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On a field that will hold Buster Posey’s brilliance behind the plate, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford’s World Series rings in the infield and Mike Yastrzemski’s emerging stardom in the outfield, it’s possible the most exciting Giant to step foot on the Scottsdale Stadium field will be a teenager.
Marco Luciano, all 19 years of him, headlines the group of non-roster prospects the Giants invited to major league camp Friday.
The shortstop from the Dominican Republic was the talk of spring training 2.0 last year and will be a focus this spring, after spending his time at the alternate site last summer. ESPN ranked Luciano as the seventh-best prospect in baseball.
His young infield partners will be Will Wilson, who also was in Sacramento, and first baseman Logan Wyatt. The 23-year-old Wyatt, perhaps a surprise invite, touched low-A Augusta in 2019 and is well-regarded for his plate discipline, registering 26 walks to 29 strikeouts in his only minor league season.
In the outfield, the Giants invited top prospects Heliot Ramos and Hunter Bishop, their first-round picks in 2017 and ’19, respectively. Ramos, 21, is expected to start the season at Double-A and could debut this season if he excels. The 22-year-old Bishop, who is fully tooled out, has yet to play above short-season ball and needs more seasoning.
Also invited was outfielder Joe McCarthy, who was the Opening Day right fielder last season but went 0-for-10 in his limited time. He will be 27 next week and has a history of both injuries and minor league success that has yet to translate, but his profile is one the Giants value.
Joining Posey, Curt Casali, Joey Bart and Chadwick Tromp behind the plate will be 2020 first-round pick Patrick Bailey and 21-year-old Ricardo Genoves, who was in camp last year, too. Bailey, who has yet to play minor league ball but got looks at major league pitching in Sacramento last year, will be especially interesting to watch.
On the pitching side, the Giants only invited right-handers. Top prospect Sean Hjelle will be back after having to grow from home in ’20, and he will be joined by a couple prospects added at the 2019 trade deadline. Tristan Beck, acquired in the Mark Melancon deal, and Kai-Wei Teng, picked up in the Sam Dyson trade, were invited to camp, both prized but not-ready prospects. The 24-year-old Beck hasn’t pitched above High-A, while the 22-year-old Teng maxed out at Augusta.
They will be joined by 24-year-old Matt Frisbee, who had a solid season at San Jose in 2019 as a starter but has relief experience, too, and reliever Tyler Cyr, who was in camp and in Sacramento last year and should break through to the majors this season.
Among the top prospects not invited to camp are lefty Seth Corry, infielder Luis Toribio and outfielder Luis Matos. Corry is the team’s best pitching prospect but hasn’t reached Double-A yet, while neither Toribio nor Matos has played above short-season ball.