Giants say prospects won’t be rushed after missing a full season
Shortstop Marco Luciano, like many of baseball’s elite prospects, missed significant development in 2020, and it’s human nature, not to mention a professional athlete’s competitiveness, to try to make up for it in 2021.
The Giants, however, have no intention of rushing Luciano, 19, or other young prospects as a result of the minor leagues getting canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the team’s top hitting prospects trained last summer at the alternate site in Sacramento, scrimmaging against each other every day, the top pitching prospects were asked to stay home and train. Either way, it paled in comparison to regular competition.
“We’ve been talking internally about where to place some of our players, with Luciano and some of our other younger, higher-upside players,” general manager Scott Harris said on The Chronicle’s “Giants Splash” podcast.
“I think if the opportunity
presents itself, we may start them with conservative placements but be totally openminded to promoting them quickly because I don’t think we can underestimate the impact of going an entire year without playing in real competitive games against players from other organizations.”
Luciano was destined for the Giants’ lowA affiliate ( Augusta) before the game was shut down in March. As part of the minorleague restructuring, the Giants dropped Augusta and shortseason SalemKeizer and picked up Eugene as their highA team.
San Jose, previously highA, now is lowA. So if the Giants send their young players to affiliates for which they had been targeted last year, which has been discussed, it’s possible Luciano could open the 2021 season in San Jose, though he might be deemed too advanced for that level.
That hasn’t been decided. It hasn’t been confirmed even when spring training starts for many minorleaguers, let alone the start of the season. As far as farm systems go, post2020 is a new and uncertain world.
“The changes in the minorleague structure will have a significant effect on our minorleague players’ paths to the big leagues,” Harris said. “I think these changes will affect the Giants in a few ways.”
The first, Harris said, is the elimination of the shortseason teams, traditionally an environment for new draftees and international players to transition into the pros and prepare for the grind of fullseason baseball.
“It looks like we will have to be more intentional about teaching those transitional skills and behaviors in rookie ball,” said Harris, referring to the more informal Arizona setting, “to prepare our players for a more significant jump from rookie ball to San Jose.”
The second, according to Harris, is the impact of the Class A shuffling, leaving both of the Giants’ Aball affiliates on the West Coast. Eugene was previously a Cubs’ affiliate, so as a former Cubs executive, Harris is familiar with the Oregon site.
“They have excellent facilities and an excellent ownership group,” Harris said. “I think that’s a great addition for us, and it’ll minimize the travel we will subject our minorleague players to.”
No. 3 is the effect of the cancellation of last year’s minor leagues, especially for the young players. Harris called the lack of development “potentially damaging to their careers.”
“They lost experience facing adversity and making adjustments,” he said. “They lost an opportunity to grow with their teammates and learn how to keep their bodies healthy and productive over a long season.”
As a result, the playerdevelopment staff needs to make certain the lost time doesn’t derail the players’ journey to the majors, Harris said. For starters, that might mean an elevated level of competition in spring training.
Whenever spring training starts.
Teams received memos last week that it’s a strong possibility Double A and Class A seasons would be delayed and their training camps would not open until the bigleague and Triple A players are finished with their camps. In many cases, that could further delay young players’ development, though an alternate site for players to train could be arranged.
“It’s a huge factor,” Harris said. “I should note that if 2020 taught us anything, it’s that every situation is fluid. Until those leagues formally get delayed, we’ll remain hopeful we can find some kind of competitive environment to place all our minorleague players.”
The top young hitting prospects, including Luciano, Heliot Ramos, Hunter Bishop and Alexander Canario, were at the Sacramento site, but the top young pitching prospects, including Sean Hjelle and Seth Corry, were not. They trained at home while monitored by Giants pitching coaches.
“I think I’m less concerned about the development of our pitchers because I think it’s easier to simulate competitive environments in bullpens,” Harris said. “If a pitcher such as Sean Hjelle is throwing bullpens in front of technology and perhaps throwing to hitters at home during a quarantine, there are ways to create competition within those bullpens.
“It’s a lot harder if you’re a hitter because there aren’t many humans on Earth who can throw 95 and spin a breaking ball and allow you to test your skills and your ability to lay off tough sliders when you’re on your own back at home.
“That said, I think instructs in 2020 was an important developmental tool for many of our young pitchers.”
Three young relievers at the Giants’ instructional league were so impressive, especially with their velocity, that they were added to the 40man roster and protected from the Rule 5 draft: Camilo Doval, Kervin Castro and Gregory Santos.
Doval has been mentioned as a candidate to join the Giants’ 2021 bullpen, but it’s unlikely any young prospects soon will join the rotation, which has a couple of vacancies.
“I think it would be tough to imagine them cracking the rotation immediately,” Harris said. “I wouldn’t rule anything out, but they sacrificed an entire year of competition, so expecting them to show up to spring training ready to compete and act as if they didn’t miss an entire year of development would be tough to envision.
“So we’re building a rotation assuming they will not be a factor, at least in the early going, which should allow us to create additional depth in our rotation and pitching infrastructure moving forward.”