Giants' Marco Luciano: Could open '24 as main shortstop
Rotowire
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Tuesday that Luciano will be given the chance to open the 2024 season as the team's everyday shortstop, Danny Emerman of KNBR 680 San Francisco reports.
Luciano mostly struggled offensively between his two different stints in the majors this season, but the 22-year-old owns a career .834 OPS in the minors and tallied 15 homers in 74 games this summer between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento. He also has a bit of speed and an improving defensive reputation.
Luciano went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Friday's 5-1 win over the Dodgers.
The 22-year-old prospect has started the last two games at shortstop with Brandon Crawford (hamstring) on the injured list. Luciano is batting .333 (6-for-18) over six major-league contests but has a .223/.334/.442 slash line over 74 game between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento this year while struggling to stay healthy. Despite those numbers, he could close out the year with a starting role for the Giants. The steal was his first in the majors.
The Giants recalled Luciano from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday.
Luciano seems positioned to serve as the Giants' primary shortstop over the final 10 games of the 2023 regular season after the team placed Brandon Crawford (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list Thursday and released Paul DeJong. Luciano is a high-ranking prospect and can use this time as an audition to be the Opening Day starter at short in 2024, though he hasn't been much of a counting stats compiler in either the minors or majors this year.
Luciano (hamstring) was reinstated from Triple-A Sacramento's 7-day injured list and went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in his return to the lineup in Tuesday's 8-1 loss to Sugar Land.
Luciano ended up missing just under a month due to a hamstring strain, but he showed some rust in his return to the Triple-A lineup, donning the Golden Sombrero for the third time this season. The 22-year-old infielder will look to finish the Triple-A season on a high note and could still have a chance to join the big club before the MLB campaign comes to a close.
Giants' Marco Luciano: Playing in instructional league
Rotowire
Manager Gabe Kapler said Friday that Luciano (hamstring) has begun playing in instructional league games, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Luciano landed on the minor-league injured list Aug. 13 because of a hamstring strain, but he should be able to return to Triple-A Sacramento within the next week and could potentially get another shot with the Giants before the end of the regular season. The 21-year-old infield prospect went 3-for-11 during a brief cup of coffee with San Francisco in late July.
