2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 2

The first chapter of the 2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List is in the books. We’ve voted on one San Francisco Giants prospect ... now we just need to vote on 43 more.

Earning top prospect status in this year’s CPL is left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, who received 67% of the 866 votes — a larger percentage than I was anticipating, to be honest. Harrison, a 21-year old local talent who was taken in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft, was one of the stars of the farm in 2022.

He started the year by debuting for High-A Eugene, where he had a 1.55 ERA and a 1.63 FIP, with 59 strikeouts in just 29 innings. That earned him a quick promotion to AA Richmond, where he had a 3.11 ERA and a 3.74 FIP, with 127 strikeouts in 84 innings. It was one of the most prolific strikeout seasons in Minor League history.

Farhan Zaidi has already confirmed that Harrison will begin 2023 in AAA Sacramento, and that it won’t take very many good starts there before he’s whiffing batters at Oracle Park. It will be a very big disappointment if this isn’t his last CPL.

Harrison rose four spots, after being the No. 5 prospect on last year’s list.

No we move on to No. 2.

The list so far

1. Kyle Harrison — LHP

Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.

On to No. 2!

No. 2 prospect nominees

Vaun Brown — 24.5-year old OF, 189 wRC+ in High-A (195 PAs), 166 wRC+ in Low-A (262 PAs)
Marco Luciano — 21.3-year old SS, 121 wRC+ in High-A (230 PAs)
Luis Matos — 20.10-year old CF, 74 wRC+ in High-A (407 PAs)
Grant McCray — 22.7-year old CF, 131 wRC+ in High-A (62 PAs), 130 wRC+ in Low-A (507 PAs)
Casey Schmitt — 23.9-year old 3B, 144 wRC+ in AA (127 PAs), 132 wRC+ in High-A (383 PAs)

Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page.