Jairo Pomares: Giants 2021 Minor League Player Of The Year

Though a back problem prevented Jairo Pomares from making his 2021 debut until June 15, the lefthanded-hitting outfielder had almost no problems at the plate in his two months with Low-A San Jose.

Pomares’ production waned after a mid-August promotion to High-A Eugene, but his overall body of work still was impressive.

Giants farm director Kyle Haines called Pomares “arguably the most consistent performer” in the organization and a “middle-of-the-order force seemingly all season (who) never really had any drastic, long slumps.”

Pomares didn’t go more than two games without a hit. His numbers with San Jose—14 home runs in 199 at-bats with a .372/.429/.693 slash line—were straight out of a video game.

“What is most special,” San Jose manager Lenn Sakata said in an email, “is he’s a definite power guy and also finds ways to get hits.”

Pomares’ numbers with Eugene were more pedestrian—six homers in 103 at-bats with a .262/.269/.505 slash line—but that barely tempered Haines’ enthusiasm for the 21-year-old Cuba native.

“He was one of the younger players in that league when we put him there,” Haines said, “and he still was a feared part of that lineup and a big part of why they were able to win (the High-A West) championship.”

In fact, Eugene and San Jose each won league titles. With the two teams, Pomares hit a combined 20 homers in 77 games while batting .334/.378/.629.

While Pomares is an average defender in the outfield corners, Haines raves about Pomares at the plate.

“He can hit for average. He can hit for power,” Haines said. “He just has a natural ability to have the ball find the barrel of the bat and make good things happen.”

Haines believes as Pomares progresses through the system, he’ll add a more analytical approach to hitting.

“The next level of development for him is making adjustments as the league and other teams adjust to him,” Haines said. 

 

GIANTICS

— Other candidates for the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year were, in alphabetical order: Kyle Harrison, a 20-year-old lefthander who had a 3.19 ERA with 157 strikeouts—and 52 walks—in 98.2 innings with Low-A San Jose; Marco Luciano, a 20-year-old shortstop who hit 19 homers and batted .258/.344/.471 with San Jose and High-A Eugene; and Ryan Murphy, a 21-year-old righthander who had a 2.52 ERA with a combined 164 strikeouts—and a mere 26 walks—in 107.1 innings with San Jose and Eugene.

— Sept. 24 was a big day for the Giants’ organization. The major league club picked up its 100th win of the season with a 7-2 decision at Colorado. Eugene earned the High-A West title with a 5-0 win against Spokane as Murphy struck out seven and allowed two hits in five innings and Luciano hit a two-run homer. San Jose grabbed the Low-A West title with a 7-2 victory over Fresno.