The Giants recalled Marco Luciano and Luis Matos from Triple-A Sacramento this afternoon. San Francisco optioned Blake Sabol and Casey Schmitt in corresponding moves. Luciano is in tonight’s lineup at second base against Arizona’s Ryne Nelson. It seems that’ll be a frequent occurrence this month.
Manager Bob Melvin told reporters this evening that the Giants will play Luciano regularly at the keystone for the season’s final few weeks (relayed on X by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Tonight’s start there will be the 22-year-old’s first second base action in the big leagues.
Luciano is no stranger to the middle infield. He has started 19 MLB games at shortstop over the last two years. He has nearly 2500 shortstop innings in the minors. Luciano has made 27 appearances at second base in his minor league career, all but six of which have come this season with Sacramento.
Despite his ample shortstop experience, the rookie infielder struggled at the position earlier in the year. He was charged with five errors in only 60 innings. Luciano’s fielding percentage sat at a dismal .865, and while that almost certainly would’ve risen in a larger sample, the frequency of the mistakes led the Giants to quickly decide that he wasn’t ready for everyday shortstop work. San Francisco flirted with playing him at designated hitter after the Jorge Soler deadline trade. That didn’t last long either, and he has all of 48 plate appearances over 17 MLB games this year.
The Giants’ playoff hopes have been all but officially ended, so the next few weeks are primarily about evaluation. Luciano’s development is one of the organization’s key storylines. Scouting reports have long touted his raw power, but that has yet to translate against upper level pitching. Luciano has four extra-base hits (three doubles and a triple) in 31 career big league contests. He only has 10 homers with a .250/.380/.380 batting line over 384 plate appearances in the Pacific Coast League this year. A near-17% walk rate has driven a huge on-base mark, but he’s striking out 27% of the time without making much of a power impact.
Luciano is a few days shy of his 23rd birthday, so there’s still plenty of time for him to figure things out. The Giants haven’t given him any kind of consistent run against MLB pitching before now. That said, his pedestrian upper minors production and the ongoing questions about his long-term defensive home leave a lot unsettled.
Acclimating well to second base could at least address the latter question. The Giants are going to need a long-term solution at the position. Thairo Estrada has held the job for the past three-plus years. He has had a very poor ’24 campaign, though, and the Giants outrighted him off the roster last week. Estrada remains in the organization for now, but the Giants will almost certainly move on during the upcoming offseason: either by allowing him to elect minor league free agency or declining to tender him an arbitration contract.
Luciano will need to tighten things up defensively if he’s to stick on the infield at all. Scouts’ questions about his chances of playing shortstop have been more about his hands and lateral mobility than any issues with his arm strength. Four of his five errors at the position were of the fielding variety. That’d be problematic no matter where he is on the dirt, though perhaps moving off the infield’s most demanding spot would allow him to be more comfortable.
“Manager Bob Melvin told reporters this evening that the Giants will play Luciano regularly at the keystone for the season’s final few weeks”
What does “regularly” mean? After Soler trade Zaidi said Luciano would get plenty of ABs at DH. Luciano got 21 ABs & Zaidi sent him back to the minors
No more Zaidi speaking out of both sides of his mouth & being less than truthful. Luciano must play everyday for the rest of the season or Zaidi must be fired
Are you whinging about Melvin or Zaidi ? Zaidi is talking out of both sides of his mouth but you quote Melvin ?
Doesn’t matter ? Either/or ? Just having a cry ?
What he is saying is the Giants have a poor leader in Zaidi and he would be correct. More important, your comment sucks.
Oh. I missed the poor leader part. My bad.
Sure. I’ll entertain that. Specifically, how does he exhibit poor leadership ?
The Giants had two really good players fall into their lap in Chappy & Snell, yet here we are in September and it’s the same old .500ish, mediocre Farhan Zaidi-led S.F Giants.
Slow news day
Every time at the end of the year when the giants call up Luciano it’s them waiving the white flag on the season
I would rather see him at 1st or maybe RF but Luciano is so bad I doubt he could handle that
He’s definitely at the position but “playing second base” might be generous.
Playing around? Sure.
Miss you Thairo!
Interestingly, he “played” designated hitter
He already looks pretty shaky out there tonight. This may be a very rough September to be a Giants fan. Bad front office, uninspiring sleepy manager.
How do you write this article without mentioning the Giants current incumbent SS, whose performance this year is probably the bigger reason why Marco can no longer be considered for that position.
Fitzgerald and Luciano could become one of the best hitting middle infield pairs in baseball.
Luciano, Matos and Encarnacion are exciting players. Hope they can join Ramos and Fitzgerald in taking their game to the next level.
Can’t think of many teams with worse long term futures than the Giants.
Why ?
Outside of Webb, they aren’t locked into anything long term. That includes the POBO and the manager. They can pivot at any time. Why is the long term outlook so miserable ?
Oops. Webb and Lee.
“Worse long term futures”…It’s nothing a good GM and a business plan can’t solve. The Giants seemingly are treading water these last several years, but are in no worse shape than at least 60% of the teams in MLB. The Giants ran Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean out of town and haven’t really been relevant since. And I don’t read too much into the Giants one outstanding 107 win season, because that was clearly unsustainable.
“The Giants ran Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean out of town…”
Not really, especially in the case of Sabean. He was still working for the Giants when the NYYs hired him away. The Yankees were his first organization and it’s no surprise that he wanted to return.
No one knows exactly what transpired between the Giants and Bochy. But it’s SOP that any new GM/PBO will want to bring in their own guy, rather than stick with the incumbent. My understanding was Bochy was considering retirement, as evidenced him not taking a job with a new team right away. His kind words about the organization, when he first came back with the Rangers, indicated no bitterness whatsoever.
Boch made a point of saying he’d probably want to manage again – but he also made it clear that after 25 straight years as a (very successful!) big league manager, he wanted some time off from the grind – however much he’d enjoyed it. (His wife certainly wanted him to!)
Clearly he meant it too, since he ended up taking 3 years off. And I have little doubt he could have come back sooner than that if he’d really wanted to.
2 errors last night.
Outside talent evaluators for years have said Luciano wasn’t a viable shortstop. Instead of moving him to a position he could handle in the minor leagues the management kept insisting he would be fine. Now he’s having to learn a new position in the majors.
Great point. The inside view seemed way different to the outside. Indications are the outside is/was correct.
John Bird, I think you’re overstating what evaluators thought. Everything I read while he was working his way up was that there was some doubt whether he would stick at SS. I certainly did not read anything close to a consensus that he wasn’t viable at the position.
So far his fielding mishaps are still in a small sample of games. I’ve heard former players say that one of the biggest problems for young players is feeling the need to be perfect once they get promoted. That leads to mistakes. I think that may be the reason for Luciano’s struggle with the glove. I think he needs time, and I’ll withhold drawing a conclusion at this point.
It is a bit weird though, Jean. That doubt has been around for a long time. To see him come up and be bad is a terrible look for the organisation.
How does it work ? Do number 1 type prospects get a say in what position they play or are they all “yes sir, no sir, how high would you like me to jump ?”.
foppert, I don’t agree. That doubt may have been around for some, but not all. Clearly some scouts thought he could handle SS.
And, who cares what it makes the organization look like? I agree that his errors have been numerous, for the number of chances, and look bad, but if it’s still a very small sample, only 9 games at SS and 1 at 2B. And, if it’s just him pressing too much, and not playing relaxed, then I think it’s a mistake to give up on him as a middle IFer.
I don’t know the answer to the second part. I think probably players want to play where they did in college or HS, but no org is going to keep a guy at SS if they don’t think he’s good enough, despite his wishes. I do think teams will play guys at the most demanding position they can, because it’s always easier to shift to a less demanding one.
Ok. Cool.Thanks. He strikes me as a guy who wants to be “the man”. So just curious how much player preference plays when making these decisions.
Those SS 9th inning issues still linger in my mind but there will be no giving up on the guy. I just want him to hit.
Jean, I think it is more of a case of having different takes on the same reports. What I took from them was that while they thought he could get by at SS for a couple of years he was more suited to 3B or OF. I think the Giants hoped he could handle the position because that was their biggest need but now have concluded that not to be the case and moved him to 2B because that is currently their biggest need with Fitzgerald emerging to hopefully manning short for some years to come. My point is this decision should have been made well before this point. It may be because they tend to rush prospects through the minors before they have fully developed a skill set. This is nothing against Luciano. I’m rooting for the kid but I worry that trying to learn 2B,which is maybe the second most difficult position to learn, on the fly at the major league level will impede his development. He needs to be put at a position where he can feel comfortable and have success and focus on his hitting, which is his strength.
I found this in a scouting report from 2020:
“…scouts are split on whether he’ll be able to remain at shortstop.”
I read this as some scouts believing he could handle SS. And I don’t see having him play SS, even if he later shifts to a different position as any kind of problem. Guys that have the bat speed and raw power that Luciano has is a huge plus
I don’t agree that if he was going to be moved off SS that the decision should have been made a long time ago. if a guy can play SS, he can play anywhere. It would only be a problem if they had him playing some other position in the minors and then asked him to shift to SS.
I would also be wary of declaring Fitzgerald a shoe-in at SS for the next couple of years. His BABIP is a little high to be completely sustainable. He wouldn’t be the first guy to have a hot start only to cool off and never get it back.
The point is he can’t play SS. The Giants seem to have finally realized that.
As to Fitzgerald I share your concerns. We have seen a number of prospects start out hot and them flame out…Schmidt, Matos, Bailey et.all. His K rate doesn’t bode well. But I think he has a better chance of succeeding at the position, at least for now and he adds much needed speed to the lineup. Like I said “hopefully”
“The point is he can’t play SS.”
That’s your opinion, not a fact. Whether he can or not is something I don’t know right now. There’s too little data for me to offer an opinion. We don’t know if the problem is him trying to be perfect, or if he is a bad fielder.
I also think it’s too early to consider Matos a flame out. He’s 2 years younger than Ramos, and 2 years ago people were calling Heliot a bust.
I never had much hope for Schmitt, so I’m not surprised. One hot ST really means nothing.
As for Bailey. his failures at the plate are frustrating, but I try to keep in mind that he provides so much value behind the plate, that I think we just have to accept non-production with the bat. He’s still a net positive in value despite his lack of hitting.
It’s an opinion based on the fact that they have moved him off of SS with no indication that the move is temporary.
Also, given his K rates, his hit tool is far from a sure thing.
I’m started to think that his best value is as a trade piece, maybe in a package for someone like Vlad Jr.
As for Matos, I was referring to this season. I still think he can be a good player but has been rushed in his development. Schmidt doesn’t seem to have a future with the team given Chapman’s extension. I love Bailey and think he can still be a decent hitter, but a worry about his durability and his stamina.
Maybe they moved him off SS to relieve any pressure he’s been putting on himself, rather than a conclusive belief that he can’t play there. I don’t think there’s anything to indicate whether the move is temporary or not. It could depend on how Fitzgerald progresses, or a possible FA addition. There are 2 very good SSs hitting free-agency this offseason, Willy Adames, and Ha-Seong Kim.
Given Luciano’s struggles, I think it’s not a good idea to trade him when his value is down. Better to see if he can progress closer to his potential. It would take another major piece packaged with Luciano to convince the Jays to trade Vlad Jr.
I agree. Matos does seem lost at the plate. He’s regressed from last season where he did show promise.
I’ve been down on the hitting coaches this year, too many 1 pitch outs, too much letting the opposing pitcher off the hook with 6 pitch innings. I have no problem with being aggressive but the hitters seem too anxious to swing. They’re either swinging at marginal strikes on the first pitch, or they’re swinging at the first one that’s close. I wonder if the coaches haven’t contributed to Matos not progressing.
I would be happy with either Adames or Kim, or both, although Kim is currently on the IL with a shoulder issue which might be a concern. Kim is coming off a down year and should come at a discount, which makes him an obvious target for Farhan.
As for the package for Vlad Jr. I was thinking Doval, who seems like he could use a change of scenery. He’s also coming off a down year his potential along with Luciano’s might be enticing, possibly adding one of the young pitchers.
I agree with you about the hitting coaches, although sometimes I think the hitters aren’t aggressive enough. It drives me crazy every time one of our guys takes a fastball down the middle for strike three. Happens way too often.
I think that taking fastballs down the middle is also is on the coaches. It drives me nuts as well. The hitter is guessing, looking for something else. But guessing is what the coaches preach. It seems like, even with 2 strikes, the hitters are trying to hit the ball out of the park. I wish they’d take swing out and look to make contact instead. That way they could maybe fight off a pitch that they weren’t looking for, and keep the AB alive.
Jean
Honestly, neither Fitzgerald or Luciano impress me much so far with the glove. But I believe both will be outstanding hitters and their defense will be more than good enough for their bats to play.
Maybe he just needs to be a corner OF guy (possibly with added value as a backup IF). Surely he’s got the footspeed and arm for that.
Any way they slice it though, he’s gonna need to settle into his talent/pedigree as a big league power hitter, like Heliot Ramos (somewhat surprisingly) has finally done.
Whatever position(s) he can or can ‘t play will be a moot point, if he doesn’t do that.
And there’s nothing wrong with getting a lot of your AB’s at DH either, if it comes to that.
Good let the young man get some ABs hopefully he homers before the end of the season. Also Chappy and giants 6 year 151 million.
The kid simply cannot handle the quickness needed in the infield. He’s unsure about every little ground ball. And his shaky defense seems to rub off on the entire team. The last two nights the defense has been dreadful. As has the hitting. And pitching. And managing. And front officing.