There R Giants #50: Diego Velasquez

Photo Credit: Jerry Espinoza | @JEspinoza1634

We’re into the There R Giants Top 50. Over the next few months, I’ll write a post on each of the fifty players in my rankings, leading us back to spring. So far, we’ve covered:

• Just Missed

As I said in the prologue on Monday, the honest truth is there’s nothing empirically separating the 50th best prospect in a system from the 51st, so when looking at the cutoff part of my deliberations, it came down to this: how much do I want to write about this player as opposed to that one? As I was going through the process of trimming, cutting, moving players around my board, I always kept an eye on that 50-line and I found myself over and over catching Diego Velasquez to make sure he didn’t tip over it. Do that enough times and I was able to take my own hint — I wanted to write about Diego Velasquez. So much so that other players would slide right past him from seemingly stable positions at 48 or 49, right off the edge into there be monsters territory. Sorry, guys!

For what it’s worth, I’m not the only one who holds fond feelings for Diego. From Velasquez’ Instagram account, it’s apparent that the Giants do as well, inviting him to participate in the prospect camp they hold annually at Oracle Park.

Take just a moment to appreciate the magic of that moment — walking into Oracle Park and finding a locker with your nameplate on it. The Instagram accounts of the Giants’ younger prospects are aflame with similar videos — players like Luis Matos, Adrian Sugastey, Ghordy Santos, Anthony Rodriguez, all playing “King of Oracle,” taking in the stadium from every majestic angle they can find and dreaming their dreams of calling it their office some day.

If Diego Velasquez called the U.S. home, he’d just be starting his senior year of high school (he just turned 18 in October). Instead, he’s a pro, participating in a high visibility event alongside much older and more highly regarded prospects, despite having hit just .213 with a 45 wRC+ in his debut season.