Giants Baseball Insider

SF Giants top hitting prospect Marco Luciano out with stress fracture

SF Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi revealed that prospect Marco Luciano suffered a lower back stress fracture this winter.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants top hitting prospect Marco Luciano out with stress fracture
SF Giants top hitting prospect Marco Luciano out with stress fracture /
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With spring training officially underway, the SF Giants revealed that shortstop Marco Luciano, one of the organization's top prospects is still recovering from an injury he suffered this offseason. According to a team press release, Luciano suffered a stress fracture in his lower back while playing in the Dominican Winter League. Luciano is currently the second-best prospect in the system, per Giants Baseball Insider's latest prospect rankings.

Zaidi told reporters in his first media availability since pitchers and catchers reported to camp that the team does not believe Luciano's injury will cause him any long-term problems. However, he is still ramping up his baseball activity and it remains unclear if he will be able to return to the field before the start of the regular season. Luciano is expected to start the season at Double-A.

Here's an excerpt of Luciano's scouting report from GBI's rankings:

Marco Luciano is no longer the consensus top prospect in the SF Giants system after Harrison's exceptional 2022, but he remains the best-hitting prospect in the organization and a consensus top-50 prospect in the minors. Normally, the added risk that comes with pitching prospects would lead Luciano to the top spot, but questions about his defensive future and mild concerns about his injury history make the top spot a toss-up.

Luciano got off to a hot start at High-A, and probably was slated to be promoted with Harrison before a back injury sidelined him for most of June and July. While the rainy weather throughout the Pacific Northwest was suppressing offensive numbers in the Northwest League, Luciano hit eight homers in 40 games with a .288/.360/.507 triple-slash prior to the injury. However, he was unable to replicate that production upon his return. He was promoted to Double-A in time for the postseason but went just 1-for-8 with three strikeouts.

Back injuries are always alarming, particularly for a power hitter like Luciano. Moreover, Luciano missed a significant portion of the 2022 minor-league season with a back injury. Prior to his injury at the Dominican Winter League, Luciano hit .250/.308/.250 in 13 plate appearances. Nevertheless, the SF Giants hope Marco Luciano can recover from his stress fracture soon and start making a case for a big-league call-up.

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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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