SF Giants prospects rundown 5/29: Marco Luciano’s 452′ home run

SF Giants prospect Joey Bart made his first start since injuring his groin, Sam Long made his Triple-A debut, while Braden Bishop played his first game in the Giants system. However, Marco Luciano’s towering home run is all that most people will remember.

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 prospects 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.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/29: Triple-A

Las Vegas Aviators 4 at Sacramento River Cats 2
Performance of the Game: Sam Long (3.2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K)

It was a day of notable debuts and returns at Sacramento on Saturday. Top prospect Joey Bart made his first appearance since leaving last Thursday’s game with groin tightness. Bart finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout in his return, highlighting a quiet day for Sacramento’s offense. Joe McCarthy was the only other River Cats player to reach base twice. Braden Bishop played in his first game in the Giants’ organization since he was claimed off waivers and designated for assignment. He finished 0-for-2 with a walk.

Sacramento State alum Sam Long received the start and made his first Triple-A appearance since he received an early-season promotion to Double-A. While Long had been effective with Richmond, he had not been as dominant as some other pitching prospects in the system. However, he changed that on Friday. Long struck out the first eight batters he faced before surrendering a single to Buddy Reed. Reed was the only baserunner Long surrendered in his 3.2 innings of work before reaching his 55 pitch limit.

Most of the River Cats bullpen matched Long’s effectiveness, with Kervin Castro, Yunior Marte, Trevor Gott, and Silvino Bracho allowing just two baserunners over 4.2 shutout innings. However, Daniel Alvarez surrendered four runs in the top of the fifth inning that was ultimately too much to overcome.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/29: Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels 2 at Reading Fightin Phils 1 (7 innings)
Performance of the Game: Ronnie Williams (3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 4 K)

Richmond Flying Squirrels 6 at Reading Fightin Phils 4 (7 innings)
Performance of the Game: Shane Matheny (2-3, 2B, BB, K, R, RBI)

The Flying Squirrels pulled out a pair of victories in Saturday’s doubleheader in Reading. Shane Matheny was the offensive star of the day, finishing 3-for-5 with a double, homer, and two walks. Heliot Ramos had a solid day at the plate, finishing 3-for-7 with a double and a run between both games.

Sean Hjelle got the start in the first game and threw four shutout innings before a four-run fifth forced him out of the game. Throughout Hjelle’s professional career, he’s struggled to maintain effectiveness through the second or third times through an order. Luckily for Richmond, already leading 6-0, the bullpen still had a chance to hold the lead. Matt Seelinger and Joey Marciano stepped up, striking out four across two perfect innings to close out the first victory.

Caleb Kilian made his first start since receiving a promotion to Double-A. He did not carry over his High-A dominance, striking out three over four innings, but he surrendered just one run. Ronnie Williams took over in the fifth inning and finished the game for Richmond, striking out four over three shutout innings.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/29: High-A

Spokane 4 Eugene Emeralds 2
Performance of the Game: R.J. Dabovich (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)

Kai-Wei Teng struck out five over an up-and-down two innings of work. Teng once again had some struggles with control, issuing three walks, and then was forced to leave the game after the umpire reportedly found a foreign substance on his hat. MLB will likely investigate the incident, and it remains to be seen if this could lead to a suspension.

Will Wilson and Javeyan Williams each blasted solo home runs, but the Emeralds managed just four hits and one walk on the day. Relievers Ryan Walker and Tyler Schimpf each allowed a run, and Eugene’s offense never mustered a legitimate rally to close the gap. On a brighter note, R.J. Dabovich was dominant, striking out the side in his lone inning.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/29: Low-A

Lake Elsinore Storm 1 at San Jose Giants 3
Performance of the Game: Marco Luciano (2-4, HR, R, RBI)

Ryan Murphy struck out four and allowed one run over four innings of work. He surrendered seven hits and one walk but limited the damage to one solo home run. Ty Weber, Haydn King, and Clay Helvey followed Murphy with dominant performances out of the pen. The three relievers combined to strike out seven and allow two hits over five shutout innings. King made his professional debut, striking out a pair in one perfect inning. The Giants signed the Bay Area native as a nondrafted free agent last summer.

Top prospect Marco Luciano made sure he was the star of the day, though. Luciano blasted his fifth home run of the season on a mammoth 452′ shot that registered a 113 mph exit velocity. At this point, there’s not much to say about Luciano that hasn’t already been said. Let’s basque in the highlight.

We’ll be back looking at the SF Giants farm system throughout the minor-league season with daily rundowns on the entire organization’s minor-league affiliates.