Camera crews frantically chased, veterans fixated and the Giants’ front office brain trust hung over the dugout railing as top prospect Marco Luciano and first-round draft pick Bryce Eldridge ingratiated themselves with the Oracle Park field.
Luciano cleared the left-field bleachers in a batting practice homer that neared the Coke bottle. The 18-year-old Eldridge towered over most of the Giants players — Joc Pederson joked that just after seeing him, the high schooler has “light tower power” — and set up shop in his own ceremonial locker in the Giants’ clubhouse.
Eldridge talked hitting with Brandon Crawford, introduced himself to Barry Bonds and took a photo with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Luciano, 21, donned studded earrings and a gold chain necklace as he projected a calm excitement to inquiring reporters at his locker.
For a team that has lost six of its last seven games, scoring 11 total runs in that stretch, any sort of excitement is welcome.
“Hopefully he can come in and be a little spark plug for us,” veteran infielder J.D. Davis said of Luciano, who’s starting at shortstop and hitting eighth against the A’s.
“I think there’s enough exciting things going on at the ballpark today to give us a little adrenaline and push us through,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.
Luciano found out he was getting promoted to the big leagues around 9 p.m. Tuesday night when Sacramento River Cats fundamentals coach Jolbert Cabrera called him down to the hotel lobby. Luciano said he only concentrates on what he can control and isn’t the type to get thrown off guard, but a call-up after only six Triple-A games was somewhat shocking.
The shortstop texted his family back home — his parents plan on coming to San Francisco for the weekend series — and couldn’t contain his excitement. He got about two hours of sleep.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Luciano said. “It became a reality when I stepped in this clubhouse but last night I was trying to go to sleep and I just couldn’t believe it.”
The Giants promoted Luciano up because they have a clear need for a middle infielder. Crawford is on track to return from the injured list on Friday and Thairo Estrada is still weeks away from being fully recovered from his fractured hands. SF’s fill-ins, Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely, have been largely offensive liabilities.
So the Giants are giving Luciano a chance, showing the type of urgency the situation calls for. The club is hitting .154 over the past seven games. Luciano, who smoked three balls over 108 mph in Albuquerque on Tuesday night and clobbered batting practice balls, is as good a candidate to lift the offense as any at Triple-A.
The Giants were impressed by Luciano’s improvements defensively when he was working on the back fields in spring training. Once he fully recovered from an offseason back injury, he got red-hot in Double-A Richmond and continued hitting in his week at Triple-A.
The shortstop learned a lot from working with Brandon Crawford in the spring, Luciano said. Crawford won’t still be active whenever Eldridge eventually reaches the bigs, but the veteran already began giving the first-round pick advice.
Eldridge grew up in Virginia rooting for the Washington Nationals. The 18-year-old remembers staying up past his bedtime for the 18-inning NLDS game in 2014 that the Giants squeezed out en route to their third title. It was a disappointing outcome for him at the time, but also a lesson into Giants’ golden age.
“This franchise has so much great history,” Eldridge said. “I couldn’t think of being in a better spot.”
Eldridge, a two-way player, plans on pitching and playing right field for the Giants’ orange team in the Complex League. As the 16th overall pick, he signed for $4 million and has been training in SF’s Papago Park facility ever since.
On Wednesday, the 6-foot-7, 223-pound teenager was unsuccessful in his quest to hit a batting practice homer into McCovey Cove, but did clear the fences multiple times in front of several family members.
“A few weeks ago, I thought I had the best day of my life,” Eldridge said. “But today, being able get this whole experience to get on the field, to talk hitting with Brandon Crawford and Sabol, it’s a dream come true. Shook hands with Barry Bonds earlier. This has been the most wild two weeks of my life that I worked my whole life for. It’s pretty sweet.”
Eldridge and Luciano provided as stark a vibe shift for the Giants as possible before Wednesday’s game. Before a much-needed day off Thursday, they’ll need a spark on the diamond for real results.
- Both Crawford and Estrada went through pregame workouts on the field, a promising sign for both infielders. Given Wisely and Schmitt’s prolonged struggles, it’s possible that they could return to a middle infield mix that includes them and Luciano. The biggest factor in that will be how Luciano performs in the coming days.
- Outfielder Mitch Haniger got clean results on his X-rays, meaning he will start baseball activity immediately. He’s on the 60-day injured list with a fractured right forearm.
- Righty Ryan Walker is starting as the Giants’ opener, with Alex Wood likely coming in as the bulk option. Walker is stretched out to provide multiple innings if he’s effective.
With Walker, Schmitt, Luciano, Luis Matos, and Patrick Bailey, the bulk of the Giants’ lineup is comprised of rookies.
I think the best thing that can happen for us as a team is to get our Major League veterans playing the best possible baseball they can play, having some of these younger players…continue their development,” Kapler said. “That’s the best way to be a good baseball team, so we just stay pretty focused on that right now.”
