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SF Giants top prospect Marco Luciano promoted to Double-A

The SF Giants promoted a pair of prospects to Double-A Richmond for the playoffs, including top prospect Marco Luciano.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants top prospect Marco Luciano promoted to Double-A
SF Giants top prospect Marco Luciano promoted to Double-A /
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A pair of SF Giants prospects will be making their Double-A debuts this week for the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Shortstop Marco Luciano and left-handed pitcher Juan Sanchez were each included on Richmond's playoff roster, which was released on Tuesday. Since Luciano and Sanchez did not appear in a regular-season game, though, neither player will be able to make their official debuts this year. For some reason, minor league playoff games do not count towards a player's official statline.

Sanchez appeared in 40 games this season at High-A out of the Eugene Emeralds bullpen, recording a 3.76 ERA, 75 strikeouts, and 29 walks in 52.2 innings pitched. Sanchez has a two-pitch mix. His fastball works between 90-92 mph and is a fine offering, but it plays off one of the best changeups in the organization. Sanchez's mid-80s changeup has excellent fade and looks nearly identical to his heater coming out of his hand.

SF Giants prospect Marco Luciano tags A's prospect Tyler Soderstrom.
Clifford Oto/The Stockton Record via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Luciano is a consensus top-25 prospect in the minor leagues and is arguably the best prospect in the Giants organization. The 21-year-old shortstop hit .263/.339/.459 with 10 doubles and 10 home runs in 57 games at High-A this season. Luciano missed a good chunk of the summer with a lower back injury and likely would have been promoted to Double-A sooner if not for the missed time. However, now that the season's over, he will join the Flying Squirrels for the playoffs before playing in the Dominican Winter League.

Juan Sanchez and Marco Luciano just capped off solid seasons with the SF Giants High-A affiliates in Eugene by helping lead the team to a Northwest League title. Now, with the Richmond Flying Squirrels chasing the Eastern League championship, the SF Giants promoted Luciano and Sanchez to Double-A for the playoff run.

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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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