SF Giants promote hot-hitting outfield prospect to Double-A

The SF Giants have been very aggressive with minor league promotions and they continued that trend on Wednesday. Hot-hitting outfield prospect Wade Meckler was promoted to Double-A according to a team announcement.

SF Giants promote hot-hitting outfield prospect to Double-A

If you are keeping track at home. The Giants moved Patrick Bailey and Tyler Fitzgerald up to Triple-A earlier this season. Carson Whisenhunt was bumped up to High-A followed by another pitching prospect in Nick Swiney getting the call to Triple-A.

Marc Delucchi of SF Giants Baseball Insider broke the news on Tuesday that Luis Matos was being sent to Triple-A as well. Usually promotions have a domino effect and that was the case with the Matos news.

This created a vacancy in Double-A and the Giants filled it with two outfield prospects. The first was Vaun Brown, who completed a rehab assignment with the Eugene Emeralds. That was expected as Brown finished the 2022 campaign in Double-A.

It is hard to say that the Meckler promotion was unexpected at this point. However, it would have been tough to envision the left-handed bat reaching Double-A this quickly after he was selected in the eighth round of the 2022 draft out of Oregon State University.

The 23-year-old recorded a 1.044 OPS in 100 plate appearances split across two levels last year. San Francisco must have liked what they saw as Meckler saw a surprising amount of playing time in spring training, registering five hits in 13 at-bats.

Usually a draft pick might see a spot start or two in spring training in his first full camp as a pro, but Meckler saw more than that.

The outfield prospect began the season in High-A on a tear, slashing .459/.494/.633 with two home runs, 17 RBI, and 14 runs in 87 plate appearances. It is uncommon for a draft pick to reach Double-A in his first full season, but it is even rarer to do so as quickly as Meckler did.

The only other prospect I can recall reaching Double-A so quickly is Brandon Crawford back in 2009. The longtime Giants shortstop posted a 1.045 OPS in 119 plate appearances. Crawford was clearly above the High-A competition that year and that is how Meckler looked this year.

Meckler has excellent contact skills and spreads the ball all over the field. He has good speed, but it does not translate to being a base-stealing threat. He has experience all over the outfield, but is likely best-suited as a corner outfielder.

The Oregon State University product wasted no time in introducing himself to Double-A pitching as he tallied three hits in five at-bats on Wednesday. It has been a productive first season for Meckler and the Giants rewarded him with a quick promotion.