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“We’re all getting older,” Giants outfield prospect Franklin Labour said last year, upon learning that the minor league season was another victim of the pandemic. There was an alternate site for the very top prospects to grow, but the vast majority of minor leaguers had to try to improve on their own.
No longer.
The minor league seasons are returning Thursday, and the Giants’ affiliates began announcing their rosters Saturday. Fans in areas of the country that don’t have Major League Baseball can return to parks; prospects who need to grow to turn dreams into realities will have their platforms.
Let’s start at the bottom of the Giants’ system because it does not get much better than the Low-A San Jose roster.
Low-A San Jose
Full roster. And top prospects:
Infield: Marco Luciano, Luis Toribio, Casey Schmitt, Garrett Frechette, Jimmy Glowenke
Outfield: Alex Canario, Luis Matos
Pitching: Kyle Harrison, Nick Swiney
Analysis: Holy hell. Five of the organization’s top 10 prospects will start at Excite Ballpark. Luciano, a shortstop, is among the best prospects in all of baseball, and Toribio, a third baseman, will get his first look at full-season ball. They will be joined by a few 2020 draft picks making the actual debuts. Schmitt (second round), Swiney (second), Glowenke (second) and Harrison (third) will be exciting. Harrison is from De La Salle High School.
High-A Eugene
Full roster. And top prospects:
Infield: Patrick Bailey, Will Wilson, Logan Wyatt, Sean Roby
Outfield: Hunter Bishop, Diego Rincones, Franklin Labour
Pitching: Seth Corry, Kai-Wei Teng, R.J. Dabovich
Analysis: Bailey and Wilson starred at N.C. State together, and now the first-round picks in 2020 and 2019, respectively — although Wilson was chosen by the Angels — will have a chance to rise through the system together. Bishop, an outfielder from Serra, was the Giants’ 2019 first-round pick and is completely tooled-out, as fast and powerful as any prospect you can find. Corry, who was left out of the alternate site last year but progressed anyway, will lead the staff.
Double-A Richmond
Full roster. And top prospects:
Infield: Ryan Howard, Peter Maris
Outfield: Heliot Ramos, Sandro Fabian, Jacob Heyward
Pitching: Tristan Beck, Matthew Frisbee, Sean Hjelle, Sam Long
Analysis: It’s the Heliot Ramos show. The Giants have said they would be conservative initially with placements but promote aggressively, so the exciting outfielder returns to Richmond, where he finished the 2019 season. He was one of the major stories of this year’s spring training, and if he hits, he should be up to Sacramento soon. The rotation has plenty of members who can move fast, too; Beck, Frisbee, Hjelle and Long are all legitimate options to start games in San Francisco this year.
Triple-A Sacramento: not announced
The rotation should include names like Nick Tropeano, Scott Kazmir, Shun Yamaguchi and Conner Menez. Joey Bart and Chadwick Tromp should share the catching duties, while position players include a few players who already are going up and down, such as Jason Vosler and Steven Duggar.