Giants' Marco Luciano: Activated off minor-league IL
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Luciano (back) was activated off the injured list Tuesday at Double-A Richmond, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
Luciano missed the first month of the 2023 minor-league season after suffering a stress fracture in his lower back while playing in the Dominican Winter League. Now with a clean bill of health, the 21-year-old top shortstop prospect can continue his ascent through the Giants' system. He registered an .817 OPS in 65 games last summer between the rookie-level Arizona Complex League and High-A Eugene.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Still out with back issue
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Luciano (back) is on the 7-day injured list at Double-A Richmond.
He suffered a stress fracture in his lower back playing in the Dominican Winter League, and while he was able to field grounders and take batting practice this spring, Luciano isn't ready for game action. According to Jim Callis of MLB.com, Luciano is being held back in extended spring training while he finishes his recovery.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Optioned to minors
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Luciano (back) was optioned to minor-league camp Saturday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
Luciano hasn't appeared in a spring game because of his back trouble, but he has been a full participant in workouts as of late. The top hitting prospect in the San Francisco system is likely to begin the season with Double-A Richmond, and a strong showing there could go a long way to him making his MLB debut before 2023 comes to a close.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Fields grounders Thursday
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Luciano (back) fielded grounders and took on-field batting practice without issue Thursday, Danny Emerman of KNBR reports.
Luciano suffered a stress fracture in his lower back while playing in the Dominican Winter League, but he is on track now to be a regular for Double-A Richmond at the start of their 2023 campaign. The 21-year-old shortstop ranks as a top-50 overall prospect and is a big part of the long-term blueprint in San Francisco.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Advances to batting practice
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Luciano (back) has progressed to taking regular rounds of batting practice in Giants camp, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.
Luciano appears to be nearing the end of his recovery from the back injury he sustained while playing in the Dominican Winter League. If all continues to go well, the 21-year-old shortstop prospect should be ready for the start of Double-A Richmond's regular-season schedule. He put up an .817 OPS in 65 games last year between the rookie-level Arizona Complex League and High-A Eugene.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Ramping up hitting progression
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Luciano (back) is ramping up his hitting progression and fielding grounders Wednesday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
Luciano is still recovering from a back injury sustained in the Dominican Winter League. It doesn't appear this injury will impact the start of his season, where he's expected to make the jump to Double-A Richmond to begin the year. Barring setbacks, Luciano should have a chance to get into at least a couple of spring games.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Recovering from offseason injury
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The Giants announced Wednesday that Luciano is taking part in a normal hitting and throwing progression in spring training after suffering a stress fracture in his lower back over the offseason, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports.
The injury explains why Luciano appeared in only five games for Estrellas de Oriente of the Dominican Winter League before sitting out the rest of the schedule. The fact that Luciano is taking part in baseball activities suggests that he should be ready to play at some point during the Cactus League slate, putting him on track for the start of the minor-league season. The 21-year-old shortstop prospect posted an .817 OPS with 11 home runs in 65 games last summer between the Arizona Complex League and High-A Eugene.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Shielded from Rule 5 draft
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Luciano was added to the Giants' 40-man roster Tuesday.
Luciano spent most of the 2022 campaign with High-A Eugene, though he also joined Double-A Richmond for their postseason. The 21-year-old had a .263/.339/.459 slash line in 57 games at High-A and could keep advancing in 2023.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Added to Double-A playoff roster
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Luciano is joining Double-A Richmond on Tuesday for their postseason, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
This move makes sense on several fronts. First, it allows Luciano to make up for the time he has missed this season with back and leg injuries (played in 57 games at High-A). Second, it will give Luciano his first exposure to upper-level pitching. He hit .263/.339/.459 with 10 home runs, a .195 ISO, a 22.2 percent strikeout rate and a 9.6 percent walk rate in 230 plate appearances. Luciano, who will be added to the 40-man roster this offseason, figures to spend a good chunk of next season at Double-A.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Moves past leg issue
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Luciano (leg) has gone 1-for-8 with an RBI while starting in both of High-A Eugene's last two games Saturday and Sunday.
Luciano was out of action for just a couple days after he exited a game Wednesday due to leg tightness. The 20-year-old shortstop owns a .285/.354/.500 slash line with nine home runs and a 21.4 percent strikeout rate over 48 games with Eugene on the campaign.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Dealing with leg tightness
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Luciano was removed from High-A Eugene's game Wednesday as a precaution due to leg tightness, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports.
The 20-year-old was sidelined two months by a lower-back strain and only returned from the injured list last week, but his exit from Wednesday's contest is unrelated and appears minor. Luciano, who is the Giants' top prospect, could rejoin Eugene's lineup within the next few days.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Rejoins High-A Eugene lineup
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Luciano (back) will start at shortstop for High-A Eugene on Thursday after being reinstated from the 7-day injured list a day earlier, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports.
Luciano came off the bench Wednesday in his first game action for Eugene since June 3, but he should take on an everyday role for the High-A club beginning with Thursday's contest. The 20-year-old was shut down for nearly two months due to the lower-back strain before he was cleared to begin a rehab assignment in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League. For the season, Luciano is hitting .286 with eight home runs and a 9.3 percent walk rate across 165 plate appearances for Eugene.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Shut down with lower-back strain
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The Giants announced Wednesday that Luciano has been diagnosed with a lower-back strain and will be shut down from baseball activities for at least a couple of weeks before resuming workouts, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
High-A Eugene placed Luciano on its 7-day injured list Friday with an injury that was termed as "lower-back tightness," but follow-up tests evidently revealed that the elite prospect strained a muscle. He'll head to the Giants' spring training facility in Arizona to conduct his rehab, and he doesn't look as though he'll be ready to rejoin the High-A lineup until at least July. The 20-year-old infielder was slashing .288/.360/.507 with eight home runs in 164 plate appearances for Eugene before sustaining the injury.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Dealing with minor back issue
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Luciano was placed on the 7-day injured list with High-A Eugene on Friday due to lower-back tightness, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports.
Luciano has already missed just shy of a week with the injury, though the Giants reportedly don't believe it to be a serious issue. Assuming that's the case, the 20-year-old should return soon to build on his promising start with Eugene, where he's hit .288/.360/.507 with eight homers in 40 games.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Unchallenged in High-A
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Luciano is hitting .328/.380/.578 with four homers through 18 games this season for High-A Eugene.
The pop is nice, but even nicer is how steady Luciano has been this year, picking up hits in all but four games. The 20-year-old shortstop is widely considered among the top few prospects in the organization, and he's continued justifying that status so far this year.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Ready to build upon 2021 season
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Luciano is ready to build upon 2021 after feeling fatigued down the stretch last season. He has been preparing for about one month and states "I feel great," according to Maria Guardado of MLB.com.
Luciano felt fatigued during 2021 since that was his first full season in the minors. He worked on his conditioning by adding cardio and shoulder exercises to his routine. Luciano noted that fatigue likely contributed to the struggles, particularly at High-A, where he hit one home run with a .217 batting average, .577 OPS, and a 37.2 K% in 145 plate appearances. Before that, Luciano boasted a .288 batting average, .951 OPS, and 21.6% K% at Low-A. Luciano is working on improving his contact rate in 2022 via an open batting stance.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Quiet finish to season
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Luciano finished the regular season at High-A Eugene by hitting .217/.283/.295 with one home run across 36 games.
He struck out in a disturbing 37.2 percent of his plate appearances following his promotion from Low-A, where he turned in much better numbers -- a .278/.373/.556 line with 18 homers, five steals, 57 RBI and 52 runs (as well as a far more palatable 22.1 percent strikeout rate) across 70 contests. Although he certainly didn't look good in High-A, it's worth noting that Luciano just turned 20 years old this month and is still considered one of the most tooled-up prospects in the minors. There's no reason to panic about his long-term outlook, but the pressure will be on Luciano next season to turn in a far better performance when he (presumably) repeats the High-A level.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Gets bump up to High-A
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The Giants promoted Luciano from Low-A San Jose to High-A Eugene on Wednesday.
The No. 1 prospect in the San Francisco organization and one of the top teenage hitters in the minor leagues, Luciano earned his way to Eugene after posting a .373 on-base percentage, 18 home runs and five stolen bases across 308 plate appearances at Low-A. He's unlikely to provide much impact as a base stealer as he rises through the Giants' system, and a move off shortstop could eventually be in the cards, but Luciano's combination of power and plate discipline will give him a chance at stardom once he reaches his prime.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Back in action at Low-A
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Luciano (shoulder) rejoined the Low-A San Jose lineup Wednesday, starting at shortstop and going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run in a 4-3 win over Inland Empire.
Luciano missed only a few games due to a sore shoulder, and the fact that he was deployed in the field rather than at designated hitter in his return to action implies the Giants have no concerns about the injury affecting his throwing. One of the youngest players at Low-A, the 19-year-old infielder is holding his own against elder competition, slashing .286/.378/.565 with 17 home runs in 286 plate appearances on the season.
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Giants' Marco Luciano: Promoted to Northwest League
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Luciano was promoted to short-season Salem-Keizer, Giants Prospects reports.
The top prospect to sign on July 2, 2018, Luciano hit .322/.438/.616 with 10 home runs and eight steals in the AZL. He turns 18 in September and is one of the most exciting prospects in the minor leagues.
