Unheralded SF Giants infield prospect flashed elite skill in first pro season

SF Giants middle Infield prospect Dayson Croes hit at every level this season. Not only did he hit, but when he swung the bat, he made contact at an elite rate.

Unheralded SF Giants infield prospect flashed elite skill in first pro season

Croes began the season with the Winnipeg Goldeyes. He had spent two seasons with Winnipeg before his contract was transferred to the Giants.

Across two seasons in the American Association, Croes registered a .347/.405/.437 line with a 7.9 percent walk rate, 9.0 percent strikeout rate, and .090 ISO. As his stat line indicates, he makes a lot of contact but has limited power upside.

The left-handed bat was originally assigned to the Arizona Complex League. He was elevated to High-A after just 30 plate appearances. Croes completed a meteoric rise through the minor league system by finishing the year with the Sacramento River Cats. To go from independent ball all the way up the minor league ladder is remarkable.

In Croes' brief time with Sacramento, he hit .349/.417/.465 (138 wRC+) with a 4.2 percent walk rate, 10.4 percent strikeout rate, and .116 ISO. As he demonstrated at every level this season, he sprays a lot of line drives to all fields.

While teams are trying to maximize power output by getting hitters to lift and pull more frequently, there is always going to be a role for contact and line-drive hitters. Of course, Croes falls in the latter category.

It is not that Croes just made a lot of contact, but he did so at an elite level. With the River Cats, he had a 95.3 percent in-zone contact rate, which puts him in the 95th percentile. To put it differently, there are not many Triple-A hitters with better in-zone contact skills than Croes.

In the majors, there are only a handful of qualified hitters with a higher in-zone contact rate. Luis Arráez and Steven Kwan are some of the names on that short list.

The Giants' front office has shown that contact skills are a quality that they covet. The Giants were relatively conservative with prospect promotions this year. However, Croes was one of the few exceptions. He just completed his age-25 season, so he was a bit more polished than most prospects coming out of college.

However, it was not just performance that led to him finishing the year in Triple-A. The Giants likely see him as a player who fits what they look for in a hitter. While Croes just completed a strong year, he may have put himself on the map for a camp invite.

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