Notes about SF Giants prospects through the first week of spring training

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I know it might sound like a bit of a cliché, but 2022 is a "make or break" year in the San Francisco Giants farm system. I know a lot of people say this stuff on a lot of farm systems but this year, in particular, is huge for the organization because there are a lot of questions that need a lot of answers this year after the first full-season back due to the pandemic.

Notes about SF Giants prospects through the first week of spring training

In particular, several hitting prospects in the system need a big season after failing to meet lofty expectations like Marco Luciano who was supposed to be one of the ten best prospects in baseball entering 2022 but has been surpassed by Kyle Harrison and Patrick Bailey who was surpassed by his draftmate Brett Auerbach who was not even drafted to name a couple.

With Minor League Spring Training in full swing and the Major League Spring Training beginning to ramp up, let's take a look at some of the notable things that I noticed San Francisco Giants prospects-related based on clips from Giants beat writers and conversations with good friend and fellow Giants prospects writer Roger Munter who is in Arizona throughout the week.

"I'm in the best shape of my life."

That cliché is what's usually said by every single athlete whenever they report back to their teams at the start of training camp. Well, that cliché can be said to several top prospects in the Giants farm system when I saw their clips in Arizona.

Around The Foghorn's number one prospect entering the 2022 season Kyle Harrison looked noticeably leaner compared to when he pitched in San Jose last season. It has been reported that Harrison lost weight during the off-season when his body began to break down towards the end of the season. If there was any evidence of him breaking down, it was definitely not evident in his performance with a 1.53 ERA in the final two months of the season. Even though the report of him losing weight is only reported recently, I have known for months now that improving his conditioning is his number one agenda throughout the off-season and it is very obvious in the video above, looking very lean unlike his rather doughy tummy last season. I have also known that there's potential for Harrison to touch triple digits in-game this season as a result of that improved physique and I'm excited for that.

Other prospects who looked to be in great shape include number two prospect Marco Luciano who admitted that he was felt tired towards the end of last season and number five prospect Heliot Ramos who looks to potentially make his mark with the big-league club this year.

A couple of teenagers who looked like they bulked up to include number eight prospect Aeverson Arteaga, particularly with his upper half but I am not sure if it affected his speed because I had him timed at around 4.4 from home to first in a couple of groundballs albeit in a super small sample size. The final one is number 18 prospect Eric Silva, particularly with his lower half looking thicker than when he was an amateur. According to Roger, he's sat in the low-90s with his heater though so an improved velocity might not be in the cards, however, his thicker lower half will definitely help him endure the grind of the season as someone who uses his lower half extremely well when pitching.