SF Giants prospects: Marco Luciano leaves game with hamstring injury

The SF Giants announced that top power-hitting prospect Marco Luciano left a Triple-A game on Tuesday with a hamstring injury.

Marc Delucchi | Aug 10, 2023

SF Giants prospects: Marco Luciano leaves game with hamstring injury /

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants top power-hitting prospect, shortstop Marco Luciano, left a game with the Sacramento River Cats at Triple-A on Tuesday with a hamstring injury, per a report by Maria Guardado of MLB.com. Luciano made his big-league debut in July but was optioned back to the minor leagues shortly after his call-up as infielders Thairo Estrada and Brandon Crawford returned from the injured list. In his brief big-league stint, Luciano went 3-for-11 with a walk and five strikeouts. He has a .244/.320/.422 line with two doubles and two home runs in 50 plate appearances at Triple-A.

SF Giants infielder Marco Luciano poses for a portrait during photo day. (2023) / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Luciano missed the start of the season with a major injury but returned to the field in May at Double-A. In 56 games prior to a promotion to Triple-A, Luciano hit .228/.339/.451 with 12 doubles and 11 home runs. While those numbers may not jump off the page, he hit .306/.416/.564 with six doubles, six home runs, 18 walks, and 32 strikeouts in his final 26 games at the level.

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 (Giants Top 4 Prospect). 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.

Last year, 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.

The SF Giants would love for Marco Luciano to play his way into the MLB lineup at some point this season. However, there is obviously no reason to rush the young infielder. While the team has not released a timetable for his return, the fact that they announced the hamstring injury suggests he will be sidelined for a bit.

Published Aug 10, 2023

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).