Giants prospects give back during fall camp
Maria Guardado
@mi_guardadoThis story was excerpted from Maria Guardado¡¯s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Getting to the Majors isn¡¯t easy, but the Giants make that dream feel much more tangible for young prospects by hosting an annual fall camp at Oracle Park.
Every November, the Giants bring approximately 20 Minor Leaguers to San Francisco, where they spend a week training at the waterfront ballpark they hope to call home someday. The players have lockers in the Giants' clubhouse, take batting practice on the field, run across the Golden Gate Bridge and hear from guest speakers such as former outfielder Hunter Pence, allowing them to get a feel for life in the big leagues.
This year's participants included outfielders James Tibbs III (San Francisco¡¯s 2024 first-round pick and No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline), Dakota Jordan (No. 4) and Rayner Arias (No. 5); shortstop Walker Martin (No. 7); and right-hander Carson Ragsdale, who was added to the 40-man roster last week.
¡°It¡¯s been a fairly annual tradition of ours to bring some version of a group of Minor League players to San Francisco and to Oracle Park and get a little bit of an experience of what San Francisco is and experience the ballpark,¡± senior director of player development Kyle Haines said in a phone interview. ¡°That way they¡¯re realizing what their goals are.¡±
The fall camp also gave Giants prospects a chance to give back to the community, as players spent some time volunteering at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, where they packaged groceries for families in need.
¡°It¡¯s just really good for the city to know our Minor League players care and they¡¯re there,¡± Haines said. ¡°And also for our players who maybe are not quite familiar with San Francisco to get some familiarity with the ballpark and the community before they make a big league debut.¡±
Community engagement is also built into the Giants¡¯ culture camp, which allows American prospects to travel to the Dominican Republic for a week-long immersion experience at the organization¡¯s Latin American headquarters in Boca Chica. In addition to exploring Santo Domingo and attending Dominican Winter League games, participants typically volunteer to play soccer and baseball with local disadvantaged children through a non-profit organization called Nuestros Peque?os Hermanos.
The end goal of both camps is to inspire the Giants' prospects to become better on and off the field and set them up for more permanent trips to San Francisco in the future.
¡°You put them in [Oracle Park], the best stadium in all of the big leagues, combined with the beauty of San Francisco and the Bay Area, it energizes them,¡± Haines said. ¡°You see their eyes light up. I think they see it in front of them. Minor League cities are great, but it feels a lot more real to them when they¡¯re there.¡±