The San Francisco Giants lost their series finale to the Cincinnati Reds by a 10-9 score Wednesday, but the Giants took the series by winning the first two games.
On Thursday, the Giants send righty Landen Roupp to the mound as they open a four-game set against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
Before the Diamondbacks opener, the Giants announced a decision on a notable player whose father was a longtime Giants great, and as of this year, a baseball Hall of Famer.
Kaeden Kent, son of Jeff Kent, has been activated from the injured list by the Eugene Emeralds, the San Francisco Giants’ High-A affiliate, ending a seven-week wait to return to the field.
The move comes three weeks after the Giants acquired Kent from the New York Yankees at the trade deadline in a trade that sent Heliot Ramos to New York.
Kent, 22, missed seven weeks after the Hudson Valley Renegades — the Yankees High-A affiliate — placed him on the 7-day injured list on July 6 with a hand injury, according to Conor Foley of YES Network. He remained sidelined through the trade and his assignment to Eugene, not appearing in a game for either organization. Now that Kent has been activated, he is eligible to play in Eugene’s next game, scheduled for Thursday at Everett against the AquaSox, a Seattle Mariners affiliate.
Before the injury, Kent was hitting .302 with a .359 on-base percentage, six home runs and 20 stolen bases over 76 games at High-A Hudson Valley, numbers that made him one of the more productive bats in the league at his level.
Kaeden Kent’s Path to the San Francisco Giants
GettyKaeden Kent, with his college team, Texas A&M.
Kent entered the season as New York’s 13th-ranked prospect at the time of the trade, according to MLB Pipeline. The Giants slot him lower, at No. 22 on their own list, according to MLB Pipeline’s midseason prospect rankings — a reflection of San Francisco’s increasingly stacked farm system rather than any reassessment of Kent’s tools. Baseball America places him similarly, in the low 20s with a 45-grade future value, though that outlet has not published fresh commentary since the trade.
Scouts see an offense-first infielder who profiles best long-term at second base, in the mold of his father. Fireside Yankees analyst Ryan Garcia said Kent lacks over-the-fence power but that “his ability to spray line drives everywhere will pair well in San Francisco’s cavernous outfields.”
The 6-foot-2 left-handed hitter has played shortstop, second base and third base this season, giving the Giants — already stocked with middle-infield prospects — multiple ways to use him.
Giants’ Trade-Deadline Investment in Kaeden Kent
San Francisco sent outfielder Ramos to New York on August 3 in exchange for left-hander Henry Lalane and Kent, according to the trade announcement. Lalane, a 6-foot-7 southpaw and the Yankees’ No. 5 prospect at the time, was the headline piece of the return. Kent arrived as a complementary add, a college bat who did not cost the Giants a draft pick.
The deal also closed a loop that had nothing to do with roster construction. Jeff Kent, the 2000 National League MVP, spent six seasons in San Francisco and enters the Hall of Fame this year. The Giants plan to retire his No. 21 later this month. His son now wears a Giants uniform of his own, tasked with proving he belongs on merit rather than name recognition.
The team has not released a timetable for Kaeden Kent beyond Wednesday’s activation.
Giants Announce Decision on Hall of Famer’s Son Before Diamondbacks Game