Here are the Giants' 2024 Top 30 prospects
Jim Callis
@JimCallisMLBThe Giants have hovered around .500 since their stunning 107-victory season in 2021, finishing a combined 51 games out of first place in the National League West the last two years. Despite those frustrations, they brought a lot of young homegrown talent to the Majors in 2023.
San Francisco's two best prospects, left-hander Kyle Harrison and shortstop Marco Luciano, made their debuts and should begin this season as big league starters. Patrick Bailey should do the same after starring defensively as he graduated to the Majors. Two more of the system's top talents, Luis Matos and Casey Schmitt, also saw enough action to shed their rookie eligibility but may open 2024 in Triple-A.
Bailey accumulated 0.8 bWAR last summer, already giving the 2020 first-round choice more than each of the six first-rounders who preceded him (Tyler Beede, Phil Bickford, Chris Shaw, Heliot Ramos, Joey Bart, Hunter Bishop). The two first-rounders after Bailey, Will Bednar and Reggie Crawford, have barely pitched while dealing with injuries as pros. Lack of success at the top of the Draft has hurt the Giants, who built three World Series champions around taking Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey with top-10-overall choices from 2006-08 and also scored with another in Zack Wheeler in 2009.
Early returns on San Francisco's 2023 amateur acquisitions are promising. Outfielder/first baseman Bryce Eldridge offers huge power upside (first round), and shortstop Walker Martin (second), left-hander Joe Whitman (supplemental second) and shortstop Maui Ahuna (fourth) all look like potential steals. Outfielder Rayner Arias, the prize of the Giants' international class from last year, has a rare combination of hitting ability, power potential and plate discipline.
Here’s a look at the Giants' top prospects:
1. Kyle Harrison, LHP (MLB No. 23)
2. Marco Luciano, SS (MLB No. 39)
3. Carson Whisenhunt, LHP (MLB No. 83)
4. Bryce Eldridge, OF/1B (MLB No. 96)
5. Walker Martin, SS
Complete Top 30 list »
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2023 preseason list to the 2024 preseason list:
Jump: Hayden Birdsong, RHP (2023: 29 | 2024: 7)
He flew under the radar at Eastern Illinois, but the 2022 sixth-rounder has a plus fastball and curveball and continually has impressed scouts as a pro.
Fall: Eric Silva, RHP (2023: 12 | 2024: NR)
His stuff hasn't taken a step forward since he landed an above-slot $1,497,500 as a 2021 fourth-rounder, and he owns a career 6.05 ERA.
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools – 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 60 -- Wade Meckler
Power: 60 -- Marco Luciano (Bryce Eldridge)
Run: 70 -- Grant McCray (Vaun Brown)
Arm: 65 -- Adrian Sugastey (Onil Perez)
Defense: 60 -- Maui Ahuna (Aeverson Arteaga)
Fastball: 70 -- Kyle Harrison (Reggie Crawford)
Curveball: 70 -- Landen Roupp (R.J. Dabovich)
Slider: 65 -- Kai-Wei Teng
Changeup: 70 -- Carson Whisenhunt
Control: 55 -- Keaton Winn (Landen Roupp)
How they were built
Draft: 19 | International: 9 | Trade: 2
Breakdown by ETA
2024: 13 | 2025: 7 | 2026: 7 | 2027: 2 | 2029: 1
Breakdown by position
C: 2 | SS: 8 | OF: 7 | RHP: 8 | LHP: 5