Top outfield prospect among trio of SF Giants prospects reassigned to the minors

The SF Giants trimmed the spring training roster on Monday. According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Grant McCray, Andy Thomas, and Adrian Sugastey were reassigned to minor league camp.

Top outfield prospect among trio of SF Giants prospects reassigned to the minors

There were no surprises from the bunch. Perhaps, the most notable player to be sent back down was McCray. The 23-year-old outfielder is regarded as one of the team's top outfield prospects. Both Sugastey and Thomas are catchers, so they were likely in camp to serve as extra help for bullpen sessions.

McCray is coming off of a solid 2023 season in which he tallied a .255/360/.417 line with 14 home runs, 66 RBI, and 101 runs in 584 plate appearances with the Eugene Emeralds. This includes 52 stolen bases in 62 opportunities.

In some respects, the lefty bat is a bit raw at the plate and prone to too many strikeouts. He tallied a 29.3 percent strikeout rate last season, which was an improvement from the 35.5 percent strikeout rate he had in Low-A in 2022. That said, he does take a healthy number of walks. He does a nice job as a leadoff hitter by seeing a lot of pitches and reaching base.

In the field, he is arguably the best defensive outfielder in the Giants organization. McCray covers a lot of ground thanks to above-average speed. He does generally get good reads off of the bat and takes efficient routes to the ball. In the Cactus League, he recorded one hit in eight at-bats with three stolen bases.

On the other hand, both Thomas and Sugastey were reassigned after minimal game action. Thomas spent the 2023 season in Double-A where he posted a .685 OPS with 11 home runs in 448 plate appearances. He does not offer much upside with the bat, but he does a good job of seeing a lot of pitches and taking walks. He had one hitless at-bat in spring training.

Sugastey had a strong season in High-A where he recorded a .757 OPS with four home runs in 264 plate appearances. At this point, he is still very raw as a catcher, which is not out of the ordinary for a prospect entering his age-21 season. He profiles as more of a bat-first catcher with good contact skills. He did tally one hit in his lone at-bat in the Cactus League.