SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/1 - 5/7)

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 (5/1 - 5/7)

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-part 2022 pre-season top 30 prospects ranking and the thought process behind the ranking is the one-stop-shop for you.

With the SF Giants top 30 prospects update, I will be skipping the final week of action in terms of the stat line but still talk about the past two weeks of action.

River Cats Hitting Prospects

Kevin Padlo: 3 G, 12 PA, .250 AVG, 1.250 OPS, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 SB
David Villar: 6 G, 19 PA, .308 AVG, 1.218 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K
Ricardo Genoves: 5 G, 19 PA, .412 AVG, 1.003 OPS, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K

What a way for Kevin Padlo to introduce himself to the Giants fanbase with a three-home game in his first week as a River Cat and was actually on the Giants big-league lineup for a couple of games against the Dodgers before getting sent back down. Originally from the Rockies organization, Padlo was sent to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016 via trade that sent now Giants reliever Jake McGee to Colorado. Padlo bounced around the Rays organization during his time there and actually made his big league debut last season but was waived and claimed by the Mariners in August. The Giants acquired him from the Mariners last April for cash and he should provide some infield depth for the club.

There is no stopping David Villar's quest for big league opportunity and this week is no different with a strong week offensively. Villar has seen time on both third and first base but the strikeouts have crept up over the past two weeks that brought his strikeout rate to around 27%. He is still awesome with the bat with an OPS above 1.000 but let's be hopeful that the Giants front office will reward Villar's past couple of years with a big league stint because he very much deserves it.

Ricardo Genoves has looked much more comfortable in the batter's box over his past seven games with a .385 batting average, 1.005 OPS, and four doubles that brought his batting average to a more respectable .279. His .395 BABIP clearly makes his current form unsustainable but it's nice to see Genoves be more proactive with the bat and be a more comfortable defender behind the plate where his frame job stands out. His blocking and movement behind the plate also continued to look better than last season so that's another plus for him. He is now projecting to be the second man behind Joey Bart in the Giants catching organizational depth chart.

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/1 - 5/7)

Flying Squirrels Hitting Prospects

Diego Rincones: 3 G, 12 PA, .083 AVG, .166 OPS, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K
Franklin Labour: 6 G, 24 PA, .158 AVG, .965 OPS, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 11 K
Rob Emery: 4 G, 14 PA, .385, 1.126 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K

It has not been all good for the Flying Squirrels bats over the past week so we will talk about the hitters who did well over the past week. Let's start however by having a discussion with Diego Rincones. Rincones has definitely not looked like his 2021 self in terms of production. His ISO (or isolated power which explains extra-base output) is a paltry .033, a far cry from his .221 ISO from last season. The way he swings the bat is not as vigorous as before (his physique might be the reason for this) but he's still making plenty of contact (10.4% strikeout rate) which is a testament to his bat-to-ball skills. His worse physique is also evident on defense when running routes. Here's to hoping that Rincones could find his power stroke once again during the season.

Franklin Labour is such an interesting prospect to follow. His batting average is below the Mendoza line but his OPS is actually just below .700 which pretty much does not make sense for a typical hitter. Labour is not your typical hitter though as more than half of his hits went for extra bases (two doubles, a triple, and four homers) but like every all-or-nothing hitter, Labour strikes out at an astronomic rate of 43.4% which does not make sense and make you think to not consider him as a viable prospect. His tools, however, should not be denied because he can pretty much flip the outcome of the game with his tools amidst all his strikeouts.

Capping off this week's recap is Rob Emery. There are actually three prospects who play catcher for the Flying Squirrels this season and they are Brett Auerbach, Brandon Martorano, and Emery. Martorano and Emery has played the most games behind the dish as Auerbach is often deployed up the middle but has missed some time due to injury. Emery's hot week resulted to his OPS to creep up almost 200 points from .459 to .655.

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/1 - 5/7)

SJ Giants Hitting Prospects

Grant McCray: 6 G, 31 PA, .500 AVG, 1.477 OPS, 3 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 3 SB
Vaun Brown: 5 G, 23 PA, .400 AVG, 1.328 OPS, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 SB
Alexander Suarez: 4 G, 17 PA, .333 AVG, 1.086 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K
Najee Gaskins: 5 G, 15 PA, .300 AVG, .933 OPS, 1 2B, 0 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K

It was an electric week for Grant McCray as his bat finally woke up big time against Stockton, raising his batting average from .163 to .269 in the process. McCray's stroke is not the prettiest in the world (it's very top-hand) but it works for him and he added lean muscle to impart more power on his lefty stroke. There will likely be strikeouts in his game which would cap his offensive ceiling but his athleticism alongside four other tools (power, speed, arm, defense) should make him a staple of the top 30 prospects if he can keep hitting to the coming weeks.

Another one who's finally found his stride when the calendar flipped to May is the 2021 tenth-round pick, Vaun Brown. In his last 13 games, the jacked-up outfielder has a 1.115 OPS, four doubles, four homers, and five stolen bases saw his batting average balloon from .200 to close to .300. Brown could very well be considered a late bloomer as he has the raw tools (power, speed, arm strength) but did not fully tap on those tools until his redshirt senior season for Florida Southern. He will be 24 years old next month but he could very well progress through the system quickly as someone with the tools that he has does have the potential to make it to the big leagues. Oh, and he wears a mask like a bandit.

Like McCray and Brown, Alexander Suarez is another one of the outfielders blessed with the raw tools and athleticism. However, he was off to a much colder start compared to the two discussed above but he's flashed his power this week. The Venezuelan's swing mechanics has come a long way ever since he put himself on the radar down in the Dominican backfields. The swing is much cleaner, the bat stays through the zone for longer, and he can crush baseballs when he catches it at the sweet spot. The problem is that the approach is still very raw as he is still pretty much a free swinger.

Capping off the San Jose hitters recap is old friend Najee Gaskins. Gaskins has been a reliable presence on both sides of the ball for San Jose, providing spark in the bottom or top of the order and playing strong outfield defense as he's played on all three outfield positions this season. Gaskins is posting a solid .767 OPS along with five doubles though he's often getting beat by offspeed offerings. The 20th round pick from Saint Cloud State projects to be a reliable Minor League outfielder for years to come.