The 2021 San Francisco Giants face an uphill climb if they plan on competing this year. With the likes of the Dodgers and the Padres, most felt the Giants would be fighting for 3rd place or worse with the Diamondbacks and Rockies. While the Giants payroll won’t compete with the Dodgers and Padres, one positive they do have is youth. Youth in sports sometimes does not pay attention to favoritism, they just go play and compete. Not always is youth considered to be classified as age but can be also construed as experience. The Giants still mixed with veteran presence and clubhouse leaders, this season will exhibit just how good the youth depth is within the organization. Anything is possible, however not probable.
The 40-man roster for the Giants will provide you with some quality insight on some players that potentially could play this year in San Francisco. Injuries and trades will happen throughout the year and the 40-man roster will change, expect it. I will highlight some players on the current 40-man roster who I anticipate will provide an impact this year as well as one other not on the 40-man to keep an eye on.
1. Gregory Santos, RHP
Santos is a high premium arm and one that should have the most impact out of any of the arms in the system. I ranked Santos 12th in my Giants Top 50 Prospects in January and with good reason. Past injuries have limited Santos to only 174.1 IP over the last 4 years and the Giants appear to be preparing him as an RP moving forward. Last year in Instructs, Santos was reportedly touching 98 mph and now this spring at the alternate site, reports have him touching 100 mph. The best friend in an organization that lacks true SP depth is quality bullpen pieces. Santos, promoted to the big leagues this past week, should be a key contributor to the Giants bullpen moving forward.
According to the River Cats, game notes, the A’s alt site squad squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Giants, so Mike Fiers must have pitched well. They noted that Gregory Santos hit 100 mph and Camilio Doval had a 1-2-3 inning.
— Melissa Lockard (@melissalockard) April 11, 2021
2. Camilo Doval, RHP
Doval is another in the line of being a high premium arm who can potentially impact the backend of games in the future. While Doval has shown in the past to be a touch wild, if he can continue to show improvements with his command, the sky is the limit. Striking out 33% of the batters he’s faced in the minors since 2016, Doval showed this past spring he could do it against MLB hitters also. If you’re looking for RP help, keep an eye on him as he was just recently called up.
3. Kervin Castro, RHP
Castro burst onto the scenes with a strong showing in instructs last fall and gained the confidence of his manager, Gabe Kapler. It’s almost becoming a broken record but another high premium arm, Castro possesses a high 90’s FB from an interesting arm slot. He has shown good command in his brief career with a solid 88:26 SO:BB rate in 89.2 IP. There is a lot to like here and not just for this year but for future years.
Look out for Kervin Castro in the years to come 🔜
Listen to the full episode of Giants Talk with @PavlovicNBCS and @cmkuiper here: https://t.co/VQYSi7NEGW pic.twitter.com/0D989CMhvm
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) March 10, 2021
4. Joey Bart, C
Bart made his MLB debut in the shortened 2020 season when the Giants needed catching depth. While it didn’t go as planned for Bart, he did gain some valuable experience and knows what he needs to work on in order to live up to his lofty expectations. While I still like Bart for the future, I think in the short term he may not be needed to produce or to be a major factor in the 2021 season as he continues to develop. Given his high pedigree and ranking amongst experts, you can’t count him out to be a factor, however.
5. Skye Bolt, OF
Bolt was recently claimed off of waivers from Oakland and provides the Giants with more organizational depth. He made his MLB debut in 2019 and produced only 1 hit in 10 AB with the Athletics. Skye should provide more real-life value as he is a quality defender in CF, you could catch lightning in a bottle if he were to get hot for a short time period. Bolt’s best season came in 2018 when he slugged 19 HR and swiped 19 bases.
6. Heliot Ramos, OF
Ramos is not on the 40-man roster and is still likely one year away from making his debut in SF but crazier things have happened. Given the recent success of Ramos if he were to get off to a hot start in the minors this year, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was called up near the end of the year. I don’t think it is likely but still warrants a name to keep an eye on for 2021.
Heliot Ramos is making plays at the Giants alternate training site 👀 pic.twitter.com/1JkgcRuhCi
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 10, 2021
After a strong spring, Heliot Ramos is still raking at the #SFGiants alternate training site. pic.twitter.com/50AuQSO8gi
— William Boor (@wboor) April 7, 2021
My name is Paul Aiton and I’ll be covering the San Francisco Giants prospects. I grew up in Yorktown, Virginia until 2014, where I’ve since been traveling the country the last few years in attempt to chase a dream, working in professional baseball. I played 3 years in college, one season at New River CC and another two at Averett University after a shoulder injury derailed my dreams of playing professionally. Since then, I’ve gone on to coach high school and collegiate baseball. I also worked with Inside Edge Baseball for 5 years while working in their advanced scouting department. Outside of baseball I like to spend my mornings either on a golf course or taking my puppy Ace on hikes through Arizona. You can follow me @Paul_8en on Twitter. I’m always available to talk about Giants prospects, anything fantasy related or baseball!
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Paul Aitonhttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/giants003/
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Paul Aitonhttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/giants003/
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Paul Aitonhttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/giants003/
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Paul Aitonhttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/giants003/
Any comment on Vosler? I know he’s a tad older, but he can take a walk, and Longo isn’t long for this roster.