 10 for the season, giving him a shot to repeat his 20-20 season last year. The Giants coaching staff continues to find ways for Fitzgerald to potentially break into the big league roster with him playing at shortstop, second base, third base, and in center field for the first time in his career. Given his top-flight speed, sticking in center seems plausible, and he could fare well there. However, it will be in the middle infield where he will make his money. There is a chance that he will break into the big league roster this season.
Brett Wisely (Giants #22 prospect) had a cold stint in the big leagues this past May and was sent down back to Sacramento in the first week of June. He's found his footing once again with a big week against Sugar Land. He had six hits and an impressive 7:3 walk-strikeout ratio to the tune of .542 OBP across six games. Over his past eight games, Wisely has a .385 batting average with a 1.222 OPS along with two doubles, two home runs, and an even strikeout-walk ratio. Wisely certainly has proven himself in Triple-A but can't quite set his footing in his first rodeo at the big leagues. Hopefully, he'll settle right in when his name gets called once again.
Pitchers
Kyle Harrison (Giants #1 prospect) pitched a season-high five innings of work last Thursday, allowing two earned runs and striking out eight while only walking just two batters. It's easy to take a look at Kyle's walk totals this season, but over his past five starts, he's been menacing with a 1.73 ERA and a .153 opponent's batting average. There's an argument to be made about potentially promoting Harrison to the big leagues given the injury situation of the pitching staff, and there's reason to keep an eye on service time manipulation here, but it seems like they are going to lean on more experienced depth for now.
Other pitchers of note: Erik Miller (Giants #31 prospect) has been absolute nails out of the River Cats bullpen once he settled in. In his last 14 appearances, Miller has a 0.54 ERA and a .093 opponent's batting average though he's also allowed as many walks as he did innings. He's also a call-up candidate at any point this season. Nick Swiney (Giants #40 prospect) has also been pitching well as he put up zeroes across the board across his past five appearances with eight strikeouts. The stuff is still relatively the same, but it's nice to see positive results from Swiney.
SF Giants Double-A affiliate: Richmond Flying Squirrels
Hitters
It is worth noting that the Giants have been very cautious with Wade Meckler (Giants #39 prospect) after battling through injuries. He's only played three games but was still the hits machine that we've known him, highlighted by his 3-5 performance on Sunday. Meckler's numbers with Richmond have understandably dipped compared to the video game numbers that he put up in Eugene this season, but posting a .326 batting average, a .420 OBP, and more walks than strikeouts is still impressive stuff.
Other hitters of note: Even though Carter Aldrete only registered four hits against Bowie this week, three of them went over the fence, giving him a .911 OPS. Marco Luciano (Giants #2 prospect) cooled down rapidly after a massive five-game stretch where he hit four home runs over that time as he was held hitless in his last 13 at-bats with eight strikeouts. The struggles for Vaun Brown (Giants #6 prospect) continue this week with just one hit over 20 at-bats against Bowie. He is 7-45 this month with a 34% strikeout rate and is still perhaps bothered after getting hit by a pitch earlier this month.
Pitchers
Mason Black (Giants #8 prospect) is starting to heat up as he twirled another scoreless outing against Bowie this week, with two hits, one walk, and four strikeouts across four innings of work. Over his past two starts, the 2021 third-rounder struck out ten and just walked one across eight scoreless innings of work. Black might not be considered a top-ten prospect at the mid-season mark with his struggles this season to the tune of 4.84 ERA, but Black has still shown the stuff that shall take him to the big leagues although his future role is more cloudy today than it was entering the season.
Carson Whisenhunt (Giants #9 prospect) allowed a season-high four earned runs in his second start at the Double-A level against Bowie last Tuesday though he struck out five and walked just one. His stuff still looked solid, but it was a step down from what we saw from him in A-ball, so it is understandable that the coaches decided to have The Big Whiz skip his Sunday start to get more rest. It is also important to note that this will be his first full season since 2021 so fatigue might definitely be in play as he is projected to throw over 100 innings this year.
Kai-Wei Teng is finally moving up the minor league ladder as last year's Eastern League strikeout king made his final Double-A start (for now) last Wednesday and looked great with five scoreless innings of three-hit ball with no walks and five strikeouts before he was promoted to Triple-A. It was only the second time this season that Teng did not walk a batter in a start and Teng has finally learned how to be more efficient with his outings having only thrown 49 pitches to complete his five innings of work. Teng will definitely be tested in a much tougher environment known as the PCL with the automated strike zone and better hitters across the board, but it looks like Teng is now up for the challenge.
SF Giants High-A affiliate: Eugene Emeralds
Hitters
There is absolutely nothing stopping Victor Bericoto (Giants #32 prospect) at this point in time as he put in another dynamite week with another eight-hit week including two doubles and two more home runs. Bericoto has already exceeded the number of home runs that he hit last year with San Jose as he hit his farm system-leading 13th home run last Friday against Spokane. He has also alleviated his early-season platoon tendency as he is now hitting .300 with an OPS of .872 against right-handed pitching although he still clearly loves facing lefties with a 1.026 OPS against southpaws. It seems that my pre-season assessment of him is bearing fruit.
After rapidly cooling off in the first week of June following a red-hot May, Adrian Sugastey (Giants #34 prospect) is back at it again with nine hits against Spokane this week including three doubles. It brought his batting average back up to .282 for the season after dipping below .260 following a rough two-week stretch where he went 2-32. Sugastey has not shown the power that was promised when he was signed as an amateur IFA, but the contact skills that made him such an interesting prospect are clearly back.
Aeverson Arteaga (Giants #7 prospect) is still searching for answers after failing to find a Sugastey-esque hot stretch in the first half of the 2023 season. The Emeralds shortstop did have six hits including two doubles against Spokane this week but he is still hitting only .212 for the season. Some of the reasons for his struggles are not mainly his fault with a .269 BABIP, but he's seen a slight improvement with his peripherals with a walk rate hovering at 9.5% while his strikeout rate hovering around 25.6%. There are some concerns about Arteaga's struggles, but a second-half surge would answer all of it.
Other hitters of note: Ghordy Santos had a great trip to Spokane this week with ten hits including three doubles, a triple, a home run, and a stolen base. Santos struggled for stretches this season, and it might be the spark that he needs to turn his season around. Six out of Edison Mora's eight hits have gone for extra bases with four doubles and two home runs. The seventh-rounder by the Giants in the 2018 draft, Mora has seen significant physical gain this season that has resulted in five home runs this season, but his struggles to hit for contact for most of his pro career continue with a .207 average for the year.
Pitchers
Hayden Birdsong (Just missed the list) made his High-A debut against Spokane this week and was solid, throwing four scoreless innings with just two hits allowed, two walks, and three strikeouts. One of the best strikeout artists in the Low-Minors, Birdsong's stuff shall be more than enough for him to get his fair share of strikeouts in High-A. However, the biggest thing that Birdsong has to accomplish at the level is for him to keep his walk numbers at a tolerable clip. Nonetheless, expect last year's sixth-round draft choice to be in heavy conversations as one of the top 30 prospects at the mid-season mark.
Other pitchers of note: John Michael Bertrand did well in his two starts this week with ten innings of work and only allowed just one earned run while also striking out six batters. Ben Madison is once again a standout performer out of the Emerald's bullpen this week with only a hit being the only blemish in what was otherwise a clean three innings of work with four strikeouts. He could be knocking on the door to Richmond next month.
SF Giants Low-A affiliate: San Jose Giants
Congratulations to the San Jose Giants for clinching the First Half championship for the California League for the first time since 2013. They also punched their ticket to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Hitters
Diego Velasquez (Just missed the list) continues to show why he is one of the best contact hitters in the Giants farm system with another eight-hit performance this week including his fourth home run of the season and he also stole a couple of bases. It raised his batting average up to .327 which is fourth in the California League. The Venezuelan middle infielder missed a couple of games last week after getting hit by the pitch but is now clearly a thing of the past. He should be in consideration as one of the top 30 prospects in the organization.
Matt Higgins has been one of, if not the, most consistent performers in the resilient San Jose squad this year that clinched their ticket to the playoffs after logging the best win-loss record in the first half of the 2023 California League season. With a seven-hit performance this week including three doubles, and two stolen bases, the NDFA from Bellarmine has not seen his batting average dip below .250 since his third game of the season with 14 doubles, seven home runs, and eight stolen bases for the season. Higgins could potentially follow Carter Howell as part of a mid-season promotion wave.
Pitchers
Gerelmi Maldonado was absolutely electric against Rancho Cucamonga last Wednesday with four innings of one-run ball with a hit, a hit by pitch, no walks, and eight strikeouts. Maldonado's control was a bit spotty in the early going, but once he settled in, Quakes hitters stood no chance to his fastball-slider combination. He tallied a season-high 14 swinging strikes and threw 38 out of 59 pitches for strikes. Over his last five starts, Maldonado stepped up his game with 28 strikeouts and just two walks across 20 innings of work while also logging a 1.80 ERA and a .134 opponent's batting average. Maldonado might only be working with two pitches right now, but the stuff is absolutely electric.
Jack Choate has not looked as electric as he did when he was piggybacking Hayden Birdsong early on in the season, but he's proven himself as a reliable arm. Across his two starts against Rancho Cucamonga this week, the sidewinding lefty struck out 11 batters while only walking just two throughout eight two-run innings. Choate has settled in nicely in the rotation with a 1.42 ERA and a .152 opponent batting average while striking out 23 batters and only walking just six across 19 innings of work.
Other pitchers of note: Reggie Crawford (Giants #12 prospect) hit 99 mph on the mound last Friday but struggled with his control as he allowed three walks though he did not allow a run to score, and he struck out two in 1.2 innings. Daniel Blair was impressive this week with 11 strikeouts across eight innings of one-run ball out of the bullpen this week.
SF Giants Rookie affiliate: ACL and DSL Giants Black and Orange
Hitters
Giants 2022 17th-round pick Justin Bench and outfielder Jairo Pomares (Giants preseason #24 prospect) both performed well this week as they continue rehabbing from injuries. Bench will likely be headed to Single-A soon while Pomares could be an option at either High-A or Double-A.
As for the true Rookie League prospects, power-hitting corner bat Guillermo Williamson continued to crush opposing pitching in his stateside debut. Last week, he hit .357/.458/.857 with a pair of home runs. The 19-year-old who the Giants signed out of Mexico led San Francisco's DSL affiliates with seven home runs last year, and he's off to a great start this year.
On the Dominican Rookie League side of things, top 2023 IFA signee Rayner Arias (Just missed the list) continued looking like one of the best players in the league. He hit a pair of doubles, a triple, and a home run last week with nearly as many walks (5) as strikeouts. Less heralded signings Diego Gonzalez, Dario Reynoso, and Angel Guzman all posted an OPS north of 1.000 last week.
Pitchers
The Giants are giving 2017 third-round pick Seth Corry (Just missed the list) another opportunity to start in his return from shoulder surgery. His three-pitch arsenal looks as good as it did prior to the injury, but his struggles with control have remained. In his longest outing of the season, Corry struck out five hitters across three shutout innings.
2021 first-round pick Will Bednar (Just missed the list) continued to struggle in his return from injury. He made a pair of rehab appearances last week, surrendering five runs (three earned) on five hits, four walks, and a hit batter with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched.
Wikelma Castillo has dominated Rookie Ball since he was sent to the Complex from High-A. Strangely, it seems like the Giants have shifted Castillo to more prolonged outings, and he seems to have responded well. He had the team's best appearance last week, striking out eight across five shutout innings.
The most effective pitcher so far between the two Giants DSL affiliates has been Brayan Narvaez, who completed four shutout innings without surrendering a walk for the second consecutive week.
