SF Giants hitting prospects week in review (8/14-8/20)

Make sure to revisit our weekly 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 Weekly Rundown: Triple-A

Notable Performers

Heliot Ramos: 4 G, 18 AB, .278 AVG, .833 OPS, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
Bryce Johnson: 4 G, 11 AB, .364 AVG, 1.053 OPS, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
Jaylin Davis: 4 G, 13 AB, .000 AVG, .063 OPS, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K

It took him 21 games but top prospect Heliot Ramos has finally hit his first home run in Triple-A. After starting off poorly in the level, Heliot has found his footing, batting .267 with a .730 OPS while being almost six years younger than the average competition. Speaking of him being younger than the competition, GPT caught onto this earlier in the year, noting nearly 99% of Ramos’ plate appearance in his career came against pitchers that are older than him. Out of nearly 1500 plate appearances in his professional career, only 17 have been against pitchers that are younger than him. Incredible.

After struggling mightily over the months of June and July where he only hit .235 with a .690 OPS across 46 games, Bryce Johnson has faired much better in August as he’s hitting .357 with a 1.097 OPS and five extra-base hits across 10 games. The speedy outfielder has managed to get his batting average back on track with a .281 clip and has a solid .802 OPS. With good depth in the outfield at the moment, however, Johnson’s path to the big leagues is most likely as a defense-first option.

In his past five games, Jaylin Davis has been held hitless in 21 plate appearances with seven strikeouts. It could be an indication that there is a small chance that Davis could make an impact in the big leagues as the Giants are locked in a tight NL West race with the Dodgers. However, he’s seeing time in the dirt in practice and there is a possibility that he could see time at first base as the season winds down.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Double-A

Notable Performers

David Villar: 7 G, 22 AB, .500 AVG, 1.621 OPS, 5 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 7 BB, 4 K
Sandro Fabian: 7 G, 28 AB, .250 AVG, .990 OPS, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K
Diego Rincones: 7 G, 26 AB, .269 AVG, .629 OPS, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K

David Vilar might have had the most dominant week of all Giants prospects this season. As a result, Villar is now hitting .266 with 22 doubles and 14 home runs this season. What’s more interesting is that he is doing most of his damage on the road with a .327 batting average with seven doubles and 10 home runs away from The Diamond while only batting .210 with 15 doubles and just four home runs at home. Villar’s lack of home run power is not surprising in my opinion as the Richmond ballpark has the second-lowest HR park factor this season according to Baseball America. There are still plenty of strikeouts but his Major League-quality defense and the ability to hit for power give him the potential to play in the big leagues.

Another one who is produced at a high level this week is Sandro Fabian. Fabian has been on fire over the past 10 games with a .359 batting average, 1.159 OPS, four home runs, and 15 RBIs. Fabian is still a heavy-contact hitter with just a 3.75% walk rate and that might not be fitting into the Giants philosophy but he has been a reliable run producer with a .327 batting average and 32 RBIs with runners in scoring position.

Diego Rincones has been as consistent as ever. The outfielder is now batting .282 with a .844 OPS as a Flying Squirrel and has been doing good damage as both a DH and as a right fielder. Speaking of consistency, Rincones’ wRC+ has never dipped below 100 in five seasons as a professional. He also has never had a strikeout rate higher than 20% over that said five seasons. I have yet to see him get challenged up in the zone with fastballs consistently but he does big damage against balls down in the zone. He is a legitimate top 30 prospect with the way he’s consistently been an above-average run producer.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Low-A

Notable Performers

Ghordy Santos: 4 G, 19 AB, .421 AVG, 1.108 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 SB
Yorlis Rodriguez: 5 G, 20 AB, .400 AVG, 1.050 OPS, 3 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K
Luis Matos: 6 G, 28 AB, .250 AVG, .740 OPS, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Luis Toribio: 5 G, 20 AB, .100 AVG, .350 OPS, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K

As a wave of promotions swept through the lower half of the Giants farm system, a couple of recently promoted prospects are already making for the team as they look towards securing a playoff berth. In just his third game in full-season baseball, Ghordy Santos already made an impact for the San Jose squad, tying a single-game team record of seven RBIs with a 4-5 performance. The Dominican signed during the 2016 IFA cycle was more known as a slick defender in the dirt but his improvement offensively this season is a pleasant surprise and is something that could push the 21-year old to top 30 discussions at the season’s end.

Another one who is making his presence felt with the squad is Yorlis Rodriguez. Called up to the squad on August 4, the 22-year old has a triple-slash line of .281/.361/.406 in eight games for the San Jose squad across eight games of action. He is actually on a modest four-game hitting streak where he’s batting .444 with three doubles. With Casey Schmitt out for the foreseeable future after getting hit by a pitch, there could be plenty of playing time in store for the Cuban as he will flash solid-average tools across the board when he is on the field.

If you could consider Luis Matos‘ week as a down one for his standards considering he only hit .250 this week, then it’s likely that Matos is having a pretty good season. Matos is actually on a ten-game hitting streak that started when the Giants played the Modesto Nuts, batting .348 with a 1.027 OPS, five doubles, and three homers over the stretch. Over the second half of the season, Matos is batting .358 with eight doubles and five home runs. He’s really, really good.

After seemingly finding his groove as the calendar turned to August, Luis Toribio went to a week and a half slump where at one point he was hitless over a 24-plate appearance stretch. Over the past two series between the Nuts and the Quakes, Toribio is hitting .121 with zero extra-base hits across nine games. Toribio is still generating solid at-bats but the underwhelming bat-to-ball ability along with him playing exclusively at first base recently hurts his prospect stock.

SF Giants Prospects Weekly Rundown: Rookie

Notable Performers

Grant McCray: 4 G, 11 AB, .364 AVG, .897 OPS, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 SB
Alexander Suarez: 5 G, 18 AB, .333 AVG, 1.151 OPS, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 9 K
DIego Velasquez: 5 G, 19 AB, .316 AVG, .749 OPS, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Aeverson Arteaga: 5 G, 16 AB, .188 AVG, .693 OPS, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K
Jose Ramos: 3 G, 10 AB, .400 AVG, 1.700 OPS, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K

I am rediscovering my love for Grant McCray. Before getting promoted to San Jose, the 2019 third-round draft choice batted .405 with a 1.085 OPS and has flashed his five-tool skillset with three doubles, a triple, a home run, and three stolen bases. It earned him a promotion to San Jose and absolutely demolished a fat pitch 455 feet away for a home run in his first at-bat. His advanced approach and contact ability really aside from his plus athleticism impressed me and he has shown better strength this season that resulted in a cleaner-looking bat path. He is definitely inside my top 30 list.

Even though he is striking out at a 33.1% clip, Alexander Suarez is flashing his impressive power-speed tools this season in Rookie ball with eight doubles, two triples, five home runs, and ten stolen bases in 36 games this season. Fellow Giants prospector Roger Munter told me that Suarez made good contact on a Manuel Mercedes‘ 99 MPH fastball and he’s reminded him of Alexander Canario. He’s cleaned up his swing over the past offseason and while the approach is still raw, the tools look to be undeniable.

While Suarez has been flashing his big tools in Rookie ball, Diego Velasquez is flashing his excellent contact skills with a strikeout rate under 12% in 101 plate appearances this season. The top IFA signee in the 2020 class does not have big tools across the board but he has shown impressive bat control for a 17-year old playing Stateside against high-velocity pitching. While he might never flash above-average tools as he matures especially his power potential, he has the look of a scrappy infielder.

After a stellar start to his first professional season, Aeverson Arteaga has cooled off considerably in his last 11 games, batting only .167 with zero home runs and a 30.23% strikeout rate. The infielder is now batting .305 with a .935 OPS but much of it is fueled by his hot start. After seeing him in the backfields, Munter is still more impressed with Arteaga’s glove over his bat with him having an advanced feel for corraling bad hops and still making plays while the bat is more line-drive. I still see him as a top 15 prospect but I am off the boat that was speculating his hot start.

With the Dominican Republic getting hit by a storm this week as well as a COVID outbreak, the Giants DSL players really got hit by the lack of competitive reps. However, one player stood out with the little time they played and that’s Jose Ramos with a two-homer game this week. The 18-year old shortstop is batting .353 in 11 games this season with a 1.230 OPS, two doubles, two triples, three home runs, and three steals with a respectable 15.4% strikeout rate. He could be a prospect to watch as one of the lesser-known 2019 IFA signees.

Stay tuned every week for a roundup of the SF Giants hitting and pitching prospects, and an incoming update to the organization’s prospect rankings.