Marco Luciano admitted he was “totally lost” in the batter’s box last season.
He never became the Giants’ starting shortstop. He never stuck in the majors, period. A year after being Brandon Crawford’s heir apparent, Luciano comes to training camp trying to earn a spot on the bench, as an outfielder.
Luciano to try out a new position
Luciano is in a new position, defensively and organizationally. He has accepted his new reality. Over the next six weeks, he will be tasked with proving that he deserves a spot on the Giants’ Opening Day roster.
“My mental process for this is: I need to do what I have to do,” Luciano said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros. “They have the final say. They will choose the best player they feel is going to help the team. The only thing I can control is my performance in practice and continue to develop here.”
The 23-year-old’s emphasis this spring will be on getting comfortable with left and right field, two positions he has never played in the majors or minors. According to manager Bob Melvin, Luciano’s reps will be predominantly in the outfield. Luciano said he has played in the outfield in the past, but as a professional, he has yet to play a position other than shortstop or second base.
Luciano, who showed his outfielder’s glove to reporters, admitted that he felt “a little uncomfortable” playing in the outfield at the beginning of the offseason, but felt more comfortable as he got more repetitions. After working in the outfield with a coach in the Dominican Republic this winter, Luciano said he plans to learn from his fellow outfielders in camp by making observations and asking questions.
“Mentally, I just have to accept it and move on and do what’s best for the team,” Luciano said. “I was told that changing positions was going to help the team, so that’s what I’m doing.”
Luciano is at a major disadvantage in the competition for the fourth outfield spot because Luis Matos and Grant McCray, who are also competing for the spot, have been outfielders throughout their careers. Given Luciano’s defensive inexperience, there is a good chance he will begin this season with Triple-A Sacramento; Oracle Park is not exactly the easiest place to learn to play left or right field.
Given that Matos and McCray have the defensive edge, Lucaino’s best bet to differentiate himself from the rest is with his bat.
Luciano and his business card
Luciano’s calling card as a prospect was his raw power (as well as his bat speed), but he has yet to unleash that power in the majors. In 41 career games, Luciano has a .217 batting average, a .304 slugging percentage and no home runs. Luciano believes his inability to hit for power last year was a product of not being himself.
“I was doing things I wasn’t normally used to doing,” Luciano said. “It took me a while to identify what I was doing, so I worked on that. I think this year is going to be different because now I understand what I was doing wrong.”
In 384 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento last season, Luciano pulled the ball only 43.5% of the balls he put in play. In the majors, by contrast, Luciano pulled the ball only 20.8% of the time. When asked about his approach to the opposite field, Luciano said he believes he was prioritizing contact because of his struggles rather than trying to hit for power.
Batters generally have more success when they pull the ball (a .360 batting average last season) than when they push it to the opposite field (.291).
Curiously, Luciano has been more successful in his major league career when he pushes the ball (batting average of .500, average exit velocity of 90.4 mph) compared to when he pulls it (batting average of .375, average exit velocity of 87.3 mph). Given the small sample size, Luciano’s early success with an opposite-field approach should be taken with a grain of salt.
Luciano did not modify his swing during the offseason, but he did share that he made some adjustments to make sure he pulls the ball. When asked what specific changes he made, Luciano laughed and said he wants to pull the ball and make sure he hits it.
“What I worked on was trying to find myself, find my swing and find myself,” Luciano said.
“He got a little bit more of an opportunity to play every day, and he did well. He follows the ball. He hits the ball hard on the opposite side. There’s probably a little bit more attraction to his game when he plays every day, but he never got the chance with us,” Melvin said. “I don’t know if we would modify his swing or anything like that. Obviously, we’d like to see a little more power, but when you don’t play very often, it’s hard to do that in the big leagues.”
In theory, winter ball could have provided Luciano with the opportunity to develop his game on both sides of the ball. Matos, who arguably has the best chance of securing the fourth outfield spot, won Rookie of the Year honors in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, batting .300 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs in 55 games.
However, he did not believe he was mentally prepared to play in the winter.
“I just wanted to disconnect a little bit, work on my physique, get in shape and mainly spend time with the family and focus on what I had to do this year,” Luciano said.
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