After slow start, Luciano heating up

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Given his tremendous offensive upside, it was probably only a matter of time before Marco Luciano got going at the plate after a slow start to the season at Double-A Richmond. The 21-year-old shortstop certainly seems to be trending in that direction.

Luciano, who is ranked the Giants’ No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline, entered Saturday batting .476 (10-for-21) with four home runs, one double, five walks and 10 RBIs over his last six games, a sign that he’s beginning to find his swing after missing the first month of the Minor League season with a back injury that he suffered while playing winter ball in his native Dominican Republic.

Luciano slashed only .157/.271/.352 with five home runs over his first 30 games with the Flying Squirrels, but he’s looked more like himself over the last week, breaking out of his prolonged slump with a huge two-homer game against Altoona on June 10. He continued his power surge on Wednesday, crushing a 432-foot home run that hit off the scoreboard in right-center field at Bowie.

Despite sitting out April while rehabbing, Luciano now leads Richmond with nine homers and ranks third on the team with 25 RBIs this year.

Fellow top prospects Luis Matos and Patrick Bailey both earned quick promotions to Triple-A Sacramento (and later the Majors) after putting together hot stretches at Double-A Richmond earlier this season, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Luciano take a similar leap forward if he stays healthy and productive in the coming weeks.

Like Matos, Luciano was added to the Giants’ 40-man roster over the offseason and has one of the highest ceilings of any prospect in the organization’s farm system.

“We feel like he has a chance to make an impact at the Major League level as soon as this season,” manager Gabe Kapler said back in Spring Training. “A lot of that is going to be based on if he’s able to keep this momentum. I feel really good about where he is physically. He’s in a positive frame of mind and happy to be out on a baseball field.”

Here are some other standouts from the Giants’ four full-season Minor League affiliates:

Triple-A Sacramento

• Left-hander Kyle Harrison earned his first Triple-A win after allowing two runs on three hits over a season-high five innings in Sacramento’s 10-3 win over Sugar Land on Thursday. Harrison, the Giants’ No. 1 prospect, struck out eight and walked two, leaving his ERA at 3.42 over 14 starts this year.

Double-A Richmond

• After missing 12 games due to injury, outfielder Wade Meckler (No. 30) returned to action on June 10 and continued his breakout season at the plate, reaching base seven times (three hits and four walks) in his first four games back with the Flying Squirrels. The 23-year-old entered Saturday leading all Minor League hitters (min. 120 PA) with a .402 batting average over 30 games this season.

High-A Eugene

• Right-hander Hayden Birdsong (No. 28) earned a promotion to Eugene this week after logging a 2.16 ERA with 70 strikeouts over 41 2/3 innings in 12 appearances (10 starts) for Single-A San Jose this year.

Single-A San Jose

• With an 11-4 win over Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, the Giants clinched the first half North Division title for the first time since 2013. San Jose entered Saturday with a league-best 39-22 record and will head to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Infielder Diego Velasquez has been one of the club’s top hitters, batting .339 with an .899 OPS and four homers over 50 games in 2023.