The San Francisco Giants have once again decided to make a change to Marco Luciano and his path to playing time in the big leagues. Coming into the season, it appeared that the long-time prospect all but had the shortstop job locked up. He ended up losing it to Nick Ahmed and then eventually Tyler FItzgerald. After changing positions and getting very little playing time in the Big Leagues, he’s on his way to another position change.
According to Maria Guardado, MLB.com’s Giants beat writer, Luciano is being sent to Arizona to begin working in the outfield. It is his second position change of this season.
It’s become clear over the course of the season that San Francisco doesn’t know what to do with Luciano. In fact, The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee even called it “confusion.”
“Remarkably, though, the Giants are even more confused about what to do with Luciano than they were before the season started. And they were plenty confused about what to do with him before the season started. It’s hard to invent a goofier timeline for a player who’s been a top-50 prospect before each of the last five seasons,” he said.
It became clear, at a certain point, that the 23-year-old wouldn’t be the shortstop of the future. He struggled too much defensively, which is why he was moved to second base in the minors. He continued to hit well and was eventually called back up, but it was all for naught.
He was called up in September and, again, did not get the playing time to prove himself. Now, he is going to be sent back to the minor leagues to change positions for the second time this season.
With the Giants outlook in the outfield for next year, he may also struggle to get playing time there. Even with Michael Conforto hitting free agency, Jung Hoo Lee will return, Heliot Ramos has proven himself as an everyday player and Mike Yastrzemski will get a lot of reps once again.
It’s never a bad thing to give a player another tool in his bag. Although he’s not an elite defender, the ability to have him play multiple positions could be valuable. However, the team has yet to commit any sort of real playing time to him, meaning he hasn’t had the chance to grow and work the kinks out on the big stage.
This situation is beginning to look eerily similar to another former top prospect, Joey Bart. That’s not to say that a trade is imminent, but the lack of committing to a young, talented player is the same as it was with Bart.
Luciano will now go work on his outfield chops, and will have a chance to earn a role in Spring Training, should he improve his defense.
