San Francisco Giants Rookie Doesn’t Have Long To Earn Full Time MLB Job

The San Francisco Giants are giving their rookie another chance to prove himself at the MLB level, but he doesn't have a long time to do it.

May 17, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Marco Luciano (37) hits an RBI single against the Colorado Rockies during the seventh inning at Oracle Park. / John Hefti-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are giving their rookie another look at the MLB level, but another weak stretch could have big implications in the long term. That is especially the case now that he's in a new role.

MLB.com's Maria Guardado looked around the Giants' roster for the person with the 'most to prove' down the stretch and came up with rookie Marco Luciano.

"Once viewed as the shortstop of the future [in San Francisco], Luciano is now expected to get an extended look at second base in September and try to show that he’s capable of learning the position on the fly in the Majors," said Guardado. "If he continues to look shaky on defense, the Giants may need to reevaluate where the 22-year-old rookie fits best into their long-term plans and whether they’d be better served seeking out more middle infield help in free agency this offseason."

Luciano was signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2018 when he was just 16 years old. He worked his way up the ladder of the San Francisco farm system, landing as the team's second-best prospect by the end of last season.

Scouts cited his strong arm and fast bat as reasons to be excited about him as a player, but a slow start to his time in the Majors had people second-guessing early on.

In 14 games last year, he put up just a .231/.333/.308 slashing line. He struck out a lot, but was also able to draw some walks.

He lost out on the starting job to Nick Ahmed in Spring Training to begin this year, so he went back down to the minors.

Things started out well, so he got the nod to come back up to the MLB roster. He had just a 10-game stint but slashed .375/.444/.542 in that time, giving a surge to his hype once again.

Continuing their yo-yo ball act with him, he's been back-and-forth between Triple-A and MLB four times since the end of June.

Not being able to stick to a decision likely hasn't been much help as he's still trying to find his footing at the plate. Over his last 10 games in the Majors, he's slashing just .172/.200/.207.

Adding to an inconsistent bat, he's been a net-negative in the field at both shortstop and now second base.

If he's not able to turn things around fast, they'll be forced to find a veteran to fill the roster yet again this offseason, unable to feel safe with Luciano in the lineup long term.