So, the San Francisco Giants.

See, the thing about the Giants is …

Well, something you should consider about the Giants is …

OK, it’s possible that I might want a break from the doom and/or gloom. If you want to yell, there’s a spot for you under this article. I don’t blame you. Yell at the front office, manager and me in there. We all deserve it.

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But I’d like to revisit a preseason article about the five under-the-radar prospects I was curious about before the season. How are they doing? And are there prospects I regret not focusing on?

Let’s answer both questions.

His season so far: Wisely got 120 at-bats in the majors this season! He hit .175/.231/.267, though, and by law, I’m required to find a pitcher with a similar slash line. Let’s go with Giants legend Mike Leake. Every time Wisely got to hit, he was like Mike Leake, without the strangely league-average ERA.

There are two ways you can pivot away from that idea, though. The first is what he’s doing in Triple A. Wisely is hitting .296/.428/.500 there, which is impressive for an up-the-middle defensive player, even after accounting for the goofy Pacific Coast League hitting environment. His ratio of walks to strikeouts is almost even, which is an improvement from his Double-A season in the Rays’ organization. He’s still just 24, so this is a good start.

The other, more important way you can ignore his initial MLB struggles is with his defense. Because, holy heck, is it impressive. Here’s a collection of announcers from other teams being impressed with him:

That’s just at second base, too. He can also play center, and the early returns there are that he can hack it. With that kind of versatility, his offensive bar is low. He doesn’t have to rock a .928 OPS in the majors to be valuable. He doesn’t even have to have a .728 OPS to be valuable, depending on the season and the team’s needs.

A future starter? Not sure. Reply hazy, try again.

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A future big leaguer? Pretty sure that he is. Doesn’t have to be with the Giants, but a player with those defensive chops and even a half-baked idea of what to do at the plate is a big deal.

A prospect who would have made me look smarter: Tyler Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald walked 37 times and struck out 171 times for Double-A Richmond last season. He’s walked 37 times and struck out 100 times for Triple-A Sacramento this season (he struck out 22 times and walked nine times in an early-season stint in Richmond). Even without the other numbers, you should be impressed with that kind of progress. Guy strikes out too much, organization is concerned, guy strikes out less at a higher level. If you’re mad about the Paul DeJong signing, it’s likely because you thought Fitzgerald should have gotten a shot.

You’re not wrong.

Hayden Birdsong — RHP

I’m not sure when you’re going to see Birdsong in the majors. Might be next year. Might be in 2028. But you’re going to see Birdsong in the majors.

All we knew going into this season was that Birdsong had some really, really impressive video evidence that he could really spin the ol’ horsehide. He pitched only 11 innings in his professional debut last season, but it was still an open question as to how he’d adjust to the minors.

A few months later, he’s in Double A. He dominated A-ball, albeit with imperfect command, and now he’s in the upper minors. Anyone in Double A is a hop-skip-and-an-injury away from the 40-man roster, and while it’s unlikely that he will make his major-league debut next season, he’s not that far away. Not bad for a kid from Eastern Illinois who was pitching against Tarleton State last year.

A prospect who would have made me look smarter: Mason Black

It’s hard to find a pitching prospect with as much helium as Birdsong, but Black should be in the majors quicker, and he’s having a fantastic season split between Double A and Triple A. Will he get a chance to pitch five innings or more? That’s something to drive you nutty with at a later date. For now, he’s throwing the heck out of the ball and should be a part of the short-term plans.

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My preseason writeup, condensed: It means something that Sugastey was charged with the responsibility to manage a Low-A San Jose staff with much older pitchers. If only he could hit for average or power.

This season: Sugastey is in High A and hitting .298, with a career high in extra-base hits. His complete slash line is .298/.333/.423, and he’s still just 20. I’m a fan. You should be a fan, too.

Again, I don’t know if Sugatstey will anchor a team for 20 years or be a steady backup for a couple of years, but I’m fairly certain this kind of skill set will play in the majors. He does the hard parts well, while doing the easier (still hard) parts well enough, while being much younger than almost everyone he plays against. It’s a good thing that I don’t make prospect rankings every year because I’d probably put Sugastey in my top five, and all that would be in the blurb is “FIGHT ME” in 40-point font.

A prospect who would have made me look smarter: Patrick Bailey

It’s at this point that I should confess that there’s no “Patrick Bailey is the future of the franchise” article in my archive. I would have traded him for Hunter Renfroe last December. There’s nothing I can say to talk my way out of that kind of ignorance. I’m just making this stuff up as I go along. Please respect my privacy at this time.

It’s been a rough, injury-flecked year for Zwack. He’s holding left-handed hitters below the Mendoza Line, and he’s still striking out more than a batter per inning in Double A, but he’s allowed a Ross Stripling-esque amount of home runs, and his ERA is an ungainly 6.57. Have left arm will travel, but this isn’t the kind of direct path to the majors that a 25-year-old minor leaguer was hoping for.

A prospect who would have made me look smarter: Trevor McDonald

McDonald is a right-handed starter drafted in the 11th round in 2019, and it was a minor coup that the Giants signed him after drafting him that late. He was projected to go in the third or fourth round, with a commitment to his hometown University of South Alabama as leverage. But he decided to go pro, signed an above-slot deal for $800,000, aaaaaand … then there was a pandemic.

The first look fans got at McDonald was in 2021, when he looked like a rusty 20-year-old pitching for one of the first times since high school, which he was. But he missed bats and prevented runs. In 2022, McDonald missed bats and prevented runs. This year, he’s fought through injuries, but he’s been one of the hottest pitchers in baseball recently. Still young, with a tremendous amount of potential.

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Still one of the four best starting pitchers on the Giants staff, but I’ll give up on the quixotic quest to convince everyone. Until next year.

Winn’s minor-league strikeout rate (10.4 K/9 last year) didn’t translate to the majors (5.3 K/9), so he seems unlikely to transform into a top-o’-the rotation starter without further adjustments. But if not for his sore elbow in June, he would have been a much bigger part of the 2023 Giants’ story. As our good friend Roger Munter notes, he still throws harder than almost … anybody in the system? Seems like a big deal, especially when you take his already developed, plus splitter into account.

A prospect who would have made me look smarter: Kai-Wei Teng

Winn was a strong pick to click, but Kai-Wei Teng, the last remaining piece of the Sam Dyson trade, is having a monster season between Double A and Triple A. He has a major-league breaking ball and fastball, but all he’s missing is major-league command, which has been getting better. He walked just 3.8 batters per nine innings in Double A, after walking 5.6 per nine there last year, and he has a 4.92 BB/9 in Triple A. He still has a way to go, but it wouldn’t be unthinkable to see him in the majors next year, on a similar developmental path to Winn, especially since he has to be added to the 40-man roster this year to keep him away from the Rule 5 Draft.

Remember Teng’s name, but don’t forget about Winn so soon. He’s thrown just five innings in the majors since the Fourth of July, but he looks like a legitimate major-league starter. I remember when the Giants were convinced that Logan Webb was a prospect who deserved top-100 consideration, and they were right. I’m not that convinced about Winn, but I’m pretty convinced. He can pitch.

(Photo of Brett Wisely: Rick Scuteri / USA Today)