SF Giants Prospects: 15 Unranked Breakout Candidates

Unranked SF Giants Prospects:15 Best Breakout Candidates

5. Connor Cannon, 1B/DH

The Giants’ 17th-round pick in 2019, Connor Cannon, has two 80-grade tools: power potential and arm strength but comes with massive injury concerns and questions about his ability to make consistent contact. In his brief pro debut, Cannon demolished the younger AZL competition: hitting .326/.399/.689, but still struck out in 25% of his plate appearances. There’s a decent chance his contact issues keep him from ever putting up big numbers against full-season competition, but there’s also an opportunity for him to Paul Goldschmidt his way into making scouts wonder what they missed. Again, volatility is valuable at this point in a system, and Cannon has plenty of it.

4. Anthony Rodriguez, SS

Anthony Rodriguez finds himself between Velasquez and Arteaga (he and Arteaga signed in 2019-20, Velasquez in 2020-21). Rodriguez has a shot to stick at shortstop with a good feel for hitting, but his defensive acumen falls short of Arteaga without Velasquez’s advanced bat. Still, he might have a strong enough profile to Goldilocks his way to a breakout. Even if he eventually has to move off shortstop, enough evaluators will still project him there that a strong offensive debut could push him up rankings.

3. Armani Smith, RF

Armani Smith has been one of my favorite sleepers in the system since he was drafted in 2019. Like top prospect Hunter Bishop, Smith finally began tapping into big power potential in his junior-year after making some adjustments to his swing. Smith is a good athlete and probably has the range to handle right field but has an arm that could push him to left. Most importantly, Smith was only scratching the surface of his power potential in college. If he continues optimizing his launch-angle, he could quickly become one of the organization’s best power-hitters.

2.     Ghordy Santos, SS

Actions can sometimes speak louder than anything else. Even while Ghordy Santos has struggled to excel statistically at any minor-league level, the Giants have continued challenging him and seem to view him as someone with legitimate every day upside. A glove-first shortstop with the chance to develop above-average power, Santos has many similarities to Ricardo Genoves, a prospect with a similar profile (albeit at catcher instead of shortstop) who finally broke out in his age-20 season. Santos obviously lost his age-20 season to the COVID-19 pandemic but could be even better positioned now to catch many off guard.

1. Sandro Fabian, RF

Sandro Fabian is a perfect example of how quickly a prospect’s star can wane. Just a couple of years ago, Fabian was one of the most exciting prospects in the Giants system. Then some struggles, injuries, and other prospects’ development throughout the system left him behind. With that said, he’s still roughly the age of an old college senior and hit .287/.353/.417 in 2019 at High-A with a vastly improved walk-rate. He’s always shown an impeccable ability to make contact with above-average power potential and has the necessary athleticism and arm strength to be a good defensive right fielder. If he maintains his improved discipline, he should be able to hit his way to the big-leagues. If he finds a way to tap into his power potential consistently, he could easily be the system’s fastest riser this season.

To check out Around the Foghorn’s official SF Giants top 31 prospects ranking, check back tomorrow.