Training: San Francisco’s Luciano is top prospect

The buzz around Giants shortstop prospect Marco Luciano continues to grow.

Despite Luciano’s early struggles at the plate this spring — he’s 1-for-12 with nine strikeouts — excitement surrounding the 19-year-old’s potential to be a future major league star remains widespread.

MLB.com released an updated list of the top 30 prospects in the Giants’ organization Thursday and ranked Luciano first, ahead of former first round draft picks Joey Bart (No. 2) and Heliot Ramos (No. 3).

After Bart ranked 14th and Luciano checked in at No. 35 on MLB.com’s top 100 prospects list last spring, Bart dropped to 23rd in the 2021 rankings while Luciano climbed all the way up to No. 16.

Ramos is the only other player in the Giants farm system who is a consensus top 100 prospect across the industry as MLB ranks him as the No. 65 overall prospect. It’s possible Ramos will continue to climb rankings before making his major league debut, which could come as soon as this summer if he builds off of what’s already been an impressive spring.

Ramos has slugged three home runs in Cactus League games this week including two on Sunday against the Reds and another mammoth solo shot on Tuesday against the Brewers.

The Giants’ 2019 first round draft choice, Hunter Bishop, is the fourth-highest rated prospect in their farm system and ranks as the No. 71 overall prospect on MLB.com’s top-100 list.

Left-handed pitcher Seth Corry, a third round draft choice in 2017, is the Giants’ top-ranked pitching prospect as he’s the fifth overall prospect in the farm system and No. 99 among the top 100.

MLB.com says Luciano has the best hit tool and power tool in the Giants’ farm system and his 60-grade arm is tied with a few others including Bart and Ramos for the best in the system. The evaluators at MLB also say Corry has the best curveball and one of the best changeups in the system, which should give him the chance to become a future mainstay in the Giants’ rotation.

On the Giants’ top 30 list: • Despite the fact Giants fans have endured four consecutive losing seasons, fans may have to wait a little longer than they would like for many of the organization’s top prospects to reach the big leagues. It’s unlikely any of the top 10 prospects aside from Bart and Ramos will debut at Oracle Park in 2021 and many of those players such as catcher Patrick Bailey, outfielder Luis Matos and third baseman Luis Toribio likely won’t be ready until at least 2023.

• Corry is the highestrated pitcher in the farm system, but another lefthanded prospect drafted out of high school, De La Salle alum Kyle Harrison, has the potential to become a fast-riser with a strong debut minor league season. Harrison, who was the Giants’ third round pick in 2020, is really highly-regarded by Giants evaluators and they think he can eventually become a force atop the team’s rotation.

• Former Giants general manager Bobby Evans received a ton of criticism from fans for his failure to develop homegrown talent (the Giants haven’t drafted an All-Star since Joe Panik in 2011), but Evans delivered a really strong 2018 international signing class. Outside of Luciano, Matos (No. 7) and Jairo Pomares (No. 14) both rank among the Giants’ top 15 prospects while earlier international signees Toribio (No. 10) and Alexander Canario (No. 9) are also highly-regarded.