On Sunday night, a national audience of millions of people watched the Giants play. They lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 40-0.

Also on Sunday night, a national audience of dozens of people watched the other Giants play. They defeated the Colorado Rockies, 6-3. This national audience was introduced to the strikeout stylings of Keaton Winn and the line-drive potential of Luis Matos. Beating the Rockies in Oracle Park is a little like a major leaguer hitting a home run on a rehab assignment in San Jose, so we can’t read too much into the game or the weekend sweep, but a slice of the San Francisco Giants’ future was on display for the world to see, and it looked pretty darn OK.

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The Giants have had 16 rookies on their active 26-man roster in 2023. Some of them will cause you to miss an answer on a future Sporcle quiz, like Cal Stevenson. Some of them will be a part of the team’s foundation for years to come.

Which of these rookies are entrenched as starters already? Which of them will be riding the Capitol Corridor for the next season or two? Are there any rookies who aren’t even a part of the 2023 plans?

Let’s take a look.

Patrick Bailey is the Giants’ starting catcher and will be for a decade. Next rookie.

Next season, Sabol will have minor-league options. The Giants played the Rule 5 game, and they played it well. Now they have a tall outfielder-catcher hybrid who can hit baseballs extremely hard. Considering how raw and untested he was, Sabol was a gamble that the Giants should feel like has worked for them. We’re talking, like, 80th- or 90th-percentile outcome relative to expectations.

But is he a full-time backup catcher? I’m not so sure. His ability to play the outfield makes it so that the Giants don’t necessarily need to make him the full-time backup, but his value is going to be tethered to his ability to catch, at least for the foreseeable future.

My guess is that he’ll be on the opening-day roster next season, but he won’t be the only catcher after Bailey. And if he slumps, he’ll see the minors for the first time since 2022. It’ll be more helpful to think of him as a prospect, in a way.

For a week, it all made sense. Schmitt was going to be the Giants’ shortstop until 2038. He was going to hit .300 with sporadic homers, and you’d display his bobblehead doll proudly on the mantle.

After that week, though, Schmitt hit like Johnnie LeMaster, and that’s not hyperbole. He’s hit .200/.245/.356 since coming back from Triple-A Sacramento, and while that isolated power is welcome, it’s still nearly impossible to imagine him in an everyday role to start next season.

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On the other hand, J.D. Davis has been awful since the start of July (.645 OPS). He’s improved a lot defensively, but he’s seeming less and less like a long-term option for the Giants. This would allow Schmitt to sneak in as a starter at third if his bat perks up.

Last year at this time, Matos was a project. He hit .313 as a 19-year-old in Low-A San Jose, and the scouting report was something like, “Just imagine if he didn’t swing at everything.” He hit .211 with a .275 OBP as a 20-year-old in High-A Eugene, and the scouting report was something like, “We told you he swings at everything.” He had work to do.

To go from that to the majors in less than a season is already incredible, full stop. He could have finished the season with the .550 OPS in the majors he had when he was sent down, and it still would have been impressive. Except something happened when he was recalled after his demotion. He’s the Matos you were promised, hitting .395 in 40 PA since coming back from Sacramento.

It’s not the raw average that’s the most impressive, though. When it comes to getting ahead in the count, Matos is already elite. Here’s the percentage of pitches seen while ahead in the count, minimum 500 pitches seen:

1. Lars Nootbaar, 33.9 percent
2. J.P. Crawford, 33.3
3. Trevor Larnach, 33.0
4. Aaron Judge, 32.8
5. Juan Soto, 32.7
6. Willie Calhoun, 32.7
7. Brandon Belt, 32.6
8. Luis Matos, 32.4
9. Triston Casas, 32.3
10. Rowdy Tellez, 32.2

Mookie Betts is 11th, with a 32-percent mark, in case you were wondering. And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, Matos gets ahead in the count as often as a Giants legend?”, that’s right. He gets count leverage as often as Willie Calhoun. And also Brandon Belt, I guess.

Calhoun is relevant here because it reminds us that this stat doesn’t automatically predict success. Trevor Larnach is hitting .216 with a .314 OBP for the Twins. Calhoun is barely holding his own for the Yankees. Rowdy Tellez is having the worst season of his career.

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Still, the other names give you an idea of how this stat can be important. These are the hitters who are looking for a pitch to drive. Matos is with them, and again, he’s 21 years old.

He shouldn’t just be on the roster next season, in my opinion. He should be getting the bulk of the playing time at one of the outfield positions, even against right-handers. I’m not sure if that would be exactly what the 2024 team needs, but it’s what the franchise needs overall.

I have more thoughts here, but the quick explanation is that I had no idea he was a Gold Glove-type second baseman. Except he is. That, combined with his two remaining minor-league options after this season, means that he’ll be a possibility for the major-league roster over the next couple of years. If he can hit even a little bit — we’re talking a .750 OPS — he’ll be an absurdly valuable and underrated player. With a strong spring, he’ll be an option for the 26-man roster.

If he can’t hit, even a little bit, he’ll still be someone to have on that Capitol Corridor, especially because of his ability to play the outfield, as well as the infield. He won’t get to take anything for granted until he starts hitting, though.

Boy, this one’s a mystery.

By most metrics, Ramos has turned his career around. Some relevant numbers in Triple A since the start of July:

July: 1.078 OPS, 4.3 K/BB ratio
August: 1.077 OPS, 2.0 K/BB ratio
September: 1.349 OPS, 1.0 K/BB ratio

That’s the kind of progression you want to see. He’s 24 years and four days old, too. He was born in the same year as Brice Turang, a first-rounder from a later draft who made his MLB debut this year. Turang’s a part of the Brewers’ future.

Ramos is buried in Sacramento, though. He’s buried by Austin Slater, a veteran with an unimpeachable history as a pinch-hitter and southpaw slayer. He’s buried by Mitch Haniger, a player with $35.5 million left on his contract who is finally starting to drive the ball regularly. He’s buried by Matos, who is the better prospect for the short and long term.

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With the old expanded September roster rules, he’d be up and helping. As is, I can’t tell if the Giants are keeping him down because of the roster crunch or because they’re not buying his Sacramento improvement.

He still, somehow, has a minor-league option next year, so this doesn’t have to be resolved next March. It doesn’t even have to be resolved until March 2025. The Belt Wars are over, but the potential for the Ramos Wars is off the charts.

The first assumption here: Brandon Crawford isn’t back. Crawford will have a decision to make, but the only way he’s back with the Giants is as an explicit backup. He would be the Brandon Crawford of Paul DeJongs, unless it’s the other way around. Either way, there will be a new Giants starting shortstop for the first time since Edgar Rentería.

It could be Luciano. But I’m wondering what would have to happen between now and Opening Day 2024 for that to happen. Better health, for sure. A strong spring, perhaps.

My guess is there isn’t much Luciano can do to absolutely lock down the gig between now and April, though, barring an absurd Cactus League performance. He’s still just 21, and he hasn’t gotten nearly as many at-bats as the Giants were hoping over the past two seasons. Just my conjecture, but I project that it’s not Crawford or Luciano starting at short next Opening Day, but Thairo Estrada, with a surprise second baseman next to him. And that arrangement will just be to keep the spot warm for Luciano, should he decide to bust out.

Of note: Tyler Fitzgerald will likely be added to the 40-man roster this offseason to keep him away from the Rule 5 Draft. He’s short-term competition for Luciano and Wisely alike, depending on how well he hits.

He’s on the 40-man roster. He’ll be up. And down. And up. And down. And up and down and up and down and up …

That’s alright, considering this was his first full professional season. He shouldn’t expect to be a regular next season, and you shouldn’t expect him to be a regular, either. When the Giants made their surprise decision to promote him, though, they locked into the idea that Meckler was going to be someone who could help in some capacity for the next several years. That’s because if they remove him from the 40-man roster, he’ll have to go through waivers, where another team would pounce.

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It’ll be another show-me year for Meckler, who has a career .380 average in the minors. If you were wondering what he’s done since his demotion to Sacramento, he’s gone 8-for-18, with four consecutive two-hit games. He won’t be given a job, but he won’t be that far away from one if he keeps hitting like this.

The smart money says Beck will have the same role he’s had this season. Some spot starts. Some bulk innings. Some games where he seems like a one-inning, high-leverage arm in training. But not in the rotation unless injuries dictate it.

That’s a valuable role. There’s an old-school mentality that would make him focus on being a one-inning guy right now, just to maximize his plus breaking ball and give him a clear path to success. He’s probably more valuable doing the same thing next season that he’s been doing, though. We’ll see if he can pitch his way into a larger role.

In the rotation, if healthy.

Some of these are complicated. This one isn’t.

How … how do all of these players still have minor-league options left? Looks like I have a lot to learn about the wild world of options, and I’ll get right on that.

This spring, Hjelle’s increased velocity was the talk of camp. He’s always had the size and release point to be effective in the low 90s, but in the upper 90s? Maybe there was something there. And he did uncork a few super impressive pitches in the early part of the season that gave you a taste of what could be.

Since then, though, he’s been smacked around the Pacific Coast League, and his strikeout gains have disappeared. He was back in the low 90s during his recent cameo in the majors, so it’s not like his increased walk rate has to do with a new, super-powered fastball that he’s still trying to wrangle.

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More of the same next year, then, unless he forces the issue with an impressive performance and/or fancy stats.

He’ll be coming back from a sprained elbow and trying to reclaim his velocity. He’ll have minor-league options, and if he’s close to triple digits again, he’ll be back in the bullpen when the need arises.

Assuming the Rogereseses continue their effectiveness, Walker will be an overqualified sixth- or seventh-inning reliever when needed, although he might be a kinda-sorta starter more often than that. Either way, the Giants have big plans for him, and he’s quietly been the best rookie on the team after Bailey. If you’re a believer in WAR, he’s pretty close to being tied with Bailey, actually, and he’s not that far behind Camilo Doval.

Even if this season ends in heartbreak, Walker’s emergence will still be one of the best stories of the year.

In the rotation. At least, that’s my plan for him. I’m a little scared that the Giants will give him one more season under the current usage plan, which wouldn’t be the end of the world but seems like a waste of his talents.

Let me show you a pitch:

That’s … that’s a 99-mph fastball perfectly placed on the inside part of the plate. It was away from the target, and it’s certainly at the upper end of what he’s capable of, but Ryan McMahon deserves a raise in arbitration just for making contact. We know that Winn has a plus splitter, and that’s what will drive whatever success he enjoys. But if he can consistently get his fastball to the plate close to 100 mph, his splitter will be even more effective. It’s time to stop thinking about him as a bulk-innings guy who can do a lot of things, depending on the need, and start thinking about him like a guy with an upper-90s fastball with a wipeout splitter. There’s a guy like that in the American League who should get Cy Young votes this year. Maybe the Giants can get one of their own.

So, to recap, here’s my prescription for how the Giants’ current rookie class slots in next season:

Key members of the active roster (5)
Patrick Bailey
Luis Matos
Kyle Harrison
Ryan Walker
Keaton Winn

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Key parts of the overall organizational depth (4)
Blake Sabol
Brett Wisely
Heliot Ramos
Tristan Beck

No guarantees they’ll be back in the majors, but still have a chance to contribute (2)
Sean Hjelle
Cole Waites
Bryce Johnson*

Prospects who could start the second they make a developmental leap, but there’s no rush (3)
Marco Luciano
Wade Meckler
Casey Schmitt

Sporcle Quiz ruiner (1)
Cal Stevenson

*No longer on the 40-man roster but still in the organization

Overall, this season has been a very important one for the Giants, developmentally speaking. It’s a drag when the team isn’t hitting, or pitching, or hitting or pitching, and they might miss the postseason entirely after being in great position once. Not great. Throughout, though, they’ve added players to the active roster and let them make their major-league debuts. Some of these prospects started on the Baseball America Top-100 list before the season, and they’ll be ineligible after the season because they’ve had too many appearances in the majors. That’s how it’s supposed to work, and it’s been a while since the Giants have done this, especially en masse.

They’re doing it now, and it’ll have ramifications long after this season. If some of these rookies decide to go goofy over the last month, it’ll certainly help their argument for an increased role next year. Some of them just might get it.

(Top photo of Luis Matos: Paul Beaty / Associated Press)