Pair of top Giants prospects use narrowed focus to accelerate path to The Show
This browser does not support the video element.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Was the “Shohei effect” ever a thing? If it was, has it worn off?
That’s a deeper question to answer about baseball in general, but it really resonates when looking at the stable of Giants prospects in camp this year. For two years in a row, the Giants officially took two-way players in the first round. In 2022, it was Reggie Crawford out of UConn. Last year, it was high schooler Bryce Eldridge from the Virginia prep ranks.
While Crawford got to swing the bat a bit in his first year of pro ball as he came back from Tommy John surgery (and during the Arizona Fall League), he’s here only as a pitcher, though a lat strain slowed his buildup this spring. Eldridge hasn’t (and likely won’t) thrown a pitch, focusing only on letting his left-handed bat play. Two different players going in two different directions, but for the same basic reason: It was pretty clear that each was markedly better at one way than the other and trying to do both would likely slow them down.
“It's hard enough to be one Major Leaguer, let alone two,” Giants farm director Kyle Haines said. “I think what made it easy was that both players are very adequate prospects from the position we’re not having them play. They’re going to take so much time developing one aspect of the game and the other is so much more refined.”
Crawford, who has progressed to throwing live BP sessions but is without an official timetable for when he’ll get sent out for competitive competition, could fly up the ladder on the mound given his raw stuff, but he would take longer to develop as a hitter. Eldridge might have been started as a Rookie ball or Single-A pitcher, but the hope is he could advance to the upper levels in the batters box much more rapidly given how quick to the ball he can be, especially surprising with his size and power potential.
What their roles end up being long-term is another story. Is Crawford a reliever, a la Aroldis Chapman, or a guy who can start with a power repertoire? What position does Eldridge play? He played the outfield in his debut summer and will see a lot more time at first base this year, with certain pressures on the bat to produce if he’s at first or ends up at DH. Those are things that will be determined as both get out and play for what is ostensibly their first real pro seasons, but the Giants feel confident they’re both doing what will help them get to San Francisco.
“They’re not going to develop at the same rate and one is going to end up sacrificing for the other,” Haines said about both players’ two-way skills. “We gave both a look and said, 'Let’s make sure that their ability to impact our Major League team is not compromised by anything we’re doing at any other position or any other thing.’”
Camp standout: Maui Ahuna
In 2008, Brandon Crawford had a down junior year at UCLA, leading to him lasting until the Giants took him in the fourth round. He went on to win two World Series titles and four Gold Gloves while making three All-Star teams. Ahuna (No. 10) is a much different player than Crawford, but their stories are eerily similar: A rough final year of college (Tennessee) allows a potential first-rounder to slide to the fourth round, again much to the Giants’ delight.
Much of it was because of a stress reaction in his back he tried to play through and as a result, Ahuna didn’t play last summer after signing, so the Giants have been getting their first real look at the shortstop this spring and they think he looks a lot like the guy people thought he might be before the 2023 college season started.
“A year ago, he looked like a first-round pick,” Haines said. “He looks like a big-time prospect right now. If he plays the way he’s played here, there’s no way he lasts out of the first round. He looks like that type of player. We’ll see how it goes throughout the season. He’s put on 15-20 pounds of good weight from the time he signed until now. He’s been arguably as dominant as anybody on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the glove is no question right now. Offensively, he’s just been barreling balls. Between the physical development of Maui and the offensive development, he’s looked absolutely fantastic.”
This browser does not support the video element.
Breakout candidate: Rayner Arias
Performance in the Dominican Summer League should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s a relatively smaller sample size in a hitting-friendly environment. For Arias, it was an even smaller sample of 16 games because he broke his wrist diving for a ball in center field. But he whetted the Giants’ appetite by slashing .414/.539/.793 in that span, leaving everyone wanting to see what comes next for the outfielder who signed at the start of the 2023 international signing period for $2,697,500.
He's not so far under-the-radar now as the Giants’ No. 6 prospect but if he can come stateside (he's slated to go to the Arizona Complex League) and replicate what he did in the DSL, his profile is going to skyrocket -- even if the inclination is to pump the brakes and let him see how he looks.
“If he plays this summer the way he did last summer, stays healthy, you’re talking a Top 100 [prospect],” Haines said. “What he did in those first 76 plate appearances with us was incredible.
“I think that’s why it’s a wait and see. He has 76 plate appearances in his life vs. professional pitching. He’s done his part to look good in those, but it’s still 76 plate appearances. He hasn’t even turned 18 yet. I’m usually thinking people should have to prove it in a full-season level, but maybe this is a guy that if he comes out and does what he did last year, he’ll need to be talked about more.”
This browser does not support the video element.
Something to prove: Will Bednar
It was just three years ago that Bednar was named Most Outstanding Player in the College World Series while leading Mississippi State to its first national title. That run is also how he pitched his way into the first round of the 2021 Draft. Since then, though, he’s thrown just 60 2/3 professional innings in the Minor Leagues. Lower back issues have kept him off the field more often than he’s been on the mound. After just 10 2/3 innings in 2023, he did make it to the Arizona Fall League and showed some improved velocity but was shut down once again. More than anything, he needs to prove he can stay healthy so he can get back to some version of the guy who starred for the Bulldogs.
“We haven’t seen the Mississippi State version yet here due to the lower back issues he’s had,” Haines said. “Every time he gets ramped up, he has to keep getting pulled. It’s more injury-driven than performance.
“He did show some velo in the Fall League again, starting to pop back up before he got re-injured. The slider’s still there, it’s just the command and the consistency of the stuff that was at Mississippi State hasn’t been here due to the injuries. If we can get him healthy, keep him on the field, he has a chance to keep getting better and better and show us that version that was that star in the College World Series.”