![\"Luis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/031026_OFM6845-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 The pop fly began its descent. The Giants\u2019 catcher and first baseman converged underneath it. Neither one called for it. Neither one caught it.<\/p>\n
An inning later, another I-got-it-you-take-it moment: A fly ball dropped between two hesitant Giants outfielders.<\/p>\n
The San Francisco Giants have made far too many mistakes this season, except this time, there weren\u2019t any groans from the stands or admonishments from the broadcast booth. That\u2019s because neither exists at the club\u2019s Papago Park minor-league complex. For the youngest players in the Giants\u2019 farm system, who play games in front of a smattering of scouts and coaches in the Arizona Complex League, mistakes are to be expected. They\u2019re a part of the learning process, not a sign of dysfunction.<\/p>\n
Papago is also the place to be if you\u2019re seeking positive energy around the Giants organization right now. And a lot of that has to do with two teenage infield prospects, Josuar Gonzalez and Luis Hern\u00e1ndez, who are doing something on the field to turn heads almost every day.<\/p>\n
Which teams fared well during MLB Draft Day 1?<\/p>\n
Keith Law<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a joy as a coach to experience two players of that caliber,\u201d said former Giants postseason hero Travis Ishikawa, who transitioned from hitting coach at Low-A San Jose to a complex hitting coordinator role this year. \u201cBeing back at this level after a handful of years, instead of (coaching) college kids, I\u2019m with teenage guys who were my age when I was drafted. And I can honestly say these two are tooled out better than I was. They\u2019ve got a lot of ability. They\u2019re young and they\u2019ve got a long way to go from a development standpoint. But they\u2019re on the right path for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonzalez, 18, was considered the top player in his international class when the Giants signed him for just under $3 million in 2025. Hern\u00e1ndez, 17, also topped most industry prospect lists when the Giants traded for additional pool funds to sign him for a $5 million bonus this past January. It\u2019s almost unheard of for an organization to sign the top player in consecutive years, but Giants international scouting director Joe Salermo pulled it off. If both young shortstops reach their full potential, then the biggest problem might not be how to position them on the infield. It\u2019ll be where to put Salermo\u2019s statue.<\/p>\n
Shortstop is the primary position for both players, but there aren\u2019t too many similarities beyond that.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez is a switch hitter from the Dominican Republic, and his fast-twitch athleticism is the first attribute you notice. His speed and range at shortstop draw comparisons to former New York Mets star Jos\u00e9 Reyes. He has an outgoing personality, and if there\u2019s music in the clubhouse, he\u2019s probably dancing to it.<\/p>\n
Hern\u00e1ndez is a right-handed hitter from Venezuela and displays remarkable polish at the plate, especially considering he\u2019s facing pitchers who are several years older. He\u2019s a fundamentally sound product of the Carlos Guillen academy, and his experience playing in men\u2019s leagues was among the reasons the Giants aggressively started his pro career in Arizona instead of the Dominican Summer League.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey definitely complement each other,\u201d said Quinton McCracken, the former major-league outfielder who is in his first season as the complex coordinator of instruction. \u201cThey get along. They push each other. I recall my time with the Diamondbacks and how Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson pushed each other. They know they have game. They recognize it in each other. So they push each other to be the best versions of themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosuar has an electrifying skill set. As most scouts say, it\u2019s very sexy. Power, speed, athleticism. He\u2019s definitely box-office. He\u2019s a very exciting player. Luis is as cool as they come. Cool, calm, collected. Very mature for their age. The world is their oyster. As long as they keep progressing. They\u2019ll have long big-league careers, in my humble opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
They aren\u2019t doing interviews yet. Giants vice president of player development Randy Winn doesn\u2019t want them to be distracted by media attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, don\u2019t worry,\u201d Giants special assistant Shawon Dunston said. \u201cYou\u2019ll be talking to them soon. Everybody will.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the time being, it seems as if everyone in player development is offering a helping hand. Dunston, who played shortstop for 18 major-league seasons, is among the coaches who work with the infielders every day at the complex. Former Giants second baseman and World Series champion Joe Panik, now a roving infield coach, has spent a lot of time at the complex this season. Mike Sarbaugh, who has served as a major-league base coach with the Cleveland Indians\/Guardians and New York Mets, is the newly hired minor-league infield coordinator whose experience includes coaching players like Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez and Francisco Lindor when they were rising prospects.<\/p>\n
In a game earlier this month, Hern\u00e1ndez was playing third base when he reacted to field a hard grounder to his left. He improvised by making a sliding stop, spinning around on his knee and throwing on target to first base.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex, you see that?\u201d said Dunston, shouting to Alexandria Rigoli, the Giants\u2019 coordinator of minor-league operations. \u201cPanik taught him that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gonna be smiling when he sees that,\u201d Rigoli replied.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Luis Hern\u00e1ndez has split time between shortstop and third base in the Arizona Complex League. (Brad Martens \/ San Francisco Giants)<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how personally invested the Giants\u2019 player development staff is in this pair of infield prospects. Panik could be roving to Double-A Richmond or High-A Eugene. He\u2019ll still make time after the workday is over to pull up his laptop in his hotel room and watch the feed from the complex.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is kind of the Giants way now,\u201d Panik said. \u201cIt\u2019s been so positive on our end. And the players are the ones buying into everything we\u2019re preaching. Even when I\u2019m not out and about, I catch all the games on milb.tv, reviewing film. That\u2019s what I love.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey both have body awareness and move well in space. Right now it\u2019s making sure you get consistent with the boring stuff and the routine stuff \u2014 backhand, forehand, glove hand. And there\u2019s the internal clock all infielders have to get. That comes with repetitions. Both of them are ahead of schedule in that sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, when you talk about Luis and Josuar, I don\u2019t know where to start. They\u2019re both similar in that they can change the game offensively or defensively. Josuar is more electric but both guys are ahead of their time. When you look at Luis, you don\u2019t see a 17-year-old ballplayer. You\u2019d think from a maturity standpoint that he\u2019s years older.\u201d<\/p>\n
When they\u2019ve been on the field at the same time, they\u2019ll alternate to other infield positions. Gonzalez has played some second base. Hern\u00e1ndez has played a fair amount of third base. The only bummer is that they haven\u2019t gotten as much time together as the Giants had hoped because Gonzalez has dealt with a balky hamstring since spring training.<\/p>\n
If Gonzalez can stay on the field, there\u2019s an excellent chance that both young players will finish their season with a promotion to Low-A San Jose, where they are sure to be box-office draws as well as assets on the field for an affiliate that already clinched a postseason berth by winning the first-half title in the California League.<\/p>\n
Giants farm director Kyle Haines said he is satisfied with the progress both players have made thus far.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosuar\u2019s injuries have been a little disappointing, just because it\u2019s limited his exposure to situations and game awareness training, but when he\u2019s in the game, he\u2019s played as well as we could have expected,\u201d Haines said. \u201cHe\u2019s growing every time he takes the field. It gets a little better, learning something new, showing the world what he can do.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then Luis, considering the guy skipped the DSL in his first professional action here, I couldn\u2019t have asked for more from him \u2014 not just in the games, but also the training sessions from both guys. They take their training seriously. Our training environments are pretty intense inside the cages and the ground balls. They\u2019ve embraced it all and taken it in and challenged each other. All of these infielders have embraced a culture of hard work before the game, and then that\u2019s reflected well during the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most encouraging part for complex fundamentals coach Joel Johnson is that he never has to spend a minute motivating either young player.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other day I was feeding the machine for some ground balls and talking to someone at the same time, and Louie kind of looked at me, like, \u2018You need to focus right now,’\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBut he\u2019s laughing, right? It\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s go.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cLuis is just very disciplined and dedicated. He\u2019s had some really good people in his corner to explain what this process looks like and how you pave your way. He\u2019s extremely professional. He knows how to talk to people already. He\u2019s working through some English, and he\u2019s learning very fast. He\u2019s got confidence, but there\u2019s also a lot of humility.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do play off each other well. Josuar\u2019s got nothing but energy and fast twitch. He\u2019s bouncing all over the place, and if you put the right song on, he\u2019s dancing. If you put the wrong song on, he\u2019ll tell you to skip it. What\u2019s cool is they\u2019re both very confident in themselves and confident in their ability to communicate with their teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll work on double plays, and I hate to say this because they\u2019re so young, but it ends up coaching itself a little bit. They start talking through what they\u2019re seeing. So I end up being just a sounding board as they work through it. They see the game very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a long day at the complex. International teenagers like Gonzalez and Hern\u00e1ndez are in class three to four days a week learning everything from English to life skills to earning credits toward a high school equivalency degree. After lunch, there\u2019s early work in cages or defensive work in the Giants\u2019 climate-controlled indoor facility. There\u2019s a different defensive focus for each player every day. Then they\u2019re on the field for team defensive work. If it\u2019s a home game, they\u2019ll hit on the field. Then it\u2019s time for the game, with meal breaks before and after, including all the snacks they want. Maybe there\u2019s a postgame lift session in the gym. Then they\u2019re shuttled to their hotel rooms where they are paired up with a roommate \u2014 Josuar and Luis are close but not inseparable and have different roommates \u2014 and the evening is usually all about talking to their families back home and playing video games.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we wake up the next day and do it all over again,\u201d Haines said.<\/p>\n
Ishikawa is among the hitting instructors helping ACL players through what, for many, is their first competitive experience, sometimes against rehabbing pitchers several years older who are coming from the upper minors.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuis is hunting pitches and locations a little more,\u201d Ishikawa said of Hern\u00e1ndez. \u201cHe goes up with a plan, he\u2019s patient at the plate, he works counts. I think a strength is hitting the other way, but he also pulls the hands inside. It\u2019s more of a polished approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Josuar has a completely different approach. He is more of a free swinger. He reminds me of a Pablo (Sandoval) or even a Vlad (Guerrero) Sr. I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a pitch he doesn\u2019t like to swing at, but he also has the ability to hit all pitch types. His chase rate is probably high for this level but he puts the ball in play. He sees the ball and hits it where it\u2019s pitched.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a game earlier this month, Hern\u00e1ndez drove a pitch the opposite way that soared over the right-field fence and might have been fair. It was called foul. Hern\u00e1ndez responded by calmly taking two pitches out of the zone and flipping his bat across foul ground as he accepted his walk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen both of them go the opposite way with power,\u201d Ishikawa said. \u201cAnd we got to see Josuar in the Breakout Game (in March) against a guy who pitched in the big leagues. I mean, Josuar hadn\u2019t had a professional at-bat yet and he held his own. He should be draft-eligible out of high school right now and Luis should be a high school junior. That tells you how good they can be. Not once have they looked overmatched since spring training started.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times players go up (to a full-season affiliate) and they get under the lights, they see fans for the first time and music between innings, and their eyes get bigger. That won\u2019t be an issue for these two.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Ishikawa, the hardest lesson has been teaching them how to count \u2014 in English or Spanish.<\/p>\n
\u201cBatting practice is supposed to be rounds of five, but sometimes they like to take eight or 10,\u201d Ishikawa said with a laugh. \u201cSo we\u2019re constantly counting in English and Spanish. But that\u2019s a good problem to have. They\u2019re very professional around each other. They look like teammates and guys who want to win the baseball game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Papago is about to get a lot busier as newly drafted players, including right-hander Jackson Flora, the fourth player taken in the first round, arrive at the complex in the next few days.<\/p>\n
![\"Luis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/030926_2SM4146-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n The Giants\u2019 Arizona Complex League squad will soon add some newly drafted players. (Brad Martens \/ San Francisco Giants)<\/p>\n
With that wave of talent about to arrive, talk to a range of coaches at the complex and you\u2019re left with the sense that positive energy abounds. Everyone seems to know their roles and be pulling on the same rope. Part of the enthusiasm is undoubtedly the rising level of talent within the system. It\u2019s all combining to create results on the field: Three of the Giants\u2019 four full-season affiliates won first-half titles \u2014 Richmond and Eugene joined San Jose \u2014 and Triple-A Sacramento narrowly missed becoming a fourth, which would have been unprecedented.<\/p>\n
The Giants are also receiving high marks from industry experts for the hitting instruction in the minor leagues under coordinator Mike McCormack, assistant coordinator Jacob Cruz and coordinator of instruction Ed Lucas. Outfielder Dakota Jordan and infielder Gavin Kilen wrapped up strong first halves at Eugene and will be promoted to Richmond after representing the Giants in the All-Star Futures Game.<\/p>\n
For all the ways that Giants president Buster Posey has been challenged and questioned while learning how to be a major-league executive, investing more than half a billion in a veteran core that has been a colossal failure and hiring a college coach, Tony Vitello, who has appeared overwhelmed and disorganized, the development of the farm system might balance the ledger just enough to give him the time he needs to see his vision through.<\/p>\n
In a sense, the Giants demonstrated their confidence in their inventory of position players when they sought to refresh their system on the mound while taking pitchers with three of their four top picks Saturday. No matter how low the major-league club finishes in the standings this year, the Giants won\u2019t be eligible for another top-10 lottery pick next year after they moved up to the No. 4 pick this year. So the organization\u2019s highest-ceiling infield and outfield prospects for the foreseeable future are already in the system.<\/p>\n
Enthusiasm always warrants tempering when you\u2019re talking about 17- and 18-year-old prospects. But with Gonzalez and Hern\u00e1ndez, the Giants are seeing everything they hoped to see at this nascent stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosuar, it was at Salt River when he entered (a major-league spring training) game, and I mean, I was nervous for him,\u201d Haines said. \u201cThe kid never played in front of fans before in his life. It was really Buster who had the idea of, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s give him a taste of what this is like.\u2019 And Luis, I\u2019ve just seen him take over games. He\u2019s the youngest guy on the field, and he\u2019s clearly the best player in the field. He\u2019s had a couple of those moments that stand out to me. You\u2019re just like, \u2018Wow, this guy gets it.\u2019<\/p>\n
Johnson had that same sense about Gonzalez last year when he came over from the Dominican League and worked with newly drafted players in instructional league.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s hacking right away against a draft arm who\u2019s polished \u2014 and then he\u2019s stealing second,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt\u2019s instant energy. He can get to so many balls on the field, throws with backspin and carry. He can throw on the run with a lot of athleticism and still be accurate. That\u2019s where he\u2019s starting to separate himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosuar learns really fast. Every time I have a question for the group, he\u2019s on it. If I tell him something today, he\u2019s on it tomorrow. He asks good questions. And his ability to hit \u2026 shoot, I don\u2019t coach that side of the ball, but him and Louie both \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they\u2019re hitting, you just have to stop and watch. You don\u2019t want to miss it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 The pop fly began its descent. The Giants\u2019 catcher and first baseman converged underneath it.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":800132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,5157,85],"class_list":["post-800131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}