2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 20

Jan 30, 2023 - 6:38 PM

We’re only one name away from having a list of the top 20 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization, as we can put a bow on chapter 19 of the 2023 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List.

Coming in at No. 19 is one of the breakout stars of 2021, who had a bit of a rough go in 2022: right-handed starting pitcher Ryan Murphy.

Murphy was the fifth and final Giants draft pick in the truncated 2020 MLB Draft. As a Division II pitcher, he wasn’t on many draft analyst’s radars going into the short draft, and was largely seen as a cheap pick that would help facilitate the overslot signing of Kyle Harrison ... and indeed, Murphy signed for just $22,500, a small fraction of the $379,000 slot value.

But Murphy — who turned 23 in October — burst on the scene in 2021 by dominating Low and High-A batters, and finishing with 164 strikeouts to 26 walks in 107.1 innings. Suddenly he was on everyone’s radar, and was ranked No. 13 in our CPL last year.

He was a player to watch going into 2022, but unfortunately dealt with back issues that limited him to just 42.1 innings, with multiple stops and starts. He again performed well with High-A Eugene, sporting a 2.90 ERA, a 2.31 FIP, and 47 strikeouts to 12 walks in 31 innings, but he didn’t look good in a pair of starts with AA Richmond.

Murphy enters 2023 with two major questions marks: is he healthy, and was the decreased performance in Richmond due to the injury, or due to struggling against more advanced hitters? We’ll soon find out.

Now on we march, and we have some new names to choose from.

The list so far

1. Kyle Harrison — LHP
2. Marco Luciano — SS
3. Casey Schmitt — 3B
4. Luis Matos — CF
5. Vaun Brown — OF
6. Grant McCray — CF
7. Aeverson Arteaga — SS
8. Carson Whisenhunt — LHP
9. Reggie Crawford — LHP/DH
10. Patrick Bailey — C
11. Mason Black — RHP
12. Heliot Ramos — OF
13. Eric Silva — RHP
14. Jairo Pomares — OF
15. Cole Waites — RHP
16. Keaton Winn — RHP
17. R.J. Dabovich — RHP
18. Tyler Fitzgerald — INF
19. Ryan Murphy — RHP

Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.

On to No. 20!

No. 20 prospect nominees

Rayner Arias — 16.9-year old OF, yet to debut
Tristan Beck — 26.7-year old RHP, 4.28 FIP in AAA (97.1 IP), 3.34 FIP in AA (14 IP)
Will Bednar — 22.7-year old RHP, 6.26 FIP in Low-A (43 IP)
Trevor McDonald — 21.11-year old RHP, 3.30 FIP in High-A (11 IP), 3.74 FIP in Low-A (90.1 IP)
Landen Roupp — 24.4-year old RHP, 3.79 FIP in AA (26.1 IP), 1.68 FIP in High-A (32.1 IP), 3.02 FIP in Low-A (48.2 IP)
Adrian Sugastey — 20.3-year old C, 79 wRC+ in Low-A (340 PAs)
Will Wilson — 24.6-year old INF, 25 wRC+ in AAA (36 PAs), 109 wRC+ in AA (219 PAs)

Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page.

Reminder: voting is now in the comments!