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Where Giants' Josuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernández are on The Athletic's updated list
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- Where Giants' Josuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernández are on The Athletic's updated list
Where Giants' Josuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernández are on The Athletic's updated list originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
While the Giants aren't having much success this season, the organization's minor league system is thriving.
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Two of the headliners down on the farm are shortstops Josuar Gonzalez and Luis Hernández , both of whom are playing in the Arizona Complex League.
As the minor-league season approaches the two-month mark, prospect evaluators are updating their rankings, and there's a split on whether Gonzalez or Hernández currently is the better player.
Gonzalez got the nod in The Athletic writer Keith Law's updated Top 50 prospects , which was released Thursday.
The 18-year-old shortstop is the No. 7 prospect in baseball, per Law, while Hernández is No. 39.
"Through 13 games — yes, it's a tiny sample — Gonzalez is hitting .421/.551/.658 with more walks than strikeouts in the Arizona Complex League, where I doubt he spends too much more time," Law wrote. "The comparisons to Francisco Lindor just keep coming; he's a switch-hitter, a 70 defender at short, has real plate discipline, flashes power, just needs to play more and probably do so against better pitching. He could easily be the No. 1 prospect in January."
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Law had Gonzalez ranked at No. 38 entering the 2026 season, so the Dominican Republic native has made quite a jump in just 13 ACL games.
Hernández signed with the Giants in January and wasn't ranked by Law entering the season, but a red-hot start in Arizona has him climbing up prospect rankings.
"The youngest player on this list, Hernández signed in January and is already hitting .328/.395/.642 in 17 games in the Arizona Complex League as a 17-year-old," Law wrote. "He's very different from Josuar Gonzalez, his teammate in the ACL, even though they're both elite shortstop prospects; Hernández is smaller, more physically developed, and less flashy, but still a capable shortstop and a very advanced hitter for his age in almost every way. He's more likely to move off short for Gonzalez at some point, probably to third base, with the hit/power tools to profile as at least a 55 there or at second."
To show how high Law is on the pair of Giants shortstop prospects, Baseball America ranked Gonzalez at No. 19 and Hernández at No. 82 on their updated top 100 list on May 8.
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Law also has 2025 first-round draft pick Gavin Kilen ranked at No. 48.
"The Giants' 2025 first-round pick is up to .311/.374/.466 for High-A Eugene with just a 14.5 percent strikeout rate," Law wrote. "He's getting back to his pre-draft self of making a lot of hard contact now that he's recovered from a bone bruise in his hip. He's playing shortstop but isn't going to stick there, probably moving to second base. I'm most sanguine about his chances to continue hitting for high averages given his contact skills and tendency to put the ball in the air."
Jhonny Level is tearing up the California League but he didn't make Law's updated Top 50 ranking, though the 19-year-old made the short list of players who could be included in the next version.
The big-league club is struggling, but the future appears to be bright for the Giants.
