Depth Charts 2022: Shortstop

The Glamor position!

Photo Credit: Kevin Pataky | MiLB

This is the fourth of a series of depth charts, taking a comprehensive look at each position across the entire SF Giants’ organization. So far, we’ve looked at:

• Catcher

• First Base

• Second Base

It’s good to be a shortstop! It’s the sexy spot on the diamond. On Baseball America’s most recent edition of their Top 100, seven of the top 20 prospects in baseball were shortstops — led by #1 overall, Orioles’ shortstop prospect Gunnar Henderson. That’s just the start of a group of 25 shortstops on the list, with the Reds and Orioles leading all teams with three different shortstops on the list (Cincinnati, with help from Seattle, who sent two different top shortstop prospects to the Reds for Luis Castillo).

And all of those guys, plus the 18 other shortstops on the Top 100 — are hoping to get in the position that we’ve seen Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson, Corey Seager, and Marcus Simien reach in the last 12 months: the stars of their free agent class — the guys who make the biggest headlines and the biggest deals (certainly the biggest in Giants’ history!). Maybe some of the biggest dreamers even think about getting a seven part ESPN docu-series made about them, as Derek Jeter recently did. Yes, there’s no doubt about it, the Six is glamor spot of the diamond, and the stars who shine there, shine brightest. And it’s a spot that has been completely transformed for the Giants’ franchise for the foreseeable future now!

Yes, it makes sense to call the shortstop depth chart, in some ways, the most important one of all. After all, being strong up the middle is not only one of the best ways to build a competitive major league roster, but having a strong crop of shortstops in the pipeline also means that your organization is deep at 2b, at 3b, sometimes in the OF! Get a shortstop who can hit, and you have a player that will find their way on the baseball field.

So, how do the Giants stack up here? Well, there’s some good news — some VERY good news! Let’s see how the Giants stack up at this all important spot…

MLB Pipeline @MLBPipeline

Grip it, rip it, watch it fly. Top-ranked @SFGiants prospect Marco Luciano mashed his first two pro slams with the @EugeneEmeralds over the summer: