DrB's 2020 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #3 Marco Luciano

Marco Luciano SS.  DOB:  9/10/2001.  B-R, T-R.  6'2", 178 lbs.

R(AZL):  .322/.438/.616, 9 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 8 SB, 15.2 BB%, 21.9 K%, 178 PA.
Short Season:  .212/.316/.333, 4 2B, SB, 13.2 BB%, 15.8 K%, 38 PA.

Marco Luciano was one of the highest rated prospects in the 2018 J2 international pool and the Giants nabbed him along with several other highly rated prospects.  Arizona rookie league is an agressive placement for international prospects in their first pro season and Luciano absolutely crushed it.  Then after a 1 for 16 start after an unusually agressive late season promotion to Salem-Keizer, he went 6 for 21 with 3 doubles in his last 5 games.  His season was then cut short by some sort of tweak which is not expected to be in issue going forward.  In addition to strong slash lines, Luciano showed excellent plate discipline with a strong walk rate and relatively low K rate.

I ranked Heliot Ramos a tick ahead of Marco, because of Heliot's performance at AA at age 19, but Marco likely has the higher ceiling of the two.  Once again, the Fangraphs boys break out the colorful language to describe what sounds like an ecstatic experience watching Marco take batting practice in Arizona.  Just listen to this:  "....a few lucky scouts and media folks had a religious experience watching the sweetest-swinging teenager on Earth absolutely roast balls fed to his barrel by a high-speed pitching machine."  There is a video clip attached to Marco's line in Fangraphs Giants prospect list which I think is from this batting practice session.  Go check it out!

On video, while he is not quite as bulky as Heliot Ramos, Marco is noticeably broad shouldered, but otherwise a bit more lithe with more fluidity to his movements.  There are questions about his ability to make off-balance throws from SS and talk of ultimately moving to the OF.  Other scouts think he can stick at SS.  If he does, he could be a top 5 overall prospect in a couple of years.

Whether you favor proximity or ceiling, it's incredibly exciting to have two young prospects of the caliber of Heliot Ramos and Marco Luciano at 2 and 3.  Ramos is obviously closing in on a MLB debut having played in AA and the AFL.  Luciano might not be far behind and will likely move up the ladder much faster under the Farhan Zaidi regime than what we are used to seeing.  I could even see him making his MLB debut sometime during his age 19 season in 2021.