The Giants saw firsthand what a young superstar looks like last season every time they faced the San Diego Padres. Fernando Tatis Jr. showcased all his skills from Day 1 against San Francisco.
Tatis, only 20 years old at the time, singled off Madison Bumgarner on Opening Day last season in his first big league at-bat. The young shortstop went 2-for-3 that day in a 2-0 win over the Giants. Nearly one year later, the Giants signed a prospect who already is being compared to Tatis.
The Giants signed 17-year-old Javier Alexander Francisco Estrella from the Dominican Republic. Twitter account @Giantsprospects reported the news Monday night. MLB Insider Hector Gomez provided pictures of the signing on Tuesday morning.
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Fernando Tatis Sr., who played 11 years in the majors and is the father of the Padres' young star, worked with Francisco Estrella for over a year in the Dominican Republic. The former big leaguer saw the similarities between his son and the Giants' new prospect right away.
"There is a lot of similarity between them at the same age," Tatis Sr. said to Gomez in June 2019. "Javier has an excellent displacement, tremendous arm, a fluid and clean swing -- he hits the ball very well from all sides and he knows how to play the game. Those are the conditions that are needed to play a position as demanding as the shortstop and Javier has them.
San Francisco Giants
"As a manager, that's the type of player that I like."
Francisco Estrella already is 6-foot-2 and 162 pounds. Video evidence shows how closely he resembles Tatis Jr. under the elder's coaching.
This latest signing only adds to the Giants' improved farm system. MLB Pipeline and The Athletic's Keith Law both ranked San Francisco's farm system as the 10th best in baseball. Fellow teenage shortstop Marco Luciano is a big reason for the Giants' rise, too.
[RELATED: Four Giants named to Keith Law's top 100 prospects]
Luciano, who the Giants signed in July 2018, was only 17 years old all of last season when he made his minor league debut. He opened eyes right away by hitting .322 with 10 home runs and a 1.055 OPS in 38 games with the AZL Giants Orange in the Arizona Rookie League before finishing the season for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in Short-Season Class A.
Between Francisco Estrella and Luciano, Giants fans can only hope for the next Tatis Jr. in San Francisco.
*Editor's note: The article originally listed Javier Alexander Francisco Estrella's age as 16 years old.
