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SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/15 - 5/21)

By Wrenzie Regodon |
Newest Giants prospect Stuart Fairchild
Newest Giants prospect Stuart Fairchild / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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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 (5/15 - 5/21)

If you do not feel well acclimated to the prospects throughout the farm system, you might want to revisit this year's Prospect Week article (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 monthly updated 2022 Top 30 Prospects is just what you need.

River Cats Hitting Prospects

Donovan Walton: 5 G, 20 PA, .235 AVG, .821 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Stuart Fairchild: 3 G, 12 PA, .143 AVG, .786 OPS, 1 2B, 0 RBI, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 SB
Michael Papierski: 3 G, 11 PA, .100 AVG, .191 OPS, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K

With Dealin' Farhan in action over the past week acquiring Triple-A depth, let's take a chance to talk about them this week. Starting off, we have Donovan Walton who was acquired from the Mariners. He was a fifth-round pick in the 2016 Draft by the Mariners and has done good things in the Triple-A level over the past two seasons with an OPS above .875 in both last season and this season. What is more impressive is his near-identical strikeout to walk ratio over the past two seasons (10.5% walk rate, 10.7% strikeout rate). The Zaidi regime loves taking a shot at these kinds of prospects and while Walton has not produced much in the Majors, he's a potential lefty bat who can play in the infield if ever a guy like Tommy La Stella gets injured mid-season once again.

Next up is Stuart Fairchild who again was acquired from the Mariners. Originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 2017 Draft out of Wake Forest, he's been a decent prospect in the Reds farm system and was part of a trade that brought Archie Bradley to the Reds in 2020. He's toiled in the Triple-A level over the past two seasons and was quickly flipped from the Diamondbacks to the Mariners and now to the Giants. He's still a strong defensive outfielder but the pre-draft concerns about his hit tool has not gone away, especially with his strikeout numbers. He's got some raw pop to tap on to though so he's not a completely washed prospect.

The last prospect that we will talk about is Michael Papierski. Also in the 2017 Draft, Papierski was drafted by the Astros in the ninth round. Now a part of the Giants organization, Papierski's calling card ever since he was young has always been his defense behind the dish. He has a strong feel for the pitching staff and his walk rate has always been in the double-digits. I think when the Giants saw that they pounced right away. He might never be a strong thumper but Papierski has the raw juice and it's a matter of finding a way of tapping it consistently. Nonetheless, Papierski looks like a strong backup catcher.

Oakland Athletics v San Francisco Giants
Oakland Athletics v San Francisco Giants / Lachlan Cunningham/GettyImages

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/15 - 5/21)

Flying Squirrels Hitting Prospects

Armani Smith: 4 G, 16 PA, .400 AVG, .905 OPS, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
Brandon Martorano: 5 G, 21 PA, .368 AVG, 1.008 OPS, 2 2B, 1 3B, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
Shane Matheny: 6 G, 23 PA, .381 AVG, 1.006 OPS, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K

As one of the hottest hitters in the Emeralds lineup, Armani Smith got the call-up to Richmond because of the outfield situation. Smith hit the ground running with a strong first week for the Flying Squirrels. Smith really has the athleticism and the swing that makes him look like a player that is smaller than his listen height and weight (6'4", 215 lbs.), and his performance as well as the way that he looks after his physique makes him a top 30 prospect right now.

Brandon Martorano just kept on delivering over the past two weeks in terms of the power production with three extra base hits this week to go along with his three home runs last week. Even though the needle has not moved much with respect to his batting average, his on base percentage (.365 this month versus .280 last month) and his slugging (.529 this month versus .413 last month) have seen significant upticks this month and it brought his OPS to above .800. Martorano looked very impressive in the early going this season but has massively struggled during much of April. However, he's picking up steam once again as a potential backup catcher option for the Giants.

After six weeks of action, Shane Matheny has clearly looked to be the most consistent hitter in the Flying Squirrels lineup this season with a .289/.400/.505 triple-slash line and five home runs this season. So, how does a hitter who posted a .207 batting average and a .678 OPS last season looked much better this season? Well, Matheny's looked better in terms of his physique this season and it resulted to him driving the ball much better and he's much more comfortable on both sides of the ball this season. He might be a repeater but he's done very well for himself this season and there's a potential that it will carry on to the summer months.

San Francisco Giants v Philadelphia Phillies
San Francisco Giants v Philadelphia Phillies / Rich Schultz/GettyImages

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/15 - 5/21)

Emeralds Hitting Prospects

Marco Luciano: 5 G, 24 PA, .333 AVG, 1.125 OPS, 2 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 6 K
Casey Schmitt: 6 G, 25 PA, .400 AVG, 1.120 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K
Patrick Bailey: 6 G, 24 PA, .304 AVG, .770 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K

Marco Luciano has separated himself as the best position player prospect in the Giants farm system right now as he is now second in the league in batting average, slugging, and OPS while being tied for first in home runs. Luciano's development work last season with Eugene by almost exclusively swinging at breaking balls has paid off this season because we have seen a better at-bat quality from him. Him and Kyle Harrison are the clear-cut two best prospects in the farm system right now.

Do you guys know why Luciano is second in the league in most offensive categories? Well, Casey Schmitt leads them. He leads the league in all of the triple-slash categories (average, on-base, slugging) as well as tied with Luciano in home runs with seven. Schmitt has been stupidly good this season and he's seeing more and more time at shortstop and has clearly looked better there than Luciano will ever be at the position. With the injury to Luis Matos and the struggles of Heliot Ramos, Schmitt looks like the second-best position player prospect in the farm system right now because of his offensive explosion finally catching up to his all-world defensive ability.

Patrick Bailey has been terrible this season but he's finally put together a strong week for the Emeralds for the first time in his two seasons of playing with the team. Bailey has a .210/.267/.358 triple slash line this season with a reduction to his strikeout and walk rate this season (7.8% walk rate and 21.1% strikeout rate). He's been making more contact but I am just not a fan of the way he swings the bat on both sides of the plate. It lacks explosion and he looks very stiff in swinging the bat. He looks much worse when he became a pro compared to his college days. Once again, please, if you are livid on Joey Bart's struggles with the batting average this season and is looking for Bailey, please look up Bailey's stats.

San Francisco Giants v Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants v Los Angeles Dodgers / Victor Decolongon/GettyImages

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/15 - 5/21)

SJ Giants Hitting Prospects

Yorlis Rodriguez: 5 G, 23 PA, .455 AVG, 1.387 OPS, 1 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
Adrian Sugastey: 5 G, 23 PA, .412 AVG, 1.153 OPS, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 3 K
Aeverson Arteaga: 6 G, 26 PA, .400 AVG, .983 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 SB
Grant McCray: 6 G, 31 PA, .179 AVG, .651 OPS, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 14 K, 2 SB

The San Jose Giants hitting squad continues to produce this week and there have been some highlight hitters this week starting with Yorlis Rodriguez. Rodriguez like plenty of the hitters in the San Jose lineup has picked up the pace this month with a 1.022 OPS in May compared to just .600 in April. It made his batting average to move up the .300 mark and is becoming a reliable bat in the lineup. There are massive issues with his defense at third base though and that limits his potential ceiling but he is a solid offensive prospect.

Last week, we have talked about the struggles of both Aeverson Arteaga and Adrian Sugastey. They both picked up the pace this week with strong weeks. Sugastey in particular has a much better at-bat quality with him seeing the ball better as a result of his batting stance tweak where he is essentially crowding the plate. He's still having the approach of driving in non-two-strike counts while focusing more on making contact in two-strike counts, but it's nice for him to put the barrel to the ball better and for his natural hitting ability to stand out. For Arteaga though it's more of quality of contact more than anything as well. He's still struggling on quality pitches of any type but it's nice for him to barrel up balls better this week.

The unfortunate thing that happened this week is Grant McCray's fall to Earth. He was struggling mightily with pitchers that get lefties out very well (lefties with good breaking balls and righties with outstanding changeups) and that exhibits his massive platoon tendency. The tools, the ability to stick at center field, and the struggles against righties make McCray give off Steven Duggar vibes. You might think that the Duggar comp might be bad but Duggar has been a serviceable bat for the Giants for a few years now and McCray has the potential to surpass Duggar if he can hone it in offensively.

Capping off this week's rundown is the Vaun Brown injury. He got hit in the mouth by a stray fastball and was taken out of the game as he was spitting blood on the field. Let's hope that it is not a serious injury like a broken jaw and we might see Brown adopt a helmet with a jaw protector next we see him in the batter's box.

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