Callis: 2 SF Giants prospects have some of the best debuts from the 2022 draft class

With the exception of Triple-A, the 2022 minor league season is in the books. Jim Callis of MLB.Com reflected on the season, especially recent draftees, and recognized two SF Giants prospects as having some of the more impressive debuts from this year's draft class.

Callis: 2 SF Giants prospects have some of the best debuts from the 2022 draft class

Callis has an eye for talent and typically sees that talent well before the untrained eye, so it carries weight when he is impressed by a performance. While the Giants went with a pair of players who missed the 2022 college season in the first two rounds of the draft, it was a couple of later picks that caught Callis' attention.

In July, the Giants drafted outfield prospect Wade Meckler out of Oregon State University in the eighth round and pitching prospect John Bertrand out of Notre Dame University in the 10th round. Meckler received a $97,500 signing bonus, whereas Bertrand received a $47,500 signing bonus.

Meckler made a solid first impression as he quickly earned a promotion to Low-A after posting an .855 OPS in 50 plate appearances with the Arizona Complex League (ACL) Giants - Black. He continued on his tear, slashing .439/.540/.683 with more walks (9) than strikeouts (8). Callis was impressed by Meckler's speed, but wants to see it impact the game more:

"Meckler broke into pro ball by batting .367/.500/.544 with 12 extra-base hits in 23 games between Rookie-ball and Single-A. His best tool is his well above-average speed, though it has yet to translate into stolen bases or regular time in center field."

Marc Delucchi of Giants Baseball Insider had a really good story on Meckler about how getting cut at Oregon State University motivated him to work even harder.

On the other hand, Bertrand was briefly teammates with Meckler as he made five appearances for the ACL Giants - Black. The 10th-round pick tallied 109 frames during the college season, so the workload was a very small sample. And, that is not uncommon for pitchers in their draft year.

That said, Bertrand clearly caught Callis' attention. The right-handed hurler did not allow a run on eight strikeouts, zero walks, and four hits in eight innings. Callis highlights that Bertrand is a pitchability-over-stuff hurler, so his dominance of the Rookie League was not too surprising:

"Bertrand matched Barnett for the most scoreless innings (eight) by a draftee while striking out twice as many hitters (eight) as he allowed to reach base (four) in Rookie ball. He's a finesse pitcher who locates his upper-80s fastball well and possesses a solid changeup."

Last year, the Giants went with pitchers in nine of the first 10 rounds and that pitcher-centric approach continued in 2022 as they drafted eight pitchers in the first 10 rounds. Whether that strategy pays off or not remains to be seen as many of these prospects will not make an impact, if they do at all, until a couple of years down the road.