San Francisco Giants: A guide to optimism in 2019

3. The Future Looks Bright

The Giants may not necessarily have the most accomplished farm system at the moment. In fact, they may just have the least accomplished farm system in all of baseball.

That farm system took a major hit when the Giants two clear-cut top prospects — catcher Joey Bart and centerfielder Heliot Ramos — went down with injuries this past April. Bart was lost to a broken hand in mid-April and should hopefully be back by the end of May or early June while Ramos could be back around that same time after suffering an LCL sprain in his knee less than a week ago.

Now, it’s hard to look at any of that and come away with optimism. By all accounts, the two premier prospects in the Giants organization suffered unfortunate setbacks that will likely prevent any chance they had of reaching the big leagues at some point this season. That’s not exactly an encouraging sign for a struggling organization.

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But what is encouraging, however, is how the duo was playing prior to their unfortunate injuries.

After impressing in Spring Training, Bart was off to a strong start in High-A San Jose posting a .270 AVG, .341 OBP, and eight RBI through just 10 games. His defense has also been particularly strong which is something he has clearly been trying to work on.

Ramos, on the other hand, was also tearing it up in San Jose before his untimely injury. The Giants 2017 first-rounder was hitting .270 and getting on base at a remarkable .422 clip with five homers and 11 RBI through his first 19 games. The on-base percentage is especially encouraging given that he had struggled with his plate discipline to this point.

While it may now be unlikely that we see either Bart or Ramos with the big club at any point this season, that’s perfectly alright. This isn’t a team that is going to compete for a championship this season or even a playoff spot, barring an incredible turn of events. The youthful duo isn’t a part of the current crop of Giants.

They are a part of the future. They are the future.

And despite the minor setbacks in the present, the future still looks very bright.