Here’s where every SF Giants’ top prospect will play this season

While the Sacramento River Cats opened their season last week, the rest of the Giants’ minor league affiliates are expected to get underway in the coming days, meaning they have established their rosters and finalized assignments of the team’s top prospects. organization.

The team’s first-round pick last summer, first baseman Bryce Eldridge, will start the year at Single-A San Jose, but he might not stay there long. The 6-foot-7 teenager progressed quickly during his introduction to pro ball last summer with blistering exit speeds and an advanced approach at the plate.

San Jose’s roster is made up of a number of other top picks from last year’s draft.

The infield will be shared by Cole Foster, their third-round pick, and fourth-round pick Maui Ahuna, who is fully healthy after playing through a back injury while leading Tennessee in its run to the College World Series. It delayed his professional debut until this spring and impressed him enough in his first camp to earn a spot on the travel roster for a few Cactus League games. Foster, another college shortstop, originally from Auburn, hit seven home runs with a .779 OPS in his rookie ball debut.

The pitching staff will be led by Joe Whitman, the 69th overall pick, whom the Giants considered the best college left-hander when they drafted him out of Kent State, and will include five other pitchers selected last July (RHP Joshua Bostick , 8th round; RHP Cale Lansville. 14th round; LHP Dylan Carmouche, 15th round); LHP Michael Rodriguez, 18th round; LHP Thomas Kane, 19th round).

Notably missing from San Jose’s team is Reggie Crawford, the Giants’ 2022 first-round pick. Slowed by injuries since being drafted, including starting this spring, Crawford will continue to develop at the Giants’ facility in Arizona to start the season, but is expected to eventually report to San Jose, where he finished last season.

The Eugene Emeralds High-A roster is light on pedigree, but should fill out as prospects are promoted from San Jose.

Hayden Birdsong, the organization’s top right-handed prospect, will begin the season at Double-A Richmond and could make a case for a call-up to the major leagues by the end of the year. The most interesting group of the Flying Squirrels squad, however, is in the outfield, where there will be no shortage of athleticism between Vaun Brown (No. 11 prospect), Grant McCray (No. 10 prospect) and Hunter Bishop (No. 10 prospect). No. 10) and Hunter Bishop (No. 10 prospect). , 2019).

At Triple-A Sacramento, Carson Whisenhunt is already off to a good start. Injuries kept the lefty, ranked 66th overall in 2022, from playing in a game during spring training, but it may not be long before he works his way onto the roster. big leagues.

In his first start, Whisenhunt struck out six in three shutout innings.

The most raw of the Giants’ top 10 prospects, 17-year-old outfielder Rayner Arias and 19-year-old shortstop Walker Martin will start at the rookie level in the Arizona Complex League. Arias, a highly touted international free agent starting in 2023, will make his national debut, while it will be Martin’s first professional action since the Giants plucked him from high school and convinced him to sign with a significantly higher bonus to the value of the slot machine.

The Giants’ top 10 prospects

by Baseball America

1. Kyle Harrison, LHP, 23, MLB

2. Marco Luciano, SS, 22 years old, AA

3. Bryce Eldridge, 1B, 19, A

4. Carson Whisenhunt, LHP, 22, AAA

5. Walker Martin, SS, 19, RK

6. Hayden Birdsong, RHP, 22, AA

7. Rayner Arias, OF, 17, RK

8. Mason Black, RHP, 24, AAA

9. Reggie Crawford, LHP, 23, A

10. Grant McCray, OF, 23, AA