Top 50: Getting Started and Just Missed

Time to get the annual process rolling!

Photo Credit: Gary Breedlove

I’ve teased it enough. Time to actually get to work rolling out There R Giants’ Top 50 rankings for 2023. The list has a decent amount of changeover from just last year. Of the 2022 group, ten members have fallen off my list, five have moved on to other organizations (we wish you all well!), and four have graduated to the big leagues. So we’ll be making room for a pretty big group of newcomers. And hey, not to brag or anything, but combing through last year’s wrap-up, I came across this concluding sentence at the end of the “Whos’Next” section:

As for pitchers who pull the old “Randy Rodriguez where the heck did this guy come from???” trick? Well … how about the top groundball pitcher in the ACL in 2021, if you want an out-of-the-box “guy to shove?” That would be Jose Cruz, here seen pumping some mid-90s sinkers!

That one aged pretty well! In fact, three other members of my “Who’s Next” group will be making this year’s list, albeit in some cases at the expense of some other guys heading the wrong direction in these rankings.

Before we get started, however, I know some of you have questions — or perhaps, “question.” The same one, no doubt, that I’ve been asked each year: when are these prospects finally going to start impacting the Giants proper? When can we start cheering these guys on at Oracle Park? To which I respond: it’s already happening, folks! Two years ago Logan Webb (the organization’s top pitching prospect going into 2020) became one of the best starters in baseball and began an impressive post-season resume. Last year, Camilo Doval became one of the best closers in baseball with the addition of a high 90s sinker to his high octane repertoire. The team is giving every indication that this year, David Villar (whom I ranked pretty aggressively at #16 in the system last year) will be given every opportunity to grab the starting 3b job to start the year — on his way to becoming one of the best 3b in baseball, I ask? Three’s a trend, baby! Joey Bart’s progress has been uneven so far with some big swings of fortune at the plate, but he started nearly 100 games behind the plate in his first full season of taking over from Buster Posey, bashing 11 home runs, and showing an improved ability to work walks. Bart looks like he’ll get a chance to improve on all of those numbers in the coming season.

It may be slow in getting going, but the system is starting to spurt out big leaguers with regularity. This year we should see Kyle Harrison, while Casey Schmitt and even Vaun Brown could well be making appearances. Heliot Ramos will try to make the most of his next opportunity. Heck, a first sight of Marco Luciano isn’t a ridiculous notion. Get ready to buy those shirseys, folks! The players at the top of the rankings this year are going to make a difference, starting in the not-too-distant future.

Roger Munter @rog61

Casey Schmitt rips a double off the wall off top pitching prospect in baseball, rehabbing Grayson Rodriguez