Giants send Luciano back to Triple-A, promote prospect McCray originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Marco Luciano’s yo-yo season in MLB in 2024 continued on Wednesday when the Giants sent him back to Triple-A Sacramento.
Outfield prospect Grant McCray has been promoted from Triple-A. The 23-year-old will make his MLB debut against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night at Oracle Park. He will play center field and bat ninth against right-handed pitcher Grant Holmes.
Luciano was recalled after the Giants traded designated hitter Jorge Soler to the Braves before the July 30 MLB trade deadline. The 22-year-old infielder has appeared in seven games — six starts — since returning to San Francisco but has gone 4-for-21 in that span.
Luciano’s defensive struggles at shortstop, combined with the emergence of Tyler Fitzgerald, have left the top infield prospect starting only as a designated hitter in the six games since July 30.
This season, Luciano is averaging .289/.333/.400 with three doubles, one triple, one RBI and 14 strikeouts in 17 MLB games.
Luciano was slated to be the Giants’ Opening Day starting shortstop in 2024, but he lost out in spring training competition to veteran Nick Ahmed. San Francisco eventually called up the Dominican Republic native on May 14, but he ended up on the injured list in late May with a hamstring injury.
When he was fit again in mid-June, Luciano was activated and sent to Triple-A, where he remained until his recall following the Soler trade.
McCray, the Giants’ third-round draft pick in 2019, came out of Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton, Florida. He’s having a stellar 2022 minor league season, slashing .289/.383/.514 with 23 doubles, 23 home runs, 79 RBI and 43 stolen bases in 120 games between Low-A San Jose and High-A Eugene.
This season, McCray is hitting .242/.330/.446 with 26 doubles, 12 homers and 52 RBI in 97 games between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento.
THIS MAN.
McCRAY BOMB.
We’re here for all the opposite Grant McCray. Sac leads 10-5 on his sixth Triple-A home run of the year. photo.twitter.com/Upc3pQadfr
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 12, 2024
McCray is currently the Giants’ No. 11 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, but he peaked at No. 3 and finished the 2023 season, behind only left-handed pitchers Kyle Harrison (No. 1) and Luciano (No. 2).
McCray and Fitzgerald were selected in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, by the Giants in 2019. Now they are teammates in San Francisco.
“It’s pretty cool,” McCray told reporters in San Francisco before Wednesday’s game. “We had the COVID year right after we got drafted, so that hurt both of us just because we got it. But we both worked really hard to get here and I’m really excited to be one of the second guys to make it to the big leagues from our draft class.”
For now, Luciano and McCray are swapping places, hoping McCray can give them some support during a crucial series of matches.
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