SF Giants No. 3 prospect is a glimmer of hope (or a nice trade chip) for the future

As the SF Giants look inept in practically every way, sometimes it’s nice to look down at what prospects are doing to give us some hope for the future. Luis Hernández, signed by the Giants as the top international prospect in the offseason for a $5 million signing bonus, just gave fans a glimmer of hope for the future as he hit a grand slam in his first game in the Arizona Complex League.

It was an impressive swing of the bat as it was an opposite field homer that tied the game in the top of the ninth with two outs. Power to the opposite field and clutch? Giants fans could certainly get used to that.

Luis Hernández gives Giants something to smile about amid awful stretch

It’s impressive in and of itself that Hernández is playing in the Arizona Complex League. Usually an international prospect like him would start off in the Dominican Summer League but the Giants determined he was ready to start stateside.

Before you go design your own Hernández jersey, it’s important to keep in mind that he’s just 17 years old. It would be somewhat surprising if he made his big league debut this decade so it’s probably best to pump the brakes a bit.

Still, the Giants are 13-21 on the season so fans can be forgiven for dreaming about the future just a bit.

There’s legitimate reason to be excited about Hernández despite his age. He’s the No. 3 ranked prospect in the organization after recently-promoted Bryce Eldridge and Josuar Gonzalez. He hit .346 against older competition in Venezuela when he was just 15 and he is highly touted as a hitter. 

The Giants do already have a lot of young shortstop prospects in the system. Gonzalez is a shortstop, Jhonny Level is a shortstop who has been impressive this year, and don’t forget about Gavin Kilen who played under Tony Vitello at the University of Tennessee and was drafted in the first round by the Giants last year.

It seems doubtful that the Giants will have room for all of these guys on the team someday. Inevitably one or two of them will be traded and if we’ve learned anything from the likes of Marco Luciano and Luis Matos it’s that these guys don’t always work out.

So at the very least Hernández could give the Giants a nice trade chip if he hits well in the ACL or they could roll the dice, keep him, and hope that he does end up being a solid big leaguer someday. 

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