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SF Giants need to give Triple-A bat with 20 homers a shot this season

He deserves one more shot at the big leagues.
ByNick San Miguel|
Sep 11, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Marco Luciano (37) hits a single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images
Sep 11, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Marco Luciano (37) hits a single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images | John Hefti-Imagn Images

As the SF Giants turn one eye towards 2026 after a disappointing start to the second half led them to sell at the trade deadline, they should strongly consider giving former top prospect Marco Luciano another shot at the big leagues.

Luciano has been hitting the ball well in Triple-A Sacramento and just hit his 20th home run of the season. With right field now open after trading away Mike Yastrzemski, the Giants should give Luciano a look in the outfield.

SF Giants should give Marco Luciano a chance this season

On the season in Triple-A, Luciano is slashing .220/.341/.446 with 20 home runs and 53 runs batted in. The power numbers are solid and he had a career day in July, but the Giants would probably prefer that batting average to be a little bit higher before calling him up.

However, the Giants do not have forever to figure out whether Luciano will be a long-term piece for the team. They need to try and find out whether he can be a guy that helps the Giants out going forward or not.

Luciano had a very rough 2024 season. Coming into the year, he was the presumptive shortstop who was going to replace franchise legend Brandon Crawford. Injuries and poor performance coupled with the emergence of the recently retired Nick Ahmed in spring training cost Luciano the starting job.

When he was called up later in the year, his defense at shortstop was so atrocious that he is now an outfielder. In sum, it was a rough year for Luciano as it was clear the previous regime was not sure what to do with him.

The Giants still do not entirely know what to do with him as some thought he could be traded ahead of the trade deadline, but he deserves a shot to prove himself. The team did just demote Luis Matos to make room for Jerar Encarnacion which is a move that robs Matos of much-needed big league at-bats so calling Luciano up does not seem like an imminent move.

Maybe when the Giants get a couple more roster spots in September they can call up Luciano and get him some at-bats. He has yet to show his power at the big league level so it could be a good audition for the former top prospect.

With the Giants unlikely to make the playoffs, they need to figure out which players are worth keeping around which is why they should give Luciano a look at some point the rest of this season.

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