2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 33

The start of the 2023 MLB season is right around the corner, which means we must be nearing the end of the 2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List. And indeed, we have 32 names in the books, with just a dozen remaining until we’ve successfully ranked the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization.

Coming in at No. 32 is right-handed pitcher Randy Rodriguez, who falls 10 spots from his placement at No. 22 in last year’s CPL.

Rodriguez entered last season with a lot of momentum after a dominant 2021 in Low-A San Jose resulted in being added to the 40-man roster as a Rule 5 protection. He cooled off a bit in 2022, but the Giants still showed their trust in him by moving him quickly through the system.

The righty, who turned 23 at the end of the season, started the year with High-A Eugene, where he had 3.38 ERA and a 4.10 FIP. Despite projecting as a reliever, the Giants used Rodriguez in a starting role a bit in Eugene — 13 of his 16 appearances were starts, and six of them lasted at least four innings.

He was promoted to AA Richmond right around the All-Star break, and only made six appearances totaling 10 innings there. The numbers weren’t good — he had a 6.30 ERA and a 5.21 FIP — but the 19 strikeouts he racked up earned him another promotion.

Rodriguez ended the year with AAA Sacramento, where he got rocked in five appearances and six innings.

He remains an exciting prospect with a killer fastball/slider pairing, but there are a few warning signs. Across three levels last year, he walked 43 batters (and hit 12 more) in just 66.2 innings. It’s telling that the Giants chose to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft a little over a year ago, but it’s also telling that he was the first player on the 40-man roster to be optioned in Spring Training this year.

We’ll see how his 2023 goes. One would certainly expect it to include an MLB debut.

Now on 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
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

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

On to No. 33!

No. 33 prospect nominees

Brett Auerbach — 24.6-year old C/UTIL, 94 wRC+ in AA (425 PA)
Jose Cruz — 22.9-year old RHP, 3.10 FIP in Low-A (51.2 IP)
Gerelmi Maldonado — 19.2-year old RHP, 3.86 FIP in the ACL (39.2 IP)
Blake Sabol — 25.1-year old C/UTIL, 157 wRC+ in AAA (101 PA), 124 wRC+ in AA (412 PA)
Brett Wisely — 23.9-year old SS/2B, 52 wRC+ in AAA (23 PA), 121 wRC+ in AA (500 PA)

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!