Giants Value Logan Wyatt’s Discipline

Logan Wyatt clearly knows the strike zone.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound first baseman drew 69 walks—with 48 strikeouts—in 326 plate appearances as a Louisville junior in 2019.

Wyatt’s plate discipline was a major reason the Giants made the 22-year-old lefthanded hitter their second-round pick in June.

“He’s a big kid who has great knowledge of the strike zone and he’s got some power that’s probably untapped,” farm director Kyle Haines said.

Tapping into that power will be key as Wyatt tries to advance. He hit a combined 15 homers in his final two seasons with the Cardinals, then hit three in a 44-game pro debut that was focused at short-season Salem-Keizer and low Class A Augusta.

Wyatt said he’s “slowly working on increasing the power numbers.”

And how can he do that?

“Being able to use your body correctly,” Wyatt said. “I think a lot of it comes from your lower half and how your hips work.”

Said Haines: “He doesn’t need to do anything different . . . I think as he just learns himself more and learns what pitches he can drive, he’ll end up able to really blossom into an impactful run producer.”

Haines sees the similarities between Wyatt and Brandon Belt, a fellow lefthanded-hitting college first baseman with strong plate discipline.

“Brandon was a guy who definitely had a good eye at Texas and untapped power,” Haines said of the comparison.

“And then he was able to come into the system and then find some more power with some slight adjustments and then blossomed into a very good everyday major league first baseman.”

Though Haines believes Wyatt is “going to be average or above at first base,” the farm director said Wyatt’s defense won’t quite compare with Belt’s.

“Nobody should be compared to Belt” on defense, Haines said.

Haines said Wyatt could begin 2020 at Augusta or high Class A San Jose. He hit .278/.388/.377 with 26 walks and 29 strikeouts last season in his debut.

“His ability to swing at good pitches should translate to more doubles and homers and, in general, more production,” Haines said.

GIANTICS

— The Giants made Alyssa Nakken the first woman on a big league coaching staff when they added her to manager Gabe Kapler’s 13-person staff in mid-January. Nakken, a former softball player at Sacramento State, is unlikely to be one of the seven in-uniform coaches during games.

— The Giants claimed 22-year-old righthander Luis Madero on waivers from the Angels. He had a 5.03 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 105.2 innings at high Class A and Double-A last season.