With a 20-27 record and all of their stars still underperforming, the Giants are searching for ways to turn their season around.

A trip to Arizona provides an opportunity for Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and others to take advantage of a hitter-friendly park, but a visit to the desert also offers a glimpse into the Giants’ future.

About eight miles up the road from Chase Field, two of the Giants’ most promising young prospects are off to terrific starts this season at the team’s Papago Park player development center.

Josuar Gonzalez, 18, and Luis Hernández, 17, are years away from making their MLB debuts, but each shortstop is thriving in their first taste of pro ball in the U.S.

In his first eight games with the Giants’ Arizona Complex League team, Gonzalez is batting .440 with a 1.243 OPS. Hernández, who is younger than many high school juniors, leads the Complex League with four homers while posting a .356 average and 1.156 OPS in 11 games.

“They have both been asked to mature so fast and what’s been impressive is how much they are starting to learn and take pride in their defense and baserunning abilities,” Giants’ senior director of player development Kyle Haines told The Standard. “They have a long way to go in many areas, but it’s just exciting to see them want to be complete players and not just hitters.”

The Giants signed Gonzalez for $2,997,500 out of the Dominican Republic in January 2025 when he was regarded as the No. 1 prospect from Latin America. This year, the organization signed Hernández out of Venezuela for nearly $5 million, making him one of the highest-paid international prospects ever. 

The Giants’ inability to draft and develop homegrown stars in the last decade has forced the franchise to turn to free agency and the waiver wire to patch up holes at the major league level, and until recently, they haven't been much better at identifying and signing prospects in international free agency.

Since a core led by Buster Posey, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, and other homegrown talent led the Giants to three World Series titles in five seasons, the prospect faucet has largely been shut off. There are important success stories including Logan Webb, Landen Roupp, and now Casey Schmitt, but the organization hasn’t won a playoff series since 2014 because many of its top prospects haven’t turned into meaningful MLB contributors.

With Gonzalez and Hernandez off to strong starts in the Arizona Complex League, there’s an internal belief that an up-and-coming group of hitters who are thriving at Double-A Richmond (see Jonah Cox and Parks Harber), High-A Eugene (see Gavin Kilen and Dakota Jordan), and Low-A San Jose (see Jhonny Level and Cam Maldonado) can reach the big leagues and lay the foundation for Gonzalez, Hernández, and others to join the party by 2029 or 2030. 

Haines noted all of the Giants’ lineups throughout the minors rank at or near the top of their respective leagues, which is an encouraging sign.

It may take a while for the Giants to reap the rewards, but with their four highest-paid hitters all posting an OPS under .700 this year, it’s easy to see why fans are so excited about players who are still several years away from reaching the big leagues.

Reporter John Shea contributed to this story.