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Report: SF Giants calling up top power-hitting prospect Marco Luciano

The SF Giants are calling up top power-hitting prospect Marco Luciano from Triple-A Sacramento, according to a report by NBCSBA's Alex Pavlovic.

Marc Delucchi

Report: SF Giants calling up top power-hitting prospect Marco Luciano
Report: SF Giants calling up top power-hitting prospect Marco Luciano /
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The SF Giants are making a major move to try and add some energy to their scuffling big-league offense. According to a report by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, the Giants are calling up shortstop Marco Luciano (Giants #3 Prospect) from Triple-A Sacramento and will make his big-league debut on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics. Luciano is a consensus top-100 prospect in the minors and was recently promoted to Triple-A and has hit .292/.370/.625 with two doubles and two home runs in six games at the highest level of the minors.

Luciano is represented by the same sports agency as Giants infielder Wilmer Flores. The top power-hitting prospect missed the start of the season with an injury, but has been quite productive since returning. During his 56-game stint at Double-A, Luciano hit .228/.339/.451 with 12 doubles and 11 home runs. While those numbers may not jump off the page, the Giants Double-A affiliate in Richmond plays in the Eastern League, one of the most pitcher-friendly environments in the minors.

Luciano's roughly 30% strikeout rate this season may be higher than ideal, but it has been more driven by a patient approach than any excessive struggles with swing and miss. Furthermore, Luciano-who will not turn 22 until September-has been extremely young for the competition.

Since June 10th, Luciano has been scorching hot. In 113 plate appearances (26 games), he hit .306/.416/.564 with six doubles, six home runs, 18 walks, and 32 strikeouts. That stretch of play convinced the Giants that he was ready to face more advanced competition.

Luciano has quietly been showing more defensive consistency at shortstop in the past month. Most evaluators still believe Luciano will be forced to move to third base or the outfield long-term, but it seems more plausible that he could stick at shortstop than it seemed earlier this year.

Luciano has been one of the best prospects in the Giants organization since he was the team's top signing during the 2018-19 international free-agent period in the same class as outfielder Luis Matos. Luciano crushed the Arizona Rookie League in his professional debut, hitting .302/.417/.564 between the Arizona Rookie League Short-Season as a 17-year-old.

After the pandemic-canceled 2020 season, Luciano made his full-season debut in 2021 and was one of the best players in the California League. At Single-A, Luciano hit .278/.373/.556 with 18 home runs in 70 games.

Last season, Luciano hit .263/.339/.459 with 10 home runs in 57 games with the Giants High-A affiliate in Eugene. He missed several weeks in the middle of the season with an injury and was promoted to Double-A for the Flying Squirrels' postseason run. He went 2-for-8 with three strikeouts in a pair of games.

With Thairo Estrada and Brandon Crawford out while David Villar, Casey Schmitt, and Brett Wisely continue to scuffle at the plate, there's a clear opportunity for Marco Luciano to immediately make an impact with the SF Giants. Even if he is unable to hit for a high batting average in the majors, the Giants could sorely use Luciano's right-handed power.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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