Hot-hitting Arroyo heads to San Francisco
The youngest Sacramento River Cat is now the youngest San Francisco Giant.Christian Arroyo, ranked 84th overall by MLB.com, was promoted Monday and was penciled into the starting lineup for his Major League debut against the Dodgers, playing third base and batting sixth.
The youngest Sacramento River Cat is now the youngest San Francisco Giant.
Christian Arroyo, ranked 84th overall by MLB.com, was promoted Monday and was penciled into the starting lineup for his Major League debut against the Dodgers, playing third base and batting sixth.
The 21-year-old shortstop, who entered the season as the eighth-youngest player in the Pacific Coast League, got off to a blazing start with a .446/.478/.692 slash line, three home runs, 12 RBIs and two stolen bases in 69 plate appearances for Triple-A Sacramento. Many scouts believe he'll settle in at the hot corner long-term and that San Francisco is hastening the process.
"Triple-A is a different animal than Double-A," River Cats manager Dave Brundage told MiLB.com. "Going to that next level, you're knocking on the door. There's no doubt about that. [Arroyo] being the youngest on the team, he came here to earn his stripes. Not to say he didn't earn them at Double-A, but that's not quite knocking on the door there.
"Here, it's understanding that the carrot is dangling in front of you, and that's motivation enough. I see him trying to mature, trying to rise to the occasion, but he's still concentrating on each at-bat and not getting ahead of himself. It's been something."
After hitting .274 with three homers and a .689 OPS in 119 games with Double-A Richmond in 2016, San Francisco's 2013 first-round pick earned an invite to Major League Spring Training, where he recorded five hits -- including a home run -- in 20 at-bats and drove in four while stealing a base.
He hit a career-high nine home runs in 2015 with Class A Advanced San Jose in the hitter-friendly California League and Brundage believes Arroyo might be coming into his power stroke.
"Physically, he does a really good job of using his lower half and his legs because he's got a really strong lower half," he said. "He's coming into his own with the bat as he starts knowing who they want him to be. From his standpoint, he's probably most proud that of his three homers, one's gone to center, one to left and one to right. That ability to hit to all fields is huge."
Chris Tripodi is an editor for MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @christripodi.