Adam's Prospect Series: Marco Luciano

Introduction: Welcome back to my blog, as I hope you all are doing well and are healthy during this crazy time of life! Writing these articles sure does make me get into baseball season a lot sooner than it should!

For my third installment of my Prospect Series, I decided to take a stab at the shortstop position. Personally, there are so many good players at the position in the minors. Choosing which shortstop I wanted to write about first was tough, as there is much debate of who is the best. Take your pick from Noelvi Marte, Anthony Volpe, Marcelo Mayer, Orelvis Martinez, CJ Abrams, Bobby Witt, or any other of the young talent at the position. Bottom line, the list seems to go on and on. The shortstop I chose to write on first though was Marco Luciano who is currently the top prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization. Personally, I feel like Noelvi Marte and Luciano are really close in ranking just based off of articles that I have read, scouting grades, etc. Although I love Seattle's system with Marte at the top of it, I decided to go a different direction, spread the wealth a bit, and give some attention to some of San Francisco's future. As always, let's roll!

As a side note, I think the Giants system is one that gets overlooked quite a bit. Aside from Luciano and Joey Bart who soon should be graduating from prospect status, there is not much attention towards the other prospects. Whether it be Luis Matos, Heliot Ramos, Hunter Bishop, or Kyle Harrison, the Giants seem to have three outfield prospects on the rise with a bit of pitching mixed in. With that being said, I think the future of the Giants outfield looks great with Matos and Ramos at the top of the team's prospects ranks.

Marco Luciano among shortstops in the minor leagues is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful. On second thought, as I am typing this he should be considered as one of the most powerful prospects in the minors. Coming in as the second ranked shortstop only behind Bobby Witt in MLB's prospect rankings, one could make an argument that he is the best overall player at the position. Having a 65 power grade is pretty dang good, as Luciano can go to all fields to hit the ball out of the park or even leg out a triple once and awhile. Below, as always, I have provided his scouting grades:

Hit: 55 Power: 65 Run: 45 Arm: 60 Field: 50 Overall: 60

Like the previous prospects that I have written on, (Julio Rodriguez and Zac Veen), Luciano can do more with the bat in his hands than in the field, even though his defensive tools are not too far behind. The arm and fielding grades are both high enough to project that he will be an above-average defender at the shortstop position. Looking at the grades above, the only "complaint" is the speed tool. As a result, he may end up being forced to move to a corner in the outfield.

Having signed with the organization in 2018 out of the Dominican Republic for $2.6 million, Luciano in 2019, hit .322 at the rookie level, while also mashing 10 home runs. As a result, he was promoted to Low-A in 2021 where he put up similar numbers:

Marco Luciano- Low-A: G 70, .278 BA, 18 HR, 57 RBI, 52 R, .556 SLG, .373 OBP

The statistics above show that Luciano continued his power surge in 2021 with the San Jose Giants. Building off of his 10 HR that he hit in rookie ball in 2019 tells me that he can hit the ball out of the park at a consistent rate. He even was promoted to High-A for 36 games last season, but did not have much success:

Marco Luciano- High-A: G 36, .217 BA, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 16 R, .295 SLG, .283 OBP

This stat line is almost meaningless to me, simply because of the small sample size of games played. With a prospect like Luciano, it is only a matter of time before he starts to kill the pitching at the High-A level and then be promoted to Double-A and so on and so forth.

So, of course this only leaves one question: What does all this mean for Luciano in the long term?:

Luciano's batting average I would project stays in the .280 range, with 30 plus long balls annually and close to 100 RBI and 100 R scored once he reaches his prime years. Only being 20 years-old means that he obviously still has a lot of time to develop his skills in the minor leagues. With an ETA of 2023, I would assume Marco would take over the shortstop position full-time in 2024. Currently, Brandon Crawford, San Francisco's current shortstop is signed through 2023 and would become a free agent in 2024. My initial prediction would be for the Giants not to resign him, considering he would be 36 by that time, and have Luciano in the starting lineup on a daily basis. Unless he cannot stick to his primary position for speed concerns, expect Luciano to be the shortstop in the Bay Area for years to come.

Fantasy Outlook: As far as Fantasy Baseball is concerned, Luciano should be owned in all dynasty formats and even in some deep keeper leagues. By now, if he is not owned in a dynasty league, I have no idea why he wouldn't be, he is amazing!!! Currently ranked in the top 15 in dynasty rankings on the majority of sites, he is a must-own type of player if you are either in a rebuild or just want to have him for the long term. As a result expect him to be a player who can carry your team for years to come once he reaches the big leagues!

Final Thoughts: As I mentioned in the introduction, choosing which shortstop to write about first was tough, as the others I listed deserve to be watched closely as well. Overall though, I believe the shortstop position is the most to get excited about, simply because there is so much depth there. This next wave of young shortstops is going to be fun to watch!

See You at the Ballpark!!!

Adam