Saturday BP: Giants announce Arizona Fall League players

Congratulations, San Francisco Giants fans — you made it to the weekend!

The Minor League Baseball season is wrapping up, but we’re not too far away from the Arizona Fall League season, which begins on October 3. Which means you’ll have eight Giants prospects to keep your eye on even when the normal season concludes.

Rosters for the AFL were announced on Friday and, as usual, the Giants players will be on the Scottsdale Scorpions. Here’s a brief rundown of the eight Giants headed to Arizona, in alphabetical order.

RHP Will Bednar: The organization’s first-round pick (14th overall) in 2021, Bednar had something of a lost season. Injuries limited him to just 12 games, and he really struggled in those games, accruing a 4.19 ERA and a 6.26 FIP for Low-A San Jose, with 51 strikeouts to 22 walks in 43 innings. He struggled with control, as the walk rate is somewhat high and he compounded it by hitting 12 batters. Most concerning about Bednar’s season (other than the injury struggles) is that he just didn’t seem to have any elite pitches.

RHP Hunter Dula: An 18th-round pick in 2021, Dula was a two-way player in college but has worked exclusively as a reliever for the Giants organization. He showed good strikeout stuff this year but, like Bednar, struggled with walks: in 41.2 innings with Low-A San Jose, Dula had 54 strikeouts to 19 walks ... and then walked 7 batters in 4.1 innings in a brief stint with High-A Eugene.

CF Luis Matos: Matos entered the season as the Giants clear-cut second-best position player prospect, and while players like Casey Schmitt, Aeverson Arteaga, and Grant McCray are coming for that throne after stellar years, I think Matos is still that guy in most people’s eyes. But he had a very tough year, finishing with a 73 wRC+ for High-A Eugene. He ended the year on a high night, as he found his groove in the final months of the season, and he won’t turn 21 until late January. The future is still very bright, as his tools are absurd.

RHP Tyler Myrick: Last year’s 14th-round pick had a nice season. He kicked the year off in Low-A San Jose, where he had a 3.38 ERA and a 4.02 FIP as a reliever, striking out 31 hitters and walking 12 in 32 innings. He then pitched nine innings with High-A Eugene, surrendering six hits, four walks, and one earned run, with 10 strikeouts.

C Adrian Sugastey: Sugastey didn’t have the best offensive season, as he had just a 79 wRC+ in Low-A San Jose. But it was just his second season of professional ball, and he won’t turn 20 until halfway through the AFL season. He’s part of long list of Giants catcher prospects who could be very interesting. A list that includes ...

C Andy Thomas: Thomas is a bit older, having turned 24 in June. He came over in the Curt Casali trade, and really struggled with High-A Eugene, sporting just a 62 wRC+. But, in a much larger sample size, he had a 142 wRC+ with the Seattle Mariners High-A affiliate this year prior to the trade.

LHP Carson Whisenhunt: Whisenhunt was the team’s second-round pick in July, and is considered by most prospect analysts to be the Giants top talent from the 2022 draft. In a very tiny sample size, he’s been a strikeout king in the Minors. He had seven strikeouts to just one baserunner allowed in three innings in the ACL, then had seven strikeouts to four hits and a walk in 4.2 innings in Low-A San Jose. He’s yet to allow a run as a professional.

1B Logan Wyatt: Wyatt was the team’s second-round pick in 2019, the first draft of the Farhan Zaidi era. He looked quite good in limited time that year, and then the pandemic hit in 2020. And since then, he’s really, really struggled. Injuries limited his playing time this year, and he was awful when he did play, with a 61 wRC+ in 52 plate appearances in the ACL, and a 39 wRC+ in 53 plate appearances with Low-A San Jose. Wyatt has good strikeout rates but, despite being a first baseman who is built like a home run machine, he has just five homers in 612 plate appearances since turning pro.

In addition to these eight players, the Giants are sending hitting coach Damon Minor and trainer Tim Vigue to the AFL. And they’ll be reunited with an old friend, RHP Ivan Armstrong, whom they traded to the Los Angeles Angels as part of the Tony Watson deal.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants host the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at 6:05 p.m. PT.

Beat LA. Happy weekend, y’all.