Marco Luciano has played his way to Sacramento.
The Giants’ top position player prospect, thanks to a hot stretch from the plate, got promoted to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday. He’ll be one of the youngest active players at the level, as he turns 22 years old in September.
Now both Luciano and starting pitcher Kyle Harrison, San Francisco’s top two prospects, are one level away from debuting for the Giants.
A stress fracture in his back delayed the start of Luciano’s season and affected his start. At Double-A Richmond, Luciano slashed .228/.339/.451. Those numbers hardly jump off the page, but Luciano seemingly got more comfortable with the level as gained more experience.
Since June 10 for Richmond, Luciano has a .980 OPS. He hit .309 with six homers and six doubles in that 26-game sample. He struck out 32 times compared to 18 walks in that stretch — an encouraging sign of plate discipline.
He flashed power to all parts of the field, spraying extra base hits while he had the hot hand.
There have always been questions in the scouting community about Luciano’s long-term viability at shortstop given his 6-foot-1, 180-pound frame. He’s played every game this year at shortstop or designated hitter, but could eventually move off the position if need be.
Luciano is one of several Giants prospects to be promoted in the past few weeks. Last year’s top pick, two-way player Reggie Crawford, graduated from Low-A San Jose to High-A Eugene. Mason Black, the pitcher ranked ninth in SF’s system by MLB, is joining Harrison and Luciano with the River Cats.
That’s in addition to Luis Matos, Patrick Bailey, Casey Schmitt, Keaton Winn and Blake Sabol’s contributions to the Giants as rookies.
The Giants’ farm system having such a strong year comes at a fascinating moment. Bailey looks like the Giants’ catcher of the future and may have played himself into untouchable status. But the Aug. 1 trade deadline is approaching, and if the Giants want to make a big, generational splash, they’ll likely have to make just about all their best prospects available.
“I would actually say our pitching depth is pretty good,” Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said recently when asked about the organization’s strengths. “Obviously, even beyond Harrison, Carson Whisenhunt, and what Hayden Birdsong has been doing has been really impressive, Mason Black had another really good outing today. Those are guys that just come to mind right away, but we’re pretty excited about the depth we have in terms of starting pitching prospects. You obviously want to keep all of those guys, but that’s always in demand, so we could be dealing from a position of strength if there’s something that makes sense on the trade market.”
Last year, when Juan Soto became available, the Giants’ farm system was underwhelming from top to bottom. The Padres acquired him for a package of Luke Voit, Mackenzie Gore, C.J. Abrams, and lower level prospects Robert Hassell III, James Wood and Jarlin Susana.
Soto had over two years of control remaining. If the outfielder became available this year, they’d probably have a more appealing package than San Diego’s.
And if the Angels spiral and make Shohei Ohtani available — a massive if — San Francisco could have as promising a package as anyone. Luciano’s progress certainly helps.