Who were the best SF Giants position player prospects in the Cactus League?

Now that Spring Training is so over, it's time to look back and see how these prospects perform in the Cactus League. Essentially, what we are looking at in Spring Training is whether these prospects powered up in the time skip that is the offseason. It should help us with our evaluations once the regular season starts. I only pulled up the prospects who tallied at least one appearance for the SF Giants.

Who were the best SF Giants position player prospects in the Cactus League?

Even if they only mustered just one out or one plate appearance, it should be enough. On Saturday, we looked at the pitching prospects who impressed in camp. Today, we will look at the position players. To help support their games, we are also going to garner help from the clips taken at Papago from several friends of the site. We are not looking for the stats here. We are only looking at the tweaks in their game.

Maui Ahuna

Ahuna appeared in one televised game this spring and it gave us a glimpse of his current progress. I mentioned before that one of the likely causes of his poor production with his bat is the lack of strength to maintain balance in his swing.

Adding 20 pounds of muscle will help. The actual swing mechanics did not change much but it looked more balanced. I did notice that he has an inside-out approach where he tends to hit inside pitches to left or left-center field. He looked good in the only chance I saw him field but he underestimated or was unaware of the hitter's speed so he took his time and the hitter beat out the throw. I mean they are fielding a bunch of who's who in spring so it can tend to happen.

Scott Bandura

I saw Bandura swing the bat against the Cubs this spring and I thought he did well there. He worked the count but was overmatched with the fastball against a lefty. I thought he would gain weight over the winter to help him tap into a promising offensive potential but he was still kind of the same frame-wise as he did last year. That kept him nice and loose though as he shapes up to be one of the better sleeper picks for this year.

Victor Bericoto

In the couple of televised games that Bericoto played, I thought he looked good on both sides of the ball. Offensively, I feel he's on his bag as he put up good at-bat after good at-bat. There was one instance where he was badly fooled by the speed of a changeup from a lefty pitcher to get him to two strikes but then hit a line drive with the next changeup that he saw to right field for an RBI.

He's also looked solid in right field. I do not feel he has the arm for the position as the throw that he made to nab a runner to second base one hopped before arriving after planting his body but it was accurate and made solid reads of the ball in general.

Hunter Bishop

Bishop finally got back to action after missing the entire 2023 season. There are definitely some rough spots, particularly struggling with his reads in left field. It is likely a result of not playing in an affiliate. The swing surely needs more work but he had a feel-good moment when he laced a single to left field in one of his plate appearances and drove one to the warning track in another.

Trenton Brooks

Brooks played in plenty of games this spring which gave us a lot of opportunity to assess his game a bit further. Brooks has a simple batting stance and only a mini leg kick to get his momentum going. There is a good amount of rotation and uphill tilt going on when he swings which allowed him to 22 homers last year. He is not the most athletic person in the world as he only looked average at first base but he gets the job done at the position.

Tyler Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald did not have a good spring stats-wise but we're going to dig into the tape. He was very patient at the plate, almost to the point of passivity, though I can see that he's doing a good job taking pitches on the edge and way outside of the zone.

The problem that I see though is he is not trying to buy himself time by fouling off pitches on the edge where he got caught looking. There are certain contact issues but as long as he can get on base at a strong clip via walking, I think the Giants would take it especially since they have placed in all over the place defensively. They played him in outfield and the infield, and I think that he looked solid in center and left as he gets good reads off of the bat allowing his range to play. The speed is also on display in the base paths with his base-stealing prowess and was able to leg out a sacrifice bunt situation.

Who were the best SF Giants position player prospects in the Cactus League?

Wade Meckler

The Giants featured Meckler pretty heavily as one of the early backups early on but will miss out on being on the big league roster toward the final couple of games. One of the biggest issues with Meckler in his short big league stint last season is that he faltered hard against secondary pitches.

While he did well against fastballs and has shown the strike zone knowledge, there are times when breaking balls can still get him. In my opinion, it is a bit inconclusive. What is conclusive, however, is the questions about his defense. His overall defensive skillset (reads, first step, arm strength) is not great and has not improved over the winter. I mean it is hard to practice defense in the offseason but this might be what Meckler is in the long-term.

Ismael Munguia

It should come as no surprise that Munguia won the Barney Nugent Award for the best-performing player in his first spring training. He's been great with the contact ability, the surprising pop, and the infectious passion and energy around the dugout.

There are some issues that I have seen though amidst his great spring. He tends to expand the strike zone which results in swings and misses and weak contact. On defense, there were some issues as well in terms of reads and the routes that he took. There are also some concentration errors. I am not taking his achievements this spring away, but even the biggest fan of his (like myself) should temper expectations.

Chase Pinder

Pinder looked solid in the televised spring games that he played. There is not one standout tool but he puts the barrel to bad pitches with a clean-looking swing, and he bides his time and looks for a good pitch to hit. He has looked solid in defense as well. Overall, he is what you would expect from a seasoned pro player. I am not sure if he is a true big leaguer but if given the chance, could hold his own.

Jakson Reetz

Reetz struggled to get his bat going this spring. There are some tardy-looking swings but they are less than good-looking at-bats. He's done a solid job of controlling the strike zone even though the results were not there. Defensively, there were times when he struggled to control the strike zone with his framing, probably due to the lack of familiarity with the pitchers that he was catching as they played a level or two lower than him last season.

Who were the best SF Giants position player prospects in the Cactus League?

Diego Velasquez

I watched Velasquez a couple of times this spring and good thing that both his left-handed and right-handed swings are caught on tape. The swing still looks the same on both sides, with more loft in his left-handed swing and a line-drive swing in his right-handed version.

The batting stances look identical as well as his frame which might be a bit concerning if we are ever going to dream of him hitting more than 10 homers a year. He's also looked solid defensively with a good first step but I am not sure if the arm has enough zip to play anywhere beyond second at this point.

Will Wilson

Wilson has sort of fallen out of favor over the past two seasons due to his poor performance on both sides of the ball. He's looked solid this spring once again with a couple of home runs, though, I did not particularly notice anything different with the way that he swings or physicality-wise. He's also played solid defense at short where he was clean in terms of starting double plays but there are still struggles when trying to throw from deep to his right.

Brett Wisely

Wisely was heavily featured early this spring but was held back towards the second half, only playing in three games. The swings look a bit tardy but there are no discernable changes in his swing from what I saw. Defensively, he played second base and made routine plays look routine which is what you want to see. I do not think they will try him out again in the outfield like last season as he looked at home at second.

Logan Wyatt

Wyatt played towards the end of the season and had two televised games, playing as a first baseman. I have not noticed anything drastic from him offensively, he was exhibiting his signature patience at the box but was overmatched by fastballs even when he was ahead in the count.

The swings looked a bit tardy but that was expected when you have little familiarity with the opposing pitcher. Defensively, he's fine at first base but I noticed that he was not as flexible as other top-flight defenders at the position to aid in slightly erratic throws.