San Francisco Giants: Jacob Gonzalez Finishes Off Impressive Rookie Campaign

The San Francisco Giants second round draft pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Jacob Gonzalez, had an impressive rookie campaign.

The San Francisco Giants selected high school third baseman Jacob Gonzalez with the 58th overall pick this year.

The pick suprised a lot of people, including myself, at the time. But the son of former Major League Baseball player Luis Gonzalez has impressed in the early going.

The Giants immediately signed him for $950,000 and sent him to the AZL Giants.

In his first game on June 30 he went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. That started a string of five multi-hit games to start his professional career.

He cooled down a bit after that hot start as he went hitless in seven of his next 12 games. But then he picked it back up with 11 hits over his next eight games, including three multi-hit games.

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He finished the regular season with a .339 average and .418 on-base-percentage in 168 at-bats. He scored 23 runs, hit one home run and drove in 21 runs. Gonzalez struck out 23 times and drew 16 walks.

He led the AZL Giants to the Arizona League Playoffs where he was great. In four games he hit .412 (7-for-17) with three runs scored and five RBI.

The AZL Giants ended up losing 2-games-to-1 in the championship series to the AZL Cubs. But Gonzalez sure put on a show in the playoffs, giving fans a glimpse of what could be.

Keep in mind that Jacob is only 19 years old and still has a lot of room to grow. The Giants drafted him hoping he would grow into some power. He failed to showed that potential in 168 at-bats with the AZL Giants as he hit just one home run.

I think the power comes around for Gonzalez in year two. He hit 15 doubles in the regular season, so that shows you he has the ability to drive the baseball.

A lot of people seem to think Gonzalez ultimately ends up at first base as he’s not that quick and his glove isn’t great.

Next: San Francisco Giants: The Future is Bright for Heliot Ramos

In my opinion this was a great start for Gonzalez and the San Francisco Giants. I can’t wait to see how he follows up this performance next season at a higher level.