16 Giants Prospects To Watch Beyond The Top 30

The Giants Top 30 prospects rankings are up now for Baseball America subscribers, with full scouting reports, BA grades and tools grade projections for all 30 players.

Through the process of narrowing the list down to a Top 30, there are other intriguing names who didn’t make the cut but are worth monitoring, with the potential to jump into the Top 30 in the future. Some of those are players who might be in the upper levels and could see big league time this year, though likely in a limited role, while others are lower-level players still in the complex leagues with more upside but plenty of risk.

Beyond the Top 30, these are 16 prospects to watch in San Francisco’s farm system.

Sean Hjelle, RHP. The towering righthander reached the major leagues in 2022 but otherwise got hit around at Triple-A. He switched from a curveball to a slider and his changeup—previously one of his better offerings—went backward.

Tristan Beck, RHP. The former Braves prospect earned protection on the 40-man roster on the strength of a season when he continued to pound the strike zone with a mix of four fringe-average to average pitches. He needs to execute his pitches better in the zone and probably fits as a bulk reliever.

Will Wilson, SS/2B. Acquired from the Angels after the 2019 season, Wilson has shown in two years with the Giants that he fits best as a middle infielder with a power-over-hit profile. He’s likely a second baseman who can fit at shortstop in a pinch but would be stretched there on an everyday basis. 

Tyler Myrick, RHP. The Giants’ 14th-rounder from 2021 flashed a powerful mix of sinkers and cutters along with his slider. The organization is working with Myrick to add a bit more depth to the slider to make it more of a bat-misser.

Trevor McDonald, RHP. McDonald redoubled his training over the offseason and came to camp looking like a different pitcher. He shortened his action, which helped sharpen some of the shapes in his repertoire and got him a bit more velocity to boot.

Mat Olsen, RHP. San Francisco’s ninth-rounder from 2021 has a profile to match fellow relief prospect RJ Dabovich. The righthander pairs a low-90s fastball with a downer curveball in the low 80s, and the results were 83 strikeouts in 59 innings in 2022.  

Nick Zwack, LHP. Zwack was one of four players who came over from the Mets in the midsummer trade that sent Darin Ruf to New York. He was coveted for the intriguing analytical qualities on his fastball and slider, the latter of which needs to improve a bit. His walk rate more than doubled after the trade.

Diego Velasquez, SS. Velasquez did a good job making contact and controlling the zone in a repeat of the Arizona Complex League, but his average exit velocity of 83.1 mph says he still needs to get stronger before that contact becomes impact. 

Ryan Reckley, SS. The Giants paid $2.2 million to acquire Reckley when the 2022-23 signing period opened. He’s got the defensive profile to stick at shortstop and a hit-over-power profile, but his season in the DSL was limited to just 11 games after an injury. He’ll try for a reset in 2023.

Anthony Rodriguez, SS. Signed in 2019, Rodriguez had his pro debut delayed until 2021 and has spent the last two seasons in the Arizona Complex League and has struck out worse than 30% of the time in both years.

Jose Cruz, RHP. In 2021, Randy Rodriguez emerged from relative obscurity to dominate the lower levels and earn a spot on the 40-man roster. In 2022, Cruz repeated the feat. The righthander was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2017 and was slowly shaped into the form he showed in 2022, when he paired a fastball and changeup that each graded as potential plus pitches with a nascent slider and struck out nearly 15 hitters per nine innings at Low-A San Jose. 

Hayden Birdsong, RHP. Birdsong was the Giants’ 2022 sixth-rounder out of Eastern Illinois. He combines a mid-90s fastball with a downer curveball in the upper 70s and struck out 23 hitters in 12 innings in his pro debut. Birdsong also has a fringy slider and a well below-average changeup. 

Ford Proctor, C. The Giants added multiple catching options in small moves throughout the 2022 offseason. They pried Blake Sabol from the Reds (via the Pirates) in the Rule 5 draft and then dealt reliever Jeremy Walker to the Rays to acquire Proctor, who is 26 years old and relatively new behind the plate. He started catching in the Australian League in 2020 and then got 114 games behind the dish over the next two seasons in the minors. He also can bounce around the infield and primarily brings defensive versatility. 

Brett Wisely, 2B. The Giants shipped Tristan Peters (whom they had previously acquired from the Brewers) to the Rays for Wisely, who brings the ability to play all over the diamond—he played all four infield positions as well as left field in 2022—and a sneaky power-speed combination that led to 46 extra-base hits and 32 stolen bases between Double-A and Triple-A last season.  

Yosneiker Rivas, SS. Signed in the 2023 international period, Rivas is a Venezuelan shortstop who has a hit-over-power profile and a strong understanding of the game for someone so young. He has enough range and the quickness and above-average arm strength to stick at shortstop, which will be necessary considering his bat is not geared for impact.

Chen-Hsun Lee, RHP. Lee is a tall righthander who has had one Tommy John surgery already but has gotten his fastball back up to 95 mph. Lee complements the fastball with a nasty split-fingered fastball and a slider as well. He projects as a back-end starter with further refinement.