San Francisco Giants Make Moves To Bring in More Youth

The San Francisco Giants made a flurry of roster moves to bring in more youth for the end of the season.

Aug 5, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Marco Luciano (37) hits the ball into play against the Washington Nationals during the fourth inning at Nationals Park. / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants made moves to call up former top prospects Marco Luciano and Luis Matos, while optioning Blake Sabol and Casey Schmitt. These four players have been up and down for a majority of the season and haven't been able to earn a starting job, but with the end of the season approaching, it seems the Giants are going with a youth movement.

Luciano was previously San Francisco's number one prospect and seemed to be the shortstop of the future coming into 2024. However, he lost the Opening Day gig to Nick Ahmed and began the season in the minors.

This marks the 22-year-old's third stint with the Giants this season. He simply has not been able to gain a solidified role, despite him being an above average hitter in the time he has played. His OPS+ is 110 over his 17 games and he has four extra base hits, though no home runs.

One of the biggest issues were his struggles on defense. He has been playing second base in the minors, and with Tyler Fitzgerald emerging this season, it seems like his time at shortstop has come to an end.

Manager Bob Melvin stated on Tuesday that he will indeed get most of his playing time at second over the course of this month.

In his latest stint at Triple-A, Luciano hit .281 with two home runs in 15 games. If San Francisco wants him to become a legitmate part of their future, they need to give him the playing time everyday at the Major League level to see what he can do.

Outfielder Luis Matos was the other youngster who was brought back in these moves. Matos has had an up-and-down year both in terms of his movement and on the field. He began the season extremely hot, even winning an NL Player of the Week in May.

He struggled enough to be sent down in the middle of June, before being recalled and then sent down at the end of July. He has been in the minors since.

The 22-year-old has a 62 OPS+ on the year in 40 Major League games along with four homers and 24 RBIs. Over his last 31 minor league games, though, he has a .788 OPS with six home runs.

Bob Melvin, when talking about Matos, said that there won't be much playing time for him right now due to the amount of outfielders the team has, but that could change. With Michael Conforto being a free agent this offseason, it might be beneficial to see what they have in Matos for the rest of the year.

On the other side of these moves were Sabol and Schmitt. Sabol hasn't gotten much run during his time in San Francisco this season, playing only 11 games. Schmitt has struggled in his 31 games, posting just a .655 OPS at the plate, though he can still play multiple positions in the infield.

There is no doubt this has been a disappointing season for the Giants, but giving both Luciano and Matos playing time at the end of the year could give fans something to look forward to next year. The team just needs to commit to that, which is something they haven't done.