Luciano goes deep in third straight game
At 19 years old, Marco Luciano is making professional baseball look far too easy.
MLB's No. 12 overall prospect homered for a third consecutive game and walked twice during Low-A San Jose's 4-2 loss to Stockton at Banner Island Ballpark. Luciano has gone deep four times over the last three games, giving him a league-leading 13 for the season.
Having equaled his career high in long balls two nights earlier before establishing a new personal best on Tuesday, the top Giants prospect wasted no time in extending his home run streak. Luciano supplied all the offense San Jose would muster in the game, walloping a two-run homer to center field in the first inning that was estimated at 443 feet.
The 6-foot-2, 178-pound shortstop finished June hitting safely in four of his last five games to end the month batting .287/.398/.628 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs in 25 games. Although Luciano put together a strong opening month -- .274/.330/.536 -- his June included a large increase in walks. Including his two free passes Wednesday, the Dominican Republic native walked 18 times after earning six a month earlier.
Overall, Luciano is hitting .281/.368/.591 with 26 extra-base hits, 38 RBIs and 34 runs in 46 games.