SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (4/18-4/23)

Make sure to revisit our weekly SF Giants prospect rundowns to keep up with each of the organization’s minor-league affiliates.

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (4/18-4/23)

If you do not feel well acclimated to the prospects throughout the farm system, you might want to revisit this year's Prospect Week articles (specifically the SF Giants 2022 prospects depth chart) or purchase the 2022 SF Giants Prospects Primer filled with scouting reports of 150 San Francisco Giants prospects from the best of the best to the unheard-of prospects. If you’re just interested in the biggest names, then the four-part2022 pre-season top 30 prospects ranking and the thought process behind the ranking is the one-stop-shop for you.

River Cats Hitting Prospects

Heliot Ramos: 6 G, 28 PA, .286 AVG, .893 OPS, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
David Villar: 5 G, 23 PA, .263 AVG, .707 OPS, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K
Ricardo Genoves: 4 G, 16 PA, .133 AVG, .588 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K

This is your weekly Heliot Ramos update. Ramos has been trending up this week especially with the walk total. Ramos now has a 16.1% walk rate against a 17.9% strikeout rate which is a positive considering his struggles with the strikeouts last season. He's been better against lefties against righties like in seasons past, where his home run that he hit this week was against Dodgers lefty Robbie Erlin. Ramos indeed needs more seasoning but he's certainly trending in the right direction.

After this week, it has been understood that David Villar is indeed human as he did not hit a homer this week compared to his torrential output on the first week and a half of the season. The encouraging thing for him is his that he's kept his strikeout in check this week while keeping a steady walk rate. His pitches per plate appearance is similar compared to last season so it was only a matter of time until his walk rate surges up once again. Villar might have cooled down but as long as he is making positive progress at the batter's box week after week, he will definitely be in the conversation as the next prospect up.

It is another trying week for Ricardo Genoves at the plate but the encouraging thing is that his only hits this week were for extra bases (double and a homer). Genoves has been splitting time with Jhonny Pereda this week behind the dish that should help Geno stay fresh as the season rolls along. It should be understood though that the full jump from Eugene to Sacramento is definitely a big one as Genoves struggled to produce with a .671 OPS, the second-lowest output of his career. The silver lining though is that he's been working the opposing pitcher better this season (career-high 4.12 pitches per plate appearance), he's showing platoon preference (higher batting average against lefties compared to righties), and the defense has been respectable

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (4/18-4/23)

Flying Squirrels Hitting Prospects

Shane Matheny: 4 G, 12 PA, .429 AVG, 1.207 OPS, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 2 K
Tyler Fitzgerald: 5 G, 19 PA, .188 AVG, .941 OPS, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 10 K
Franklin Labour: 4 G, 13 PA, .308 AVG, .923 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K

The best performer this week for the Flying Squirrels is Shane Matheny. The 23rd-round selection from the 2017 draft is off to the best start of his professional career with a 1.143 OPS through his first nine games of the season. He's shown a much more mature plate approach this season (more walks than Ks and 4.55 pitches per plate appearance) while also playing a stout infield defense (except at short where his two errors of the season happened). Matheny has a fringe chance to make it to the big leagues as a defensive replacement but this hot start should certainly help his case.

Even though Tyler Fitzgerald only has three hits this week, all of it are for extra bases and two of which are round-trippers. The first month of the 2022 season has been rough for Fitzgerald as the strikeouts kept piling on for the middle infielder, now with a 54% strikeout rate. He's still not seeing the ball well and has not looked confident at the plate for the most part. He's done plenty of damage last season with Eugene so there is optimism that he will get over this slump.

Rounding out the Flying Squirrels rundown is Franklin Labour. There is an old saying that when it rains, it pours. That saying has been pretty much the definition of Labour's professional career. When he's swinging the bat well, he's flashing his power with his bat that has the swing path and bat speed to produce home runs as well as wreak havoc on the bases with his wheels. Let us see if Labour continues this positive trend towards the end of the month. If he can find some sort of consistency with the bat, he has fringe big-league potential with his raw tools.

Will Wilson, Diego Rincones, Brett Auerbach, and Sean Roby all had a rough second week of the season swinging the bat but there are still plenty of good stuff coming from them as the calendar flips to May.

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (4/18-4/23)

SJ Giants Hitting Prospects

Aeverson Arteaga: 5 G, 23 PA, .348 AVG, .957 OPS, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 9 K, 1 SB
Abdiel Layer: 5 G, 23 PA, .350 AVG, 1.035 OPS, 3 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 9 K, 1 SB
Victor Bericoto: 6 G, 27 PA, .238 AVG, .693 OPS, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 6 BB, 8 K, 1 SB
Vaun Brown: 6 G, 28 PA, .192 AVG, .635 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 9 K, 1 SB

It has been a strong week on both sides of the ball for Aeverson Arteaga with him flexing his muscles with the bat and making slow but steady improvements in terms of his internal clock at shortstop. Topping out at 116 MPH in terms of exit velocity is very rare for a shortstop prospect and it is the result of the hard work that Arteaga made in terms of adding muscle to his frame. He's still getting fooled by quality breaking balls and he has not made himself grind out long at-bats, but we have seen a glimpse of what he could become once everything comes together for him.

Abdiel Layer might be your prototypical Minor League journeyman but he made quite an impact with the bat this week. His offensive numbers will never blow you away (.649 OPS so far this season) but he's working the counts better this season while still flashing the ability to play all over the dirt though mostly he plays in second and third base. The 2018 40th-round pick could serve as a player-mentor for the young players who have just came up to the squad to make sure that they will get familiarized to the level as quickly as they can.

One of those prospects is Victor Bericoto. Bericoto struggled out of the gate to start off his 2022 season (.619 OPS) but what he's been doing well is that he's working the count resulting in walks and he's showing solid flexibility at first base. He's done a great job in terms of getting himself in shape coming into the season and his solid feel for the barrel should help him turn his offensive numbers around once the weather gets hotter.

The last but definitely not the least in this week's rundown is Vaun Brown. Brown is the first position player selected in the 2021 draft by the Giants with their final pick in the second day. Even though he will turn 24 in a couple of months, he's flashed plenty of physicality on both sides of the ball. He's jacked and that gives him plenty of raw power to tap on with his compact stroke, and he's quick on the basepaths and on the field where he played all over the outfield. Two of his homers went the other way to right-center field and that shows his approach. He might be a late bloomer that started cold out of the gate but there's some intrigue with his toolsy skillset.