SF Giants Mailbag: Marco Luciano's Spring Struggles - Cause for Concern?

Marco Luciano came into spring training as the San Francisco Giants' presumptive Opening Day shortstop. A couple of weeks into games and the thinking may start to be shifting. Luciano has struck out in over 50% of his plate appearances, which is a continuation of a high-strikeout tendency Luciano displayed in the SF Giants' Triple-A and major league levels in 2023. With veteran Gold Glove winner Nick Ahmed in camp, in addition to other shortstop options like Tyler Fitzgerald, Casey Schmitt, and others, it's certainly possible that the Giant send Luciano to Triple-A to start the season where he can look to get hot and eventually claim a starting role in the majors. There's no reason for the Giants to rush the 22-year-old Marco Luciano.

Among the other questions asked and answered on today's mailbag edition of the Locked On Giants podcast:

What do you think Casey Schmitt’s future looks like now with Matt Chapman signing and a logjam at SS? Do you think they’ll keep him around for when/if Chapman opts out or is he on the trade table?

How come Joey Bart hasn’t been traded yet? Can the Giants package J.D. Davis and Bart and get something back? It would be nice to sign Blake Snell and then get Bart and Davis off the books.

Any Pablo Sandoval sightings? Haven’t heard of any AB’s

What are we going to do about the pitching dilemma? We need to add two starters in my opinion. Snell/Jordan Montgomery and a starter via trade (Jesus Luzardo, Shane Bieber, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert)

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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

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