2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 38

The start of the 2023 MLB season is right around the corner, and so is the end of the 2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List, our project in which we rank the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization. We have only seven chapters remaining.

Coming in at No. 37 on the list is outfielder P.J. Hilson, who returns to the CPL after falling off of it for the last two years ... but in 2020, he was right here at No. 37!

Hilson, who will turn 23 towards the end of the upcoming season, was a sixth-round pick in 2018. After having mediocre numbers in rookie ball in 2018, 2019, and 2021, the hyper-athletic Hilson had a breakout campaign in 2022, hitting .295/.381/.563 in the Arizona Complex League, good for a 151 wRC+. He bumped up his power considerably, with nine dingers in 210 plate appearances, after just six home runs in his first three years.

That earned him a late promotion to Low-A San Jose, where he continued to shine, hitting .375/.400/.550 (138 wRC+) with two more home runs in 45 plate appearances. He also stole 15 bases across the two levels.

Did Hilson unlock something in 2022, or was it just an outlier year? He’s worth watching in 2023 so that we can find out.

Now it’s on to add another name, and we have more players to choose from.

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
26. Nick Swiney — LHP
27. Rayner Arias — OF
28. Carson Seymour — RHP
29. Hunter Bishop — OF
30. Sean Hjelle — RHP
31. Ryan Reckley — SS
32. Randy Rodriguez — RHP
33. Brett Wisely — INF
34. Blake Sabol — C
35. Jose Cruz — RHP
36. Hayden Birdsong — RHP
37. P.J. Hilson — OF

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

On to No. 38!

No. 38 prospect nominees

Brett Auerbach — 24.6-year old C/UTIL, 94 wRC+ in AA (425 PA)
Ricardo Genovés — 23.10-year old C, 70 wRC+ in AAA (147 PA), 81 wRC+ in AA (203 PA)
Gerelmi Maldonado — 19.2-year old RHP, 3.86 FIP in the ACL (39.2 IP)
Manuel Mercedes — 20.5-year old RHP, 6.26 FIP in Low-A (80.2 IP)
Onil Perez — 20.6-year old C, 102 wRC+ in ACL (171 PA)
Diego Velasquez — 19.5-year old SS, 6 wRC+ in Low-A (47 PA), 106 wRC+ in ACL (190 PA)
Nick Zwack — 24.7-year old LHP, 4.17 FIP in Giants High-A (29.1 IP), 2.65 FIP in Mets High-A (63.2 IP), 1.23 FIP in Mets Low-A (12.2 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!