Five Emerging Giants Prospects to Watch in 2024

November 22, 2023 Adam Greene General, Giants, MiLB, NL West 0

Diego Velasquez, San Jose Giants. Photo credit Gail Verderico, @1baseball_gail on Twitter and @baseball_gail on Instagram
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The San Francisco Giants have spent the last few years more in the middle of the pack in terms of both major league and minor league play. The organization made a significant statement last month when they announced the contract extension of President of Baseball Operations, Farhan Zaidi, through 2026. Slowly but surely, he has replenished their minor league system, and the organization has instilled trust in Zaidi and his team to continue doing so. 2024 will mark the beginning of a stretch where some of their best prospects will make their way to San Francisco. The sustainability of prospect depth will be crucial for them, and these are five players who should contribute to that depth with productive seasons in 2024.


Current rankings listed are from our Prospects1500 Giants midseason Top 50 prospects (from this past July).

Diego Velasquez, SS/2B
Last Giants Top 50 Rank – 31

The 2021 International Signing Pool kicked off for San Francisco when they agreed on terms with 11 players out of Venezuela, most of any other country. One of these players was 17-year-old Diego Velasquez, a promising middle infielder with an advanced and versatile hit tool. After he signed for $900,000, the highest bonus in the class, he played almost all of his 2021 and 2022 seasons in the Complex League. He was promoted to Single-A San Jose just in time for the end of the season, and that’s where he’d play his entire 2023 campaign and win the San Jose Giants team MVP.

Velasquez, being a switch hitter with prominent bat-to-ball skills, aimed to display this skill in 2023. He outdid his previous two professional seasons, having by far the best year of his short career. Velasquez slashed .298/.387/.434/.821 with 23 stolen bases, as well as eight home runs. Although not much of a power hitter, any power production San Francisco can get from him should be seen as a bonus. He also demonstrated a much improved ability to lay off pitches down and away and draw walks, something the organization was hoping for when he signed. Velasquez trended as a ground ball hitter but was fortunate to have a relatively high BABIP at .344. With those numbers, it should come as no surprise that he led the Giants’ minor leagues in doubles with 32. With others graduating, it’s not hard to picture him as a top-15 Giants prospect by the end of 2024.

Hayden Birdsong, RHP
Last Giants Top 50 Rank – 25

Drafted in the 6th round of the 2022 First Year Player Draft out of Eastern Illinois University, Birdsong has already blossomed into one of the best young pitching prospects for San Francisco. After pitching in seven games between the Complex League and Single-A last year, he made his full-season debut in 2023, pitching in 28 games across the Giants’ minor leagues. In those appearances, Birdsong achieved a 3.31 ERA in 100.2 IP, a strong and encouraging beginning to his career.

The Giants’ development team was pleased when Birdsong showed increased fastball velocity late in 2022 after officially signing. Since then, he has continued working on his slider, changeup, and curveball to solidify a true four-pitch mix. With an arsenal like his, the potential to become a highly effective major league starter is evident, and he will continue to be stretched as a starter for the foreseeable future.

In 2023, Birdsong’s K/9 was an impressive 13.3, and although his BB/9 was relatively high at 3.9, it was an improvement from his collegiate marks of around four to five. Considering the season Birdsong had, particularly with his success at Single-A, he was recognized as a California League All-Star. He’s expected to spend all of next year in the upper-minors, pitching significant time in Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento, with a good chance of making the Giants’ rotation out of spring training in 2025.

Victor Bericoto, 1B/OF
Last Giants Top 50 Rank – 24

As a 16-year-old, Bericoto signed with San Francisco in January 2018 but didn’t make his debut until 2019 when he played in the Dominican Republic; he made it to the States by the end of August. No minor leagues were held in 2020, so he continued in the Complex League in 2021 and played the entire 2022 season in San Jose. Finally, he made High-A Eugene out of the spring training camp in 2023 and was promoted to Double-A in July amid a fantastic start to his season. Bericoto, a natural-born athlete, hasn’t been tied to any defensive position yet. During his time in High-A and Double-A, he played 24 games at first base and 90 games split between right and left field.

Bericoto’s bat has always been his main draw, but it was truly on display this season when he blasted 27 home runs, leading the Giants’ minor leagues. He also led the system in RBIs with 86. It would be hard to find many players across MiLB who were hitting the ball harder than he was. Bericoto’s exit velocity metrics were some of the highest in the league and easily top 3 in the organization. A strong trait of his that has come a long way since his time playing in the Dominican is his swing. He has been able to adjust it to develop a more effective hit-tool, one less reliant on his power. He is currently playing in the Venezuelan Winter League and will likely start in Double-A Richmond next season. If he gets up to Triple-A sooner rather than later, he could be playing at Oracle Park late next year.

Ben Madison, RHP
Last Giants Top 50 Rank – NR

Central Baptist College produced their only player to ever make it above Single-A with the Giants’ 9th round pick in the 2018 draft. A multi-inning relief pitcher with an electric slider was who they were getting with Madison, but San Fransisco didn’t get to see flashes of his potential until 2023. After a promotion to Single-A at the end of 2019, Madison unfortunately lost two full seasons of baseball, both in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic and Tommy John surgery. The organization played it safe with him, and even as a 24-year-old, they sent Madison back to the Complex League to make five appearances before moving up to San Jose. He was assigned to Eugene last April to begin the season. Following a 16-game stretch over the next two months, during which 13 were scoreless and he allowed just three hits, he was promoted to Double-A in late June.

Madison’s fastball is a decent secondary offering, sitting in the low to mid-90s, but his slider is by far his best pitch. He was able to showcase his skill set in 2023 when the slider’s stuff+ significantly increased. If he can improve his command, there’s a good chance he can contribute to the back end of a major league bullpen. In today’s game, having a reliever who can go multiple innings, as Madison has done, is an invaluable trait. Now 26, Madison is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, making him a potentially high-upside pick for a team seeking someone who can perform in high-leverage situations or bridge the gap to other relievers. If not selected, he should be getting innings for Triple-A Sacramento, where he’s one Giants’ transaction away from MLB. If Madison continues to pitch as he did in 2023, he’ll have a fast ascent to the majors.

Adrian Sugastey, C
Last Giants Top 50 Rank – 39

Signed for $525,000 out of Panama as part of the 2019 International Signing Pool, Sugastey was brought in to help a shallow group of Giants catching prospects. He quickly made his mark, winning the 2021 Complex League batting title in his first professional stint when he hit .358 over 43 games. Sugastey moved to Single-A San Jose and played the majority of 2022 there, and all of 2023 in High-A Eugene. He had to miss some time in August and September with a lingering quadriceps injury but is hopefully ready for spring training camp. In a minor league system where many are overly aggressive, his relaxed hitting approach and contact-over-power-hitting profile have allowed him to stand out.

With a well above league-average .342 wOBA, Sugastey is getting on base efficiently and doing more than just taking walks and beating out weak ground balls. Although he’s not ever going to be hitting the ball super hard, he’s able to go the other way when needed, as well as being a good pull hitter; there’s upside to his ability to drive the ball. As a defensive catcher, Sugastey is still coming into his own. He showed much-improved receiving skills last season, but he’s still looking to throw out more runners on the basepaths. In 2023, he only allowed five passed balls, a much lower total than the two previous years. Sugastey has a good pop time and transfers the ball well. He still has plenty of time to build on his skills behind the plate, simultaneously working on his bat. Avoiding injuries will be important too, so a clean 2024 season should further increase his stock.

Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a Sport Management and Marketing double major at UMass Amherst's Isenberg School of Management. His main focus is sport marketing, where he's already had internships with the local Westfield Starfires and Springfield Thunderbirds. He now writes for the Cape Cod Baseball League. From Longmeadow, MA, Adam is a huge Red Sox fan and has been following the team his whole life. When Covid hit, he started paying a lot more attention to the Red Sox minor league teams, and now, follows them almost as much as the big league squad. Follow him on Twitter at @aj_greene1015 and Instagram at the same handle.

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