Who is the No. 32 prospect in the system?
Don’t look now, but pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training is really and truly right around the corner. In less than three weeks, San Francisco Giants will be descending upon Scottsdale, ready for a new season and all the hopes, dreams, and platitudes that come with it. We won’t be done with our Community Prospect List by then, but we’ll be getting fairly close.
We’re into the 30s now, and the next name on the list is someone who is likely in consideration to be a non-roster invitee next month: it’s second baseman Diego Velasquez, who has been named the No. 31 prospect in the system. That’s a drop of 15 spots for Velasquez, who was No. 16 in last year’s CPL.
Velasquez’s fall is less about his 2025 performance, and more about the increasing strength of the system … after all, a full third of the 30 names above him are new to the organization, while a sizable handful are players who weren’t even in consideration for last year’s CPL before breakout campaigns. While the Giants handled those breakouts and welcomed in those newcomers, Velasquez simply held serve with a full season at AA Richmond.
A switch-hitter who was signed out of Venezuela in 2021, Velasquez showed off his outstanding contact skills and control of the zone in 2025 with the Flying Squirrels, as he struck out just 14.3% of the time, while sporting a 12.4% walk rate (for context, those rates were ninth and 24th, respectively, out of the 58 Giants prospects with at least 200 plate appearances last year). Despite the strong contact skills, Velasquez’s batting average took quite a tumble in 2025, which he can’t really afford given his lack of power. He ended the year with a .256/.362/.315 line, for a .677 OPS and a 107 wRC+, while hitting two home runs and stealing 19 bases in 128 games.
It was a bit concerning seeing Velasquez move in the wrong direction statistically, after he ended 2024 with a late season promotion, and posted a .763 OPS and a 127 wRC+ in 42 games with Richmond. But adjustment periods have funny trajectories, and the positive side is that Velasquez remains on the young side. He turned 22 after the season ended, and spent the season playing in the Eastern League, where he was two-and-a-half years younger than his average peer.
One of the notable things about Velasquez’s season was that the Giants finally committed to him having a spot on one side of the bag only. Velasquez had spent most of his prospect career splitting time between second base and shortstop, with evaluators pegging him strictly as a second baseman. Perhaps the Giants took until 2025 to agree, or perhaps it was a logistical matter (Velasquez had a natural shortstop partner in Richmond in Aeverson Arteaga), but he played just one game at the six last year, while manning second base 123 times.
He’s a decent enough defender at second that a path exists for him to make the Majors … albeit a slim path, given his lack of positional versatility and, more damning, his almost complete lack of power. If his profile remains as an all-contact, no-power player, he’ll need everything to go right to have a sustained MLB career. But he is young, so maybe there’s a little extra power hiding in there somewhere.
Given his so-so season, and that the Giants should have Tyler Fitzgerald and Osleivis Basabe manning the middle of the diamond in Sacramento, I’d guess that Velasquez is slated for a return to Richmond in 2026, though a promotion isn’t out of the question. It could prove to be a critical year for him.
Now let’s add to the list! As a reminder, voting now takes place in the comment section.
The list so far
- Bryce Eldridge — 1B
- Josuar González — SS
- Jhonny Level — SS
- Bo Davidson — CF
- Dakota Jordan — CF
- Luis Hernandez — SS
- Gavin Kilen — SS
- Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
- Blade Tidwell — RHP
- Keyner Martinez — RHP
- Jacob Bresnahan — LHP
- Trevor McDonald — RHP
- Argenis Cayama — RHP
- Luis De La Torre — LHP
- Trevor Cohen — OF
- Jesús Rodríguez — C
- Parks Harber — OF/3B
- Carlos Gutierrez — OF
- Drew Cavanaugh — C
- Daniel Susac — C
- Gerelmi Maldonado — RHP
- Josh Bostick — RHP
- Lorenzo Meola — SS/2B
- Will Bednar — RHP
- Yunior Marte — RHP
- Joe Whitman — LHP
- Joel Peguero — RHP
- Alberto Laroche — RHP
- Trent Harris — RHP
- Carlos De La Rosa — LHP
- Diego Velasquez — 2B
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
No. 32 prospect nominees
Maui Ahuna — 23.10-year old SS — .871 OPS/144 wRC+ in High-A (52 PA); .802 OPS/122 wRC+ in Low-A (168 PA); .842 OPS/108 wRC+ in ACL (54 PA)
Rayner Arias — 19.8-year old OF — .173 OPS/-42 wRC+ in Low-A (30 PA); .699 OPS/87 wRC+ in ACL (178 PA)
Reggie Crawford — 25.1-year old LHP — did not pitch in 2025; 1.04 ERA/4.07 FIP in AAA in 2024 (8.2 IP); 4.66 ERA/4.93 FIP in AA in 2024 (9.2 IP)
Lisbel Diaz — 20.6-year old OF — .725 OPS/96 wRC+ in Low-A (561 PA)
Cam Maldonado — 22.2-year old OF — .691 OPS/92 wRC+ in Low-A (71 PA)
Reid Worley — 19.6-year old RHP — yet to debut
Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page. All stats are from the 2025 season.
Category: General Sports
