SF Giants: Four Prospects Land on BP’s Top 101 List

Baseball Prospectus released its Top-101 prospect (Subscription required) list on Thursday and a handful of SF Giants minor leaguers were included.

According to Baseball Prospectus, Marco Luciano (no. 8), Joey Bart (no. 29), Heliot Ramos (no. 32), and Hunter Bishop (no. 75) are not only some of the best prospects in the SF Giants organization, but some of the better prospects in baseball.

In total, four prospects made the list, which is one more than the list released by Baseball America earlier this week. The Tampa Bay Rays led the way with seven prospects, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres boasted four minor leaguers apiece.

Giants fans have already seen Joey Bart at Oracle Park as he debuted with the club in 2020 in a pandemic-shortened season. Across 111 plate appearances, he slashed .233/.288/.320 (69 OPS+) with five doubles, two triples, no home runs, and seven RBI. This came with a concerning 2.7 percent walk rate against a 36.9 percent strikeout rate.

With that being said, these struggles are not uncommon for rookies, especially considering that he had only accumulated 87 plate appearances above Single-A before the season began. In the end, this could become a good learning experience for the right-handed bat.

On the other hand, fans have not seen Ramos, Luciano, and Bishop. Ramos might force his way onto the major league roster by September if he continues to show the progress that he made in 2019. Bishop and Luciano might be the last of the four to debut at Oracle Park, but they are not far behind.

Luciano headlined an impressive 2018-2019 J2 class that included Jairo Pomares and Luis Matos by reeling in a $2.6 million signing bonus. He dazzled in his debut as he slashed .302/.417/.564 with 13 home runs, two triples, ten home runs and 43 RBI across 216 plate appearances split between two lower minor league levels. The 19-year-old has exploded up the prospect rankings and should see his name appear near the top of every list that is published.

Bishop made his pro debut after being drafted in the first round of the 2019 draft out of Arizona State University. He posted an .867 OPS with five home runs and 12 RBI in 146 plate appearances across two lower minor league levels as well. This included an impressive 26 percent walk rate with a surprisingly high 26.7 percent strikeout rate.

Since then, Bishop has been working on his approach as he has opened up his stance quite a bit compared to his approach in 2019. Though box scores were not provided, the videos offered some encouraging bits to digest.

Having four prospects make the list is a positive step forward as the front office steers the next stage of this rebuild, but there is one outfield prospect who may not be far behind. Nevertheless, the farm system continues to add intriguing talent.