Luciano becoming ‘highlevel talent’
Marco Luciano already has done the most difficult thing in baseball.
Only a select few can convince themselves that their talent and work ethic will overcome failures, even in a game in which succeeding 30% of the time will put you on a Hall of Fame track.
Just 19 years old, Luciano was hitting .136 on May 10 for the Giants’ LowA affiliate in San Jose.
Now he’s flirting with .300. “His recent output is indicative of the adjustments he’s made in his approach and attitude of being an everyday player,” San Jose manager Lenn Sakata said. “You’re starting to see the highlevel talent everyone spoke of on an everyday basis now that he is becoming more comfortable and bringing more consistent energy to the field. All of those adjustments and improvements on some of the fundamental skills are translating to deserved success.”
Luciano, inked by the Giants during the 2018 international
signing period, is considered the Giants’ top prospect and one of the best in all of baseball.
He was being compared to Ronald Acuña Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto when he hit .322 with 10 homers in only 178 plate appearances during his 2019 professional debut in rookie ball.
But after appearing at the Giants’ alternate site during the coronavirusshortened 2020 season, Luciano was struggling with fastballs up in the zone and had just one extrabase hit (a double) in 22 atbats to start this year.
A week later, he changed his approach and had batted .328 (21for64) with 16 RBIs and 13 runs since then through Monday. Oh, he’s also hit four homers during the fourweek stretch, including a 452footer that left the bat at 113 mph.
“Luciano is really starting to mature at the plate,” San Jose hitting coach Danny Santin said. “He’s making better decisions in the box, which complement his elite bat speed and strength.”
Catching carousel: Since returning from a groin injury, catcher Joey Bart has been dominant at TripleA Sacramento, but the Giants continue to juggle personnel as they try to figure out the franchise’s future at the position.
A year after the Giants muddied up the farm system’s depth chart behind Buster Posey by selecting Patrick Bailey in the first round, they took it to a new level Tuesday.
The Giants promoted Ronnie Freeman to TripleA Sacramento, reinstated Andres Angulo from the temporarily inactive list, and assigned Bruce Maxwell to DoubleA Richmond.
With all of the movement around him, Bart was hitting .349 through Monday.
Full capacity: As California is expected to allow outdoor operations without 6 feet of social distancing next week, the San Jose Giants plan to return to full capacity June 22.
Tickets went on sale Tuesday, but procedures are still being considered by the Santa Clara County Health Department.
“Opening our gates without limitations to a San Jose community that has been so supportive and understanding in our efforts to reopen for the first time in over 20 months is extremely gratifying,” San Jose Giants President and CEO
Daniel Orum said.