SF Giants hitting prospects week in review (7/31-8/13)

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Low-A

Notable Performers

Luis Matos: 11 G, 47 AB, .447 AVG, 1.203 OPS, 4 2B, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 SB
Jairo Pomares: 12 G, 45 AB, .422 AVG, 1.202 OPS, 4 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 5 BB, 11 K
Luis Toribio: 12 G, 43 AB, .279 AVG, .915 OPS, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 9 BB, 9 K
Jimmy Glowenke: 11 G, 44 AB, .205 AVG, .709 OPS, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 15 K

What a season for both Luis Matos and Jairo Pomares. Two of the three big signees from the 2018 IFA class (the other one is, of course, Marco Luciano) are having insane offensive seasons in San Jose this year. Starting off with Matos, who seemed to have found a new gear as the season reaches its fever pitch, with a .395/.430/.605 triple-slash line in the second half of the season compared to his .309/.346/.478 in his first 60 games. There was a scary moment a week ago when Matos got drilled to his hand by a pitch but has managed to miss time or affect his swing. He is a special hitter with an insane knack for consistent contact. All of his 11 home runs this season have been towards his pull side (left to center field) so I am still not sold on his power projection. Nonetheless, this is a special prospect.

Speaking of a special bat, any pitcher could not douse the raging hot bat of Jairo Pomares. One incredible stat about Pomares this season is that he was held hitless in consecutive games only once this season. The level of consistency to hit for both average and power has been a sight to behold. If qualified, his .361 batting average would lead the Low-A West and his 13 homers would rank inside the top 10. He is turning a lot of heads this season with his play and I would not be surprised if he is ranked inside the top 100 prospects in baseball next season.

Sometimes, all you need is stability to be successful. After shuffling time between third and first base for much of the first half of the season, the Giants decided to put Luis Toribio exclusively at first base. Even though it put a dent in his defensive value, Toribio sticking at first base resulted in his offensive breakout. After posting a .236/.343/.362 triple slash with a 28.3% strikeout rate in his first 47 games, the lefty hitter has a much better triple-slash line of .288/.420/.470 with just a 19.75% strikeout rate in his last 19 games, where he served as the first baseman. Toribio did not even move back to third base when Casey Schmitt missed his last three games after getting hit by a pitch.

After a sizzling July where he hit .343 with a 1.074 OPS in July, Jimmy Glowenke‘s bat cooled off as the calendar flipped to August with only a .175 batting average and a .642 OPS. The big thing this month has been the strikeouts where a third of Glowenke’s plate appearances this month went via the strikeout. I am confident that Glowenke will bounce back as he’s proven enough that he’s one of the better-hitting prospects in the system.