Luciano promoted to Double-A Richmond

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Luciano promoted to Double-A Richmond (Sept. 20)
Shortly after helping High-A Eugene capture the 2022 Northwest League championship, shortstop Marco Luciano jumped into the thick of another postseason race, joining Double-A Richmond for the opening game of its best-of-three semifinal against Erie in the Eastern League playoffs on Tuesday. Luciano, 21, batted sixth and served as the designated hitter in his Double-A debut. Ranked the Giants' No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Luciano hit .269 with an .817 OPS and 11 home runs for High-A Eugene, though he was limited to only 65 games due to a back injury. -- Maria Guardado

Glowenke's blast hands Eugene '22 NWL title (Sept. 16)
At first, it appeared as though Luis Toribio would be the hero. Then, it was Luis Matos. Surely Grant McCray’s go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth would seal his place in Emeralds lore.

In the end, Jimmy Glowenke stood atop them all. The infielder’s two-run homer in the 10th inning sunk the hearts of the home crowd in Vancouver, BC, securing the Northwest League championship for High-A Eugene, 9-7.

Glowenke’s blast capped a back-and-forth affair in which the Vancouver Canadians, with their backs against the wall down 2-0 in the best-of-five series, fought back against the Emeralds’ every last punch. His knockout blow in extras, ultimately, was too much to overcome. Full story »

Emeralds' Matos notches three hits, two RBIs (Sept. 12)
There was plenty of offense to go around, but Luis Matos more than did his part in the Northwest League Finals opener.

The No. 3 Giants prospect crushed a two-run double and finished with three hits to help power High-A Eugene to a 10-3 win over visiting Vancouver. Matos scored twice and also stole a base.

Having already singled twice earlier in the contest, the 20-year-old gave the Emeralds a cushion in the sixth inning. Matos crushed a long fly to center that one-hopped the wall and drove home a pair to increase the lead to 9-2.

The performance continued a strong stretch of offense for the Venezuela native, who got off to a horrific start, which included a month-long stay on the injured list. Matos entered August slashing .178/.257/.344, but found his groove, batting .297 with an .826 OPS, four homers and 20 RBIs in 23 games. -- Michael Avallone

Harrison fans seven at Double-A (Sept. 9)
Pitching free and easy is possible when you nearly send half of the batters you face back to the bench.

Kyle Harrison found his strikeout pitch in Double-A Richmond's 5-2 victory over Bowie.

MLB Pipeline's No. 22 overall prospect faced 15 batters and fanned seven batters over four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and two walks.

The third round (85th overall) selection in the 2020 Draft was promoted to the Flying Squirrels on May 24. Over 17 appearances at Richmond, the 21-year-old accumulated a 3.19 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and .200 opposing batting average.

In just his second professional season, Harrison is adjusting to the professional sphere and has already tallied 180 strikeouts in 2022 alone. -- Ethan Sands

Schmitt flexes muscles in two-homer night (Sept. 1)
Mighty Casey did strike out, but he added plenty of thump to go along with it.

Casey Schmitt reached the 20-homer mark for the first time by slugging a pair of two-run homers to lead Double-A Richmond past visiting Harrisburg, 8-4. The No. 6 Giants prospect notched his second multihomer game of the season while equaling a season high with four RBIs.

Schmitt, who put together a strong campaign with High-A Eugene before earning a promotion to Richmond on Aug. 9, has taken his game to another level with the Flying Squirrels. The 23-year-old is hitting .352 with a .995 OPS in 18 games since he made his Eastern League debut on Aug. 10.

Through 111 games, Schmitt is slashing .287/.370/.495 with 42 extra-base hits and 69 RBIs. -- Michael Avallone

Matos cranks two-run homer in three-hit effort (Sept. 1)
After heating up in August, Luis Matos is taking his hitting ways into September. The Giants’ No. 3 prospect collected his fifth multihit effort in his past seven games, this time tallying three hits in High-A Eugene’s 6-4 loss to Everett.

The 20-year-old didn’t record a hit until the sixth frame, but he legged out two infield singles in the later innings before leaving the yard for the 11th time this season on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth. The two-run shot to left-center was his third dinger in his past 10 games and his eighth long ball off a right-hander, despite him hitting lefties at a much higher clip this season.

The outfielder finished the month of August with a .297/.321.505 slash line with four homers, four stolen bases, seven doubles and 20 RBIs. -- Stephanie Sheehan

ACL Giants Black rally to crown (Aug. 28)
Even though the ACL Giants Black finished with the circuit’s best record of 37-17, taking home the championship wound up becoming a come-from-behind effort in the decisive Game 3.

The Giants Black dropped the first game of the series and fell behind three different times in the clincher before walking off to victory over the Rockies to claim the crown.

The Giants Black loaded the bases with no outs, and Dilan Rosario ripped a three-run double to center field to put his team up by two. But the Rockies struck back in the top of the ninth, but the Giants Black weren’t about to go down quietly, though. A walk by Mauricio Pierre and a single from Andrew Kachel put the winning run in scoring position. P.J. Hilson delivered a walkoff single to lift the Giants Black to the title.

The team had finished 2.5 games ahead of the Rockies in the regular season. The Giants Black’s pitching staff paced the circuit with a 2.82 ERA in the regular season, and they used that strength in the clincher -- five hurlers combined to hold the Rockies to five runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks. Box score

Matos homers, collects four hits for Emeralds (Aug. 24)
A few nights after hitting his first grand slam of the season, Luis Matos posted another big game for High-A Eugene.

The Giants' No. 3 prospect homered again and hit safely four times in the Emeralds' 5-3 win over Tri-City. The home run was Matos' 11th of the season and 10th with Eugene. He drove in another run on a double in the sixth.

On the mound for the Emeralds, No. 11 Giants prospect Mason Black was untouchable for most of the night, striking out 10 and holding the Dust Devils scoreless until he allowed a two-run home run with one out in the eighth inning. Black holds a 4.32 ERA since his promotion from Single-A. -- Jacob Resnick

Matos hits first grand slam of season (Aug. 21)
Luis Matos had a grand day at the plate.

The No. 3 Giants prospect had nine long balls this season, but none with the bases loaded. Matos belted his first grand slam of the season, going 1-for-4 with five RBIs in High-A Eugene’s 8-3 win over Hillsboro.

The 20-year-old started off by popping out to third followed by a pair of flyouts, including a sacrifice fly, in his first three at-bats. Matos made sure the ball went out in his fourth plate appearance as he crushed his grand slam to left field in the seventh inning.

The outfielder’s power display brought his homer tally to 10 and improved his slash line to .200/.269/.346 this season. -- Edwin Perez

Whisenhunt makes first professional start (Aug. 18)
Carson Whisenhunt returned to baseball in his professional debut.

In his first start with the ACL Giants, San Francisco's seventh-ranked prospect made his first appearance since being drafted in the second round (66th overall) in 2022.

A year prior, Whisenhunt was ramping up for his junior season at East Carolina University before receiving news that he'd have to miss the 2021 season due to a failed drug test. The left-hander was coming off a sophomore campaign where he posted a 3.77 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched.

When he took the mound against the ACL Angels, it was an opportunity to prove that a month in the Cape Cod Baseball League was enough to keep him professionally ready.

The 21-year-old's scoreless inning, fanning two of the three batters he faced was an ideal start to a hopefully fruitful career. -- Ethan Sands

Harrison fans 10 in scoreless outing (Aug. 17)
Kyle Harrison is only improving since being promoted to Double-A.

MLB Pipeline's No. 22 prospect has begun to gain ground upon elevation to Richmond on May 24.

Before moving up a level, the third-round (85th overall) selection in the 2020 Draft garnered a 1.55 ERA but unfortunately was tagged with an 0-1 record after only allowing a run in two of his seven appearances.

The 21-year-old didn't have the smoothest transition, giving up two or more runs in his first two starts with the Flying Squirrels, but his most recent performance proves that he's adjusting well to his new environment.

In his 13th start at Double-A, the left-hander tossed six scoreless innings against Binghamton, allowing just two hits and no walks while fanning 10 batters, marking the sixth time in his young career that he's had double-digit strikeouts. -- Ethan Sands

First-rounder Crawford makes pro debut (Aug. 15)
Two-way player Reggie Crawford, selected 30th overall in this year's Draft by the Giants, made his professional debut, his first game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last fall. Crawford, who likely won't pitch competitively until next Spring Training, served as the DH for the Arizona Complex League Giants Black squad, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the 5-1 victory over the Angels ACL affiliate.

Crawford, a left-handed pitcher and first baseman, signed with the Giants for a below-slot $2.3 million.