3 SF Giants prospects from 2023 draft class earn quick promotion to San Jose

The San Jose Giants received some reinforcements on Tuesday as it was announced that three SF Giants prospects from the 2023 draft class were being bumped up to Low-A. Infielder Cole Foster, outfielder Scott Bandura, and pitcher Cody Tucker all earned quick promotions after brief stays in the Arizona Complex League (ACL)

3 SF Giants prospects from 2023 draft class earn quick promotion to San Jose

The three will join fellow 2023 draftee Luke Shliger, who received the rare Low-A assignment straight out of the draft. Foster is arguably the most notable from the newest wave of promotions as he was a third-round pick out of Auburn University in Auburn Alabama.

Bandura was a seventh-round pick out of Princeton University, whereas Tucker was an undrafted signing out of Grand Canyon University. It used to be rare for prospects to even reach Low-A in their draft year, but since Short Season Low-A was eliminated as an affiliate level, it will become much more commonplace.

Foster is coming off of a strong year with Auburn University in which he posted a .999 OPS with 13 home runs in 263 plate appearances. He quickly proved that ACL pitching was no match, which is not terribly surprising for a college bat. The lefty bat recorded 10 hits, including three home runs, in 30 at-bats for the ACL Giants Black.

Similar to Foster, Bandura proved to be above the competition level of the ACL. He was coming off of a successful campaign with Princeton University where he posted a 1.119 OPS with 12 home runs in 291 plate appearances. This includes 15 stolen bases in 17 opportunities.

Bandura generated six hits, including a long ball, in 15 at-bats for the ACL Giants Orange before earning a promotion to San Jose.

Lastly, Tucker is coming off of a year in which his performance with Grand Canyon University was a mixed bag. The right-handed pitcher registered a 6.66 ERA with 26 strikeouts against 12 walks in 25.2 frames, but he yielded 32 hits.

His first stint in pro ball produced much better results as he made quick work of ACL hitters, recording six strikeouts across four scoreless innings. There is usually a domino effect with these types of promotions, it is possible that some San Jose prospects could be on the move now with the latest batch of reinforcements.