2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 26

The 2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List is humming right along, and we’ve hit the quarter century mark as we seek to list the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization.

Coming in at No. 25 is right-handed pitcher Will Bednar, who tumbles 17 spots after being ranked No. 8 in his inaugural CPL last year.

It was an odd and disappointing season for Bednar, the team’s first-round pick in 2021. Despite being seen as a player who could be fast-tracked when he was drafted, Bednar failed to make it out of Low-A San Jose. The culprits? An injury and awful performance. Are they related? Hopefully we’ll find out this year.

Bednar, who turns 23 in June, pitched just 43 innings in 2022, with concerning numbers: a 4.19 ERA, a 6.26 FIP, and a whopping 7 home runs allowed. Perhaps most concerning was the command: not only did he walk 22 batters in those 43 innings, but he hit 12 batters, which averaged out to one per start. The strikeout numbers — he had 51 — were not blistering enough to overlook the red flags.

Equally concerning were the scouting reports, which seemed to suggest that Bednar just didn’t have anything special on any of his pitches.

2023 will be a huge year for Bednar. Perhaps he’ll show us why the Giants used a first-round pick on him, or perhaps he’ll fall off our radar entirely.

Now onward we march.

The list so far

1. Kyle Harrison — LHP
2. Marco Luciano — SS
3. Casey Schmitt — 3B
4. Luis Matos — CF
5. Vaun Brown — OF
6. Grant McCray — CF
7. Aeverson Arteaga — SS
8. Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
9. Reggie Crawford — LHP/DH
10. Patrick Bailey — C
11. Mason Black — RHP
12. Heliot Ramos — OF
13. Eric Silva — RHP
14. Jairo Pomares — OF
15. Cole Waites — RHP
16. Keaton Winn — RHP
17. R.J. Dabovich — RHP
18. Tyler Fitzgerald — INF
19. Ryan Murphy — RHP
20. Landen Roupp — RHP
21. Will Wilson — INF
22. Adrian Sugastey — C
23. Trevor McDonald — RHP
24. Tristan Beck — RHP
25. Will Bednar — RHP

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

On to No. 26!

No. 26 prospect nominees

Rayner Arias — 16.9-year old OF, yet to debut
Jose Cruz — 22.8 year old RHP, 3.10 FIP in Low-A (51.2 IP)
Ryan Reckley — 18.5 year old SS, 86 wRC+ in DSL (46 PAs)
Randy Rodriguez — 23.5-year old RHP, 7.52 FIP in AAA (6 IP), 5.21 FIP in AA (10 IP), 4.10 FIP in High-A (50.2 IP)
Nick Swiney — 23.11-year old LHP, 4.11 FIP in High-A (89 IP)

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

Reminder: voting is now in the comments!