Marco Luciano will likely be Giants’ 2024 Opening Day shortstop, Farhan Al-Zaidi says – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants’ 2022-23 season has been defined by their pursuit of a superstar and the unprecedented experience they’ve had with Carlos Correa. This time, even with Brandon Crawford’s future uncertain, the Giants won’t be looking for a shortstop.

President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said during his end-of-season media session that Marco Luciano is the favorite to be opening day shortstop, with the hope that the job will be his for years to come.

“As we sit here now, we want to give Marco Luciano the opportunity to be the everyday guy next year,” Al-Zaidi said on Tuesday. “His call-up has been slowed by the injury he’s had this year. We would have liked to see him here a little longer, but he’s worked his way up and earned this opportunity and we’re really excited for him.” “What we’ve seen in the last two weeks.”

Luciano missed all of spring training with a back injury and started the season in Double-A, ending up spending just 18 games in Triple-A over two stints. In 14 big league games, he had a .231/.333./.308 slash line with three doubles, six walks and 17 strikeouts in 45 games. The numbers didn’t jump off the page, but the ball certainly jumped off Luciano’s bat.

Luciano had an average exit velocity of 93 mph, which would have ranked 14th in the majors if he had enough appearances to qualify, right between Rafael Devers and Julio Rodriguez. It was a very small sample, but his walk rate would have ranked among the league leaders as well.

The Giants saw enough at the plate to be comfortable that Luciano could handle the growing pains of a full rookie season in the major leagues, and they also saw enough defensively. Crawford set the bar impossibly high, but the staff believed Luciano could play at the big league level, something that was in doubt as he worked his way through the minors because of his size.

“I’m an optimist and it’s hard not to be when I remember how young he is,” said bench coach and interim manager Kai Correa, who coaches the Giants’ players. “I think this year is a giant step forward in terms of the consistency of the work he did with the player development group, the consistency of the work he did at Papago (in Scottsdale) in the offseason, becoming a more solid player on the team.” Routine play.

“We’re all aware of the high-end skills he has. The raw power, the arm strength, the running ability for a guy his size, but now we’re seeing him make routine plays in a simpler way. There’s still a lot to learn, but as a starting point, this season we’ve seen the benefits of the work he’s put in.” .

Luciano is the best prospect the Giants have had since Buster Posey, and he reached the major leagues before his 22nd birthday. If he is able to fulfill his potential next year, the Giants could benefit beyond just production on the field.

Luciano’s status as a starter remains intact, and if he wins Rookie of the Year next season, the Giants will receive an additional draft pick at the end of the first round, an extremely valuable prize. A rule in the new CBA gave the Seattle Mariners the 29th pick (to Julio Rodriguez) last year and will also benefit from the Arizona Diamondbacks when Corbin Carroll wins the award next month.

It would be a nice bonus, but for the Giants, this decision comes down to other factors. If Crawford decides to continue playing, it won’t be in San Francisco, and the organization finally has a local shortstop ready for a chance to replace the best in franchise history.

When asked about Luciano during an interview that will air Thursday on the Giants Talk Podcast, Zaidi pointed to the “pure talent level” and “improvement we saw this year.”

“Ever since we signed him, there’s been a question of whether he would need to move to third base, and I think what he’s shown this year is that he can play good shortstop, which we’ve seen at the minor league level and at the big league level.” “League level,” Al-Zaidi said. “It’s just getting better, it’s the general trajectory, and then you can just see the talent anytime he’s out on the field. For him to really work on his skill level in baseball to get to where he is now, we just really want to give him the opportunity to take this The job and dealing with it.”

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