Farhan Zaidi joined Giants Talk host Alex Pavlovic to discuss the Giants’ defensive struggles and confirmed there will be discussions in the offseason to address what went wrong this season.
A few of the Giants' top prospects could be arriving at the big leagues fairly soon.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi joined KNBR 680's "Tolbert & Copes" on Thursday, where he was asked about top prospect Marco Luciano, who recently was promoted to Double-A Richmond where he will finish out the remainder of the 2022 season and likely will begin the 2023 season.
"We'd love for him to start in Double-A next year and once you're there, things can move pretty quickly," Zaidi said.
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After missing half the season with a back injury, Luciano hit .269/.350/.467 with just 11 home runs and 36 RBI in 65 combined games between rookie ball and High-A Eugene.
The Giants' No. 2 prospect, starting pitcher Kyle Harrison, already was promoted to Double-A Richmond earlier this season. Zaidi anticipates that the 21-year-old southpaw could begin the season in Triple-A, just one level away from the big leagues.
"You brought up the excitement of getting Kyle Harrison there this year, he's got the chance to start in Triple-A and then he's really one step away," Zaidi added.
Harrison has shined the brightest of any player in the Giants' system this season and arguably is the most exciting prospect moving forward. Splitting time between High-A Eugene and Double-A Richmond, Harrison posted a 2.71 ERA with 186 strikeouts in 113 innings pitched in 2022.
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Zaidi also anticipates No. 3 prospect, outfielder Luis Matos, beginning the 2023 season in Double-A Richmond alongside Luciano.
"For these position players like Luciano, like Luis Matos who haven't put up big numbers, but we still see a lot of positives and our plan is still going to be to start them in Richmond next year," Zaidi explained. "It's going to be pretty cool to see this group of players who won a couple of titles in San Jose and Eugene over the last couple of seasons continue to progress. That's the plan, for now, to have Marco start next year in Double-A."
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For the most part, 2022 was a down season for a lot of top Giants prospects. However, it's clear that Zaidi and the Giants still believe in their budding young stars.
All it takes is a hot start to the 2023 season, and as Zaidi said, things can move pretty quickly after that.
