Duggar's homer leads top prospect performers
Early in Spring Training, the Giants stated that they were going to give Steven Duggar a long look in center field, and so far the organization's No. 3 prospect is taking advantage of the opportunity.
Duggar highlighted the Giants' five-run fifth inning with a two-run homer in a 6-5 win over the A's on Monday. The 24-year-old finished 1-for-2 and now has four homers to go along with his .300/.400/.733 slash line.
"I saw him take BP in Sacramento. He put on a show there," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It opened my eyes, and that was just BP. So, no, I'm not surprised. Quick bat. A good day for him."
Duggar had multiple stints on the disabled list in 2017, but he did reach Triple-A late in the season. Duggar hit .262 in 44 games across three levels and has just 13 Triple-A games under his belt, but if his hot spring continues, there's a good chance he'll find his way onto the Giants' Opening Day roster.
Other top prospect performances from Monday's action:
• No. 29 overall prospect Juan Soto (Nationals' No. 2) played a big part in Washington's come-from-behind win over the Tigers. Soto, 19, jumpstarted a three-run eighth with an RBI double, which also happened to be his first Spring Training hit, to left-center field. One batter later, Soto scored the go-ahead run on a base hit. Soto added a second RBI in the ninth when he drew a bases-loaded walk.
• No. 56 overall prospect Keston Hiura (Brewers' No. 1) has hit everywhere he's been throughout his career, and Spring Training has been no different. The 21-year-old has raked throughout the Cactus League and came up with his first homer, a solo shot in the seventh inning, against the Dodgers. Overall, Hiura is 5-for-12 (.417) at the plate.
• No. 61 overall prospect Dylan Cease (White Sox No. 5) and Zack Collins left their imprints on Chicago's game against the Mariners. Cease, making his third appearance and second start of the spring, kept his ERA at zero with a trio of scoreless frames. The right-hander struck out four, yielded one hit and has now given up just three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Collins is batting just .182 in Spring Training, but he did hit his first homer, a solo shot in the fourth.
• No. 66 overall prospect Franklin Barreto (Athletics' No. 3) hit his third homer of the spring, a two-run blast, in the sixth inning of Oakland's loss to the Giants. Barreto, who is expected to begin the season with Triple-A Nashville, is hitting .300 in Spring Training this year and batted .197 in 25 games with the A's last season.
• No. 80 overall prospect Nick Gordon (Twins No. 4) stayed hot with a 2-for-3 performance against the Yankees. Gordon went 2-for-9 over his first five games of Spring Training, but he is 6-for-7 over his past four games. Gordon, the No. 10 overall shortstop prospect, also showed off his defensive versatility with a nice play at second base.
• Pirates No. 8 prospect Colin Moran picked up a pair of hits, upping his Spring Training average to .379. Moran, who the Pirates acquired from the Astros over the offseason, went 2-for-4 with an RBI and has now put up back-to-back multi-hit efforts.
• Tigers No. 11 prospect Mike Gerber has hit well through Spring Training and continued that trend with a solo homer, his first, in his only at-bat against the Nationals. Gerber, who hit 14 homers in 101 games across three levels last season, is batting 7-for-20 and slashing .350/.435/.650.
• Yankees No. 26 prospect Christopher Austin showed off some of his power with a long homer in the fourth inning of the Yankees' loss to the Twins. Austin is hitting .208 in Spring Training and has gone deep three times.