2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Top Prospects: 1-5

2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Top Prospects: 1-5

4. Joey Bart

Position: C
Age: 25
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 238 lbs.
Projected Level: San Francisco (MLB)
MLB ETA: 2020

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit 40/45 | Raw Power 60/60 | Game Power 45/55 | Speed 40/40 | Arm 55/55 | Field 60/60

PV 45 | FV 55

It was clear heading to the 2021 season that Bart needed more Minor League reps after struggling in 2020 with the big-league roster. He put the pedal to the metal right away with a scorching start to the season and was coasting well through the summer when he suffered a couple of injuries in the final month-and-a-half and never looked the same in the end.

When Bart got called up to the big leagues in 2020, most of the issues that surrounded him were about him getting beaten inside, his slightly inconsistent defense behind the plate, and struggling to develop rapport with the pitching staff, notably with Johnny Cueto. This season, Bart addressed plenty of those questions well. His defense looked on par with what people saw from him a couple of years ago. Bart looked more comfortable behind the plate with the one-kneed set-up this season and his framing job was a lot better as a result, while still being active with his legs in terms of blocking. Bart’s solid but very accurate arm is always an asset.

While Bart’s issue handling inside pitches will always be an issue for him, he’s done a better job of laying off inside pitches that he cannot handle. Bart knows his swing works best when his arms get extended, but he focused more on becoming a better contact hitter this season rather than fully selling out on hitting for power.

Bart enters the 2022 season as the favorite to win the starting catcher job after the retirement of Buster Posey. Bart’s first order of business is to build rapport with the pitching staff. While he may never be as good of a contact hitter as Posey, Bart could provide similar value defensively while being a more consistent power hitter. Bart has a high floor as an everyday starting catcher for the next five years at least and if he can hit 20+ homers while providing quality defense, he is a future All-Star. Let’s hope his second rodeo to the big leagues is much better than his first.

2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Top Prospects: 1-5

3. Luis Matos

Position: OF
Age: 20
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Projected Level: Eugene (High-A)
MLB ETA: 2024

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit 40/60 | Raw Power 50/50 | Game Power 30/50 | Speed 60/60 | Arm 50/50 | Field 45/50

PV 30 | FV 55

Coming to the 2021 season as one of the youngest players in the Low-A West, Matos proved that age is just a number as he torched the league all season long, often ranking near the top of the batting title. He’s had his first real slump during late August to early September, but he corrected the ship just in time for the playoffs and help lead San Jose to win the Low-A West title.

Simply put, Matos is a professional hitter. Armed with a loose, athletic, and aesthetically pleasing swing, Matos has exceptional spinal flexion in his follow-through and has great plate coverage generating all-field contact. He can swing and miss, but he often makes contact in two-strike counts that keep his strikeouts at a low rate. What was impressive is that even during his slump, Matos never went out of his usual approach in the batter’s box and never developed bad habits. Even with a lofty swing path and a filled-out frame, Matos often only generates average exit velocities.

Matos registers plus home-to-first times on hustle infield hits that give him plenty of range in the outfield. Matos is often the center fielder for San Jose but was playing some right field as well, especially in the second half of the season when the Giants are showcasing Alexander Canario at center field. He is a solid fielder that makes good reads and is accurate when he does not overthrow the ball with his solid-average arm strength.

Unlike his fellow 2018 IFA top signees Marco Luciano and Jairo Pomares, Matos has a fairly high floor with how promising his hit tool and his approach look while also being the more flexible athlete. As it stands, Matos projects as a solid big-league regular, but whether he will be an All-Star relies on how well he can tap to his raw power in the coming years.

2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Top Prospects: 1-5

2. Marco Luciano

Position: SS
Age: 20
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 208 lbs.
Projected Level: Eugene (High-A)
MLB ETA: 2024

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit 30/50 | Raw Power 70/70 | Game Power 40/60 | Speed 45/45 | Arm 55/60 | Field 40/45

PV 30 | FV 55

Coming in with as much hype and expectations as anyone entering the 2021 season, Luciano was often near or at the top of the Low-A West home run leaderboard before his promotion to Eugene. Luciano struggled mightily in the Pacific Northwest as signs of fatigue and over-aggression were clear. After the regular season, he got a taste of the Arizona Fall League to face better competition.

What was clear last season is that Luciano is not a prodigal hitter when comparing him to Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Wander Franco. Luciano has a solid feel of the strike zone, but he can get sequenced. That was especially clear in Eugene where he was attempting to hit breaking balls, often resulting in him being late for fastballs. He has the God-given talent of hitting balls very hard when he connects, but the stiffness in his broad and muscular frame limits his range of motion to be a plus contact hitter.

Luciano’s stiffness is also obvious on defense, where he has a sound glove and strong throwing arm but his actions in the dirt are unnatural for players with similar size like Carlos Correa, and even Corey Seager, often looking nonchalant and slow especially on spinning throws. He can make the easy and normal plays with a solid range for the position, but there are also plenty of youthful mistakes all season long.

Even with an up-and-down season, Luciano still has All-Star potential based on the power projection alone. He projects as a potential All-Star in the outfield and not at shortstop, however, his defensive limitations will end up pushing him out of the position if better defenders like Aeverson Arteaga and Casey Schmitt prove that they have the bat to stick in the position.

2022 Pre-Season SF Giants Top Prospects: 1-5

1. Kyle Harrison

Position: LHP
Age: 20
Bats: Right
Throws: Left
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Projected Level: Eugene (High-A)
MLB ETA: 2024

Tool Grades: (Present/Future)

FB 60/70 | SL 55/60 | CH 40/50 | CMD 40/50

PV 30 | FV 55

San Francisco paid Kyle Harrison premium money to sign him away from his UCLA commitment when they drafted him in the third round last year. After the 2021 season, it is looking more like a steal rather than a bargain as Harrison broke out big time where he led the Low-A West in ERA and his performance in the final two months of the season was as best as anyone in all the Minor Leagues.

Harrison bulked up 20 pounds last off-season, refined his mechanics, and came into this season looking like a completely different pitcher compared to his amateur days. His 88-92 MPH fastball now sits in the 93-98 MPH range while retaining the same tailing life that he had before. He induced plenty of whiffs with the pitch, particularly in the upper third of the zone and above, because of the combination of the sheer velocity, intense movement, and a flatter vertical approach angle from his low-¾ arm slot.

His slider developed from a slurvy pitch early in the season to a tighter and better pitch at the start of August that coincided with his second-half dominance. Even though the changeup was sparingly thrown early in the season, Harrison grew more confident throwing the pitch and was a solid third offering.

Heading into the 2022 season, Harrison has all the ingredients of a potential frontline starter in the big leagues. He has the strong frame built for innings, has the athleticism to repeat his dynamic and deceptive mechanics, has two potential plus pitches with a solid complimentary third pitch, has a competitive mentality on the mound, and flashes the IQ to make a batter off-balanced.

There are still things to work on like refining his command, improving the quality of his changeup, and improving his efficiency to go deeper into games, but Harrison has as high of a ceiling as anyone in all of baseball and he is the best pitching prospect in the organization since Zack Wheeler.