Why Giants are confident in Luciano after promotion
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants had just one batting practice group on Wednesday, their 13th consecutive day with a game, but it was a star-studded one.
Marco Luciano took swings at Oracle Park ahead of his first big league game and first-round pick Bryce Eldridge followed him, taking aim at McCovey Cove during a special BP session that will be his final baseball activity before starting his minor league career Thursday in Arizona. The group also included Casey Schmitt and Blake Sabol.
The final member was the biggest star, though.
Brandon Crawford took some swings and his knee felt good. He's likely to be activated from the IL on Friday, which added another layer of intrigue to a Luciano promotion that was fascinating in many ways.
Asked about what's to come, manager Gabe Kapler repeated one of his favorite phrases. Sometimes you don't need to see the full staircase.
For now, the Giants are excited to get a look at Luciano and hopeful that he can provide a much-needed boost to a lineup that has scored 11 runs over the last seven games. The staff felt Luciano earned the promotion with a month of good at-bats and solid defense in the upper minors. They also felt they needed him.
"Any time you have a player like Marco, who is on the 40-man, you know it's just a step away, and sometimes that depends on the needs of the club," Kapler said. "In this particular case, I think it's pretty clear that we could use a good, quality, middle infielder right now. He's got all the talent in the world and we're excited to see what he can do at the major league level."
Kapler said he thinks the 21-year-old has a chance "to make an impact for us," and he described Tuesday night as an exciting one, with the staff deciding late in the evening to make a bold move. It was far more exciting for Luciano, who was called by Triple-A coach Jolbert Cabrera and asked to come down to the team hotel's lobby. He found out his lifelong dream was coming true, and then he tried to digest it.
Standing in front of his locker and a huge group of reporters, Luciano estimated that he got just two hours of sleep before flying from Albuquerque to San Francisco.
"I couldn't believe it," he said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. "It became a reality when I stepped into this clubhouse, but last night I tried to go to sleep and I couldn't believe it."
The beauty of being 21 is that there's no shortage of energy. When Luciano got to Oracle Park, he headed to the weight room, and he went through a long defensive workout before that BP session.
The Giants are throwing Luciano right into the fire. He's starting at shortstop and batting eighth against the A's, and with a lefty on the mound on Saturday, he'll likely get that start, too.
The debut will come at a time when the front office is searching for middle infield depth and the team's longest-tenured player is itching to return. On Tuesday, hours before the Luciano decision was made, Crawford hopped down the dugout steps and asked a reporter if he saw how fast he was flying as he tested his inflamed knee by running sprints in left field.
The Giants seemed poised to send another young infielder -- either Casey Schmitt or Brett Wisely -- back to Triple-A when Crawford returns, but on Wednesday night, Schmitt was starting at second, helping to form a remarkably young defensive core. Luciano is 21 and Schmitt is 24, and the Giants also have 24-year-old Patrick Bailey behind the plate and 21-year-old Luis Matos in center.
When Luciano and Matos take the field, they'll become the first pair of under-22 teammates to play in the same game for the Giants since 1982. The staff is asking a lot of the young players, but everyone involved in the decision on Tuesday is confident Luciano is ready to tackle what's next.
"His emotional maturity is through the roof," said Kyle Haines, the organization's senior director of player development. "He can handle failure with probably any 21-year-old I've ever seen. He lines out and it doesn't faze him, and you see other kids where it frustrates them, but he's so emotionally mature for his age.
"And then he's just obviously physically gifted. He's going to have some ups and downs, I know that, but he's going to be fine. Whether it's in Sacramento or here, he'll be fine. He helps teams win."
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Source: NBC Sports Bay Area
