Tragically, it would appear that Farhan Zaidi does not read this newsletter. Just two days ago, I wrote this:
Luciano is on a nice little hot streak, and that doesn’t make him ready. Hell, just looking at any peripherals tells you he’s not ready; he’s got a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio, and that .300 BA is relying on a .455 BABIP. He’s hitting ground balls almost 60% of the time. He is not ready. It is not a slight against a guy who has not yet turned 22 to say that he is not yet ready for the majors, and Marco Luciano is not yet ready for the majors. He did pretty well in AA this year, but if we’ve learned anything from Bailey and Matos, we can’t read too much into that when it comes to today.
That night, the Giants decided to call up Luciano. I may not be the famous baseball influencer I’ve been billing myself as.
So, Luciano is up in the majors for the moment. He has all the talent and power in the world, of course, but he’s only 21, hasn’t spent two weeks in AAA, and even his three-ish months in AA could best be summarized as “It only looks okay but it was really pretty good,” which is a far cry from “Fantastic, no caveats,” the actual thing you want to say about a guy who gets called up to the majors two weeks later.
Luciano went 0-for-2 last night, with his first major league at bat being a first-pitch fly out to the right field wall, and his second being a weak comebacker on the third pitch of the AB. In what would have been his third at bat, Gabe Kapler brought in Joc Pederson to pinch hit, ending Luciano’s night in the 7th inning after two hitless ABs and some solid defense.
It is a mark of the organization’s faith in Luciano that he got called up at all yesterday. Again, he turns 22 in September and doesn’t even have seven games under his belt in AAA. He is an actual, big-time, big-name prospect and they are pushing him hard to the majors. The reason to do that is that you think that he can succeed. There aren’t a lot of players at Luciano’s age and in his position who would get that call. It’s a testament to the work he’s done this year that he did get it.
It is a mark of the organization’s lack of faith in Luciano that they pinch hit for him. Because let’s be honest, as much as the scouting reports are assuredly good and he’s made excellent progress in his development this year, the Giants are absolutely at the point where they’re throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. If they really believed in Luciano’s bat, there’s no way they’d have pinch hit for him in the 7th. Yes, the team loves getting platoon advantages, but you don’t call up Marco Luciano to get a platoon bat. You call him up because he’s good enough to be The Guy, and the team showed very clearly last night that they don’t quite have that level of trust in him yet.
It’s obviously tricky to both win and develop simultaneously, and it’s been even harder for the Giants with the way their offense has cratered, especially at middle infield, and especially since the Thairo Estrada injury. Without a lot of help available on the trade market, the team is nudging ever closer to panic mode, and that’s where the Luciano move is coming from. And like I said on Tuesday, that’s not likely to lead to long-term success. Maybe he’ll carry the team for a month like Patrick Bailey, but the bill will come due, because it always does.
Am I telling you not to get excited about Luciano? Of course not. He’s the best hitting prospect the team has had since Buster Posey, and should be a huge part of the future of the Giants. But what does it mean that he was called up yesterday? It means he’s good, sure. But it also means the team is reaching. At least for me, it’s hard to see one without the other, as much as I might want to.
"...the way their offense has cratered, especially at middle infield, and especially since the Thairo Estrada injury"
While Crawford wasn't exactly hitting at a major league level (except for in "clutch" situations), the combination of his and Estrada's injuries happening simultaneously have really forced this call up. Even with all the swiss army knife players, apparently, the Giants still need to play a shortstop.
“Luciano is absolutely not ready” falls under the category of famous last words. Or are they showcasing him as trade bait?