© Orlando Ramirez | 2019 Mar 11
The San Francisco Giants have three minor-league prospects included in Baseball Prospectus‘ Top 50 midseason rankings. Catcher Joey Bart (#19), outfielder Heliot Ramos (#33) and shortstop Marco Luciano (#48) all made the cut.
Bart, 22, was the second-overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, and is seen by many in the organization as the heir apparent to Buster Posey. Bart is having a solid second season in the minor leagues after raking in low-A last season. Bart’s posting a slash line of .242/.302/.445 and six home runs in 33 games.
“Bart has a rare combination of upside, polish, and defensive ability for a catcher,” Baseball Prospectus wrote. “There’s big bat speed and big raw power. He’s an advanced receiver, to the extent that we can reliably observe such things about low-minors catchers. Basically, the bar for a two-way catcher is quite low these days, and Bart might exceed it by quite a lot.”
Ramos, 19, was the Giants first-round pick in 2017 and is having a promising second year after a disappointing year one. Ramos has a slash line of .298/.381/.497 with 11 doubles in 52 games.
“After an underwhelming 2018 on both a tools and performance level, reports have been much better on the still teenaged Ramos,” Prospectus wrote. “The bat speed isn’t too far off the top of the scale, and there’s plus power that comes with it. While the rest of the offensive profile is more of a work in progress, he’s held his own in the Cal League, and there’s a not-overly-optimistic outcome where it’s plus hit as well.”
An international signing from the Dominican Republic, the 17-year-old Luciano is smashing the cover off the ball in the Arizona Fall League, with a slash line of .368/.456/.779 and seven home runs in 17 games.
“Contestant number four was one of 2018’s top international signings, receiving a bonus of $2.6 million,” BP wrote. “Buzz from scouts started growing on Luciano before he even signed, and it has only grown since he came stateside. Like Robinson, you can dream on it all: hit, power, and speed. It’s very early, but his current numbers in the Arizona League look like he’s playing MLB: The Show on rookie difficulty. We keep hearing too many good things to not have him on this list.”
Over at @giants vs @Reds #AZL now. Hello Marco Luciano! Just easy power it’s stupid. Just misses a HR to LF. Settles for a double. Quick hands and wants to hurt baseballs ?#ProspectOne pic.twitter.com/KOg7bCL2lq
— The Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh) July 2, 2019