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SF Giants prospect Shane Matheny makes SportsCenter Top 10 with diving catch

SF Giants prospect Shane Matheny made an incredible diving catch on Saturday for the Richmond Flying Squirrels and made the SportsCenter Top 10.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants prospect Shane Matheny makes SportsCenter Top 10 with diving catch
SF Giants prospect Shane Matheny makes SportsCenter Top 10 with diving catch /
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SF Giants prospect Shane Matheny made an incredible diving catch for the Richmond Flying Squirrels (the Giants Double-A affiliate) in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Bowie. Matheny was in center field when Bowie right fielder John Rhodes hit a line shot over his head in the bottom of the sixth inning. Matheny sprinted back on the play, jumped up, and fully extended to make the catch before falling to the ground. His efforts were rewarded later that night with a spot on the SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the day, slotting in at seven.

A Bremerton, Washington native, Matheny has had a breakout season this year in the Giants system. A versatile defender, Matheny has played all over the field, appearing in games this year at first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and center field. He also is having his most productive professional season at the plate, hitting .253/.375/.421 with 12 home runs in 359 plate appearances at Double-A.

Matheny was briefly promoted to Triple-A Sacramento earlier in the year, but the 26-year-old struggled mightily. The left-handed hitter appeared in 15 games at Triple-A and posted an abysmal .170/.220/.319 triple-slash across 50 plate appearances. When the River Cats activated some other infielders from the injured list, Matheny was optioned back to Double-A.

The Giants drafted Matheny in the 23rd round of the 2017 draft out of Washington State. Matheny had been a soft-hitting utility infielder prior to this season. In fact, he had never played in the outfield as a pro before 2022. To his credit, Matheny has taken to the new position with ease, showing off his skills in the highlight that landed him on SportsCenter.

Shane Matheny has shown off newfound pop at the plate this season to combine with his impressive defense in the infield and outfield. If he can continue to improve his offensive game, Matheny could one day carve out a big-league role with the SF Giants as a versatile bench bat.

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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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