Giants prospects get Minors assignments
With Minor League Opening Night quickly approaching next week, three of the Giants’ affiliates released their initial rosters for the 2021 campaign.
For most Giants farmhands, it’ll mark the beginning of their first official game action since 2019, as last year’s Minor League season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Triple-A Sacramento has not yet finalized its roster, but catcher Joey Bart, who is ranked the Giants’ No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline, is expected to open his season there after reporting to the alternate training site following Spring Training.
Here’s the full roster breakdown for the three other levels:
Catchers: Andres Angulo, Bryan Torres
Infielders: Ryan Howard, Peter Maris, Shane Matheny, Kyle Mottice, David Villar
Outfielders: Sandro Fabian, Vince Fernandez, Jacob Heyward, Heliot Ramos (No. 3), Andy Sugilio, Francisco Tostado
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said the Giants would be conserative in their Minor League placements to start the season, so it’s not surprising to see Ramos open his campaign at Richmond, where he played 25 games in 2019. Ramos, 21, turned heads by batting .410 with three home runs over 21 games during Spring Training, but the Giants still feel he has some development left before he’s ready for the Majors. If he continues to rake at Richmond, Ramos could earn a quick promotion to Triple-A Sacramento and move closer to becoming a viable center-field option for the Giants this year.
The Richmond rotation is also stacked, as Hjelle, Beck, Frisbee and Long were all in big league camp this year and could develop into rotation options for the Giants before the end of the year.
Catchers: Patrick Bailey (No. 6), Brandon Martorano
Outfielders: Hunter Bishop (No. 4), Franklin Labour, Ismael Munguia, Diego Rincones, Javeyan Williams
Three first-round Draft picks will head to Eugene: Bishop, Wilson and Bailey, who is slated to make his professional debut after being taken with the 13th overall pick out of North Carolina State last summer. The Emeralds’ rotation also features a few intriguing arms, including Corry, who is one of the system’s most highly touted pitching prospects, and Teng, who was acquired from the Twins as part of the Sam Dyson trade in 2019.
Catchers: Brett Auerbach, Rob Emery, Ricardo Genovés (No. 28)
San Jose’s roster is loaded with young talent and features five players who are among MLB Pipeline’s top 10 Giants prospects: Luciano, Matos, Harrison, Canario and Toribio. The team also includes a trio of 2020 Draft picks in Schmitt, Swiney and Glowenke.
Could Giants manager Gabe Kapler see himself making a trip down to the South Bay on an off-day to get a closer look at the promising group of players?
“That’s something that I’d be very interested in doing,” Kapler said Saturday. “I’m pretty invested in the work that [director of player development] Kyle [Haines] is doing at the Minor League level. I feel very strongly that there should be plenty of communication and continuity between our Major League club and our P.D. staff and players. ... I’m following carefully and excited about seeing some of the placements.”