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Richmond Flying Squirrels roster features plenty of future San Francisco Giants starpower

Chris Graham

richmond flying squirrels Nine of the top 30 prospects in the San Francisco Giants farm system are in Richmond this spring.

The two top-rated Squirrels – shortstop Marco Luciano, the #2 prospect in the system, according to MLB.com, and outfielder Vaun Brown, the #5 Giants prospect – are currently on the injured list.

Luciano suffered a stress fracture in his lower black playing winter ball in the Dominican League and is in extended spring training as he finishes his recovery.

Brown is recovering from minor knee surgery.

Centerfielder Luis Matos, the system’s #7 prospect, is slashing .294/.410/.431 in his first season in Double-A, after a .211/.275/.344 line with 11 homers in High-A in Eugene in 2022.

Catcher Patrick Bailey, the #11 prospect in the organization, the 13th pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of NC State, is hitting .340/.411/.440 in his first year at the Double-A level.

Bailey slashed .225/.342/.419 with 12 homers last year in High-A.

The rest of the prospect haul is on the mound, led by Mason Black, a righthander who is the #10 prospect in the Giants’ system.

Black, a third-round pick from Lehigh in 2021, was 6-4 with a 3.21 ERA in 24 starts in Low-A and High-A in 2022, with 136 strikeouts in 112 innings.

Black is 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA in three starts in Richmond in 2023.

Landen Roupp, a 12th-round pick out of UNC-Wilmington in 2021, threw three scoreless innings in his only appearance to date in Richmond in 2023. The righthander was 10-3 with a 2.60 ERA in Low-A and High-A in 2022, with 152 strikeouts in 107 1/3 innings.

Carson Seymour, the #17 Giants’ prospect, was 7-8 with a 3.08 ERA in Low-A and High-A in 2022, with 135 strikeouts in 111 innings.

Seymour, a righthander who was a sixth-round pick of the New York Mets in 2021, is 0-1 with a 4.63 ERA in three starts in Richmond in 2023.

Randy Rodriguez, the system’s #26 prospect, is back in Richmond after pitching five games at the Triple-A level in Sacramento in 2022.

The righthander was 2-5 with a 4.46 ERA in 27 appearances, 13 of them starts, all at the High-A level, in 2022, with 97 Ks in 66 2/3 innings.

The Giants are trying to transition Rodriguez into a full-time bullpen guy. All five of his appearances in 2023 have been in relief.

Ryan Murphy is the final guy on our list here, as the organization’s #28 prospect. A fifth-round pick out of Le Moyne in 2020, Murphy went all the way from Rookie ball to Double-A last season, finishing 2022 with a 2-1 record and 4.68 ERA in 11 appearances, nine of them starts, and 57 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.

Murphy has made four appearances in Richmond in 2023, two starts and two out of the pen, with a 1-0 record, 5.93 ERA, and 14 Ks in 13 2/3 innings.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].