SF Giants prospects rundown 5/12: Marco Luciano homers

Minor league baseball is finally back. After MLB canceled last year’s slate of affiliate games due to the COVID-19 pandemic and began an unprecedented consolidation of minor-league ball, fans finally have official box scores to track and highlights to watch on MILB TV. Make sure to revisit our daily SF Giants prospect rundowns to keep up with each of their minor-league affiliates.

If you do not feel well acclimated to the prospects throughout the farm system, you might want to revisit our prospect week articles that detailed the system from the top prospect to lower-level fringes. If you’re just interested in the biggest names, then the preseason SF Giants top 31 prospects list is the one-stop-shop for you.

The SF Giants Triple-A (Sacramento) and High-A (Eugene) affiliates had a day off on Wednesday.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/12: Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels 4 at Harrisburg Senators 1
Performance of the Game: Frankie Tostado (2-4, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI)

2018 Giants second-round pick Sean Hjelle took the mound for Richmond on Wednesday and delivered a strong 5.1 innings of one-run ball. After working around many baserunners in his first outing, he limited Harrisburg to just three hits and two walks. His lone run came on a solo home run in the sixth inning. All-in-all it was a positive all-around outing for the 24-year-old.

While many of the Giants’ best starting pitching prospects are at Double-A, Hjelle was the only one to reach the level before this season, making  5 starts in 2019. While Hjelle posted a 6.04 ERA in his brief stint at the level, his peripherals suggested he had actually acclimated quite well to the competition (3.33 FIP). If any pitcher at Double-A could earn a quick promotion to Triple-A with a strong first six weeks of the season, Hjelle is probably a leading candidate.

Offensively, the Flying Squirrels pieced together four runs on eight hits and four walks. Frankie Tostado was easily the player of the night scoring or driving in three of the team’s runs with a pair of doubles while also having a flyout that reached the warning track at Harrisburg’s spacious park. Still just 23 after skipping High-A, Tostado has adjusted well to the upper-level competition and has shown early signs of an improved eye at the plate.

Heliot Ramos also had a flyout at the warning track and scored after a double high off the center-field wall to lead off the game. Still, his most impressive play came on the other end with his glove.

My first watch led me to believe he had taken a step in, but the more I watched, the more I realized that Ramos had actually moved off the bat horizontally towards the ball. His route was a bit banana-ish (*official baseball terms only*), but it showed why the Giants believe he can be a competent big-league centerfielder.