The first chapter of the 2027 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List was really just procedural. We all knew what would happen. But after that? It was a wide open field.
I didn’t know going into the second chapter of the CPL who would win and, indeed, it was a tight election. But we have a winner, and it’s the new kid: right-handed pitcher Jackson Flora, who has been voted as the No. 2 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization. Two names down, 42 to go!
Flora, who turned 21 in May,
is both an outstanding talent and an outstanding story. Born in Walnut Creek, he grew up a diehard Giants fan, and starred at the same high school as Brandon Crawford. His performance at UC Santa Barbara drove him to the top of the the 2026 draft class, and the Giants’ good fortune with the draft lottery aligned all the stars.
San Francisco took Flora fourth in July’s draft, and signed him to a bonus just shy of $8 million. A tall and intimidating force, Jackson has a dreamy fastball/slider combo, with a pretty decent changeup and cutter to offer as well. All of that led to a fantastic third and final season with Santa Barbara, where he posted a 1.06 ERA and a 2.99 FIP, with 133 strikeouts against 32 walks in 102 innings.
Flora, who stands 6’5, spent most of his time post-draft working at the complex, and winning fans over with incredible quotes and revelations of his fried chicken sandwich rankings. He made his debut in September with Low-A San Jose, sneaking in at the end of the season to throw a scoreless inning with a hit, a walk, and two strikeouts.
That counts as his lone official outing in the stat sheets, but Flora pitched twice in the postseason. His next appearance was again for San Jose, and this time he struck out four batters in two no-hit innings, while issuing two walks. For logistical purposes, the Giants moved him up to AA Richmond for his second and final postseason appearances, and that’s where he really opened eyes: against a potent Erie lineup, Flora pitched two perfect innings, striking out four of the six batters that he faced.
Flora used that outing to emphasize something we already knew: he’s very polished and advanced, and likely to move quickly. It’s not at all out of the question that he could make his Major League debut in 2027, and potentially be a core part of the rotation by 2028.
It will be interesting to see where the Giants place Flora to start his first full season. It was only one start and two innings, but his performance with Richmond left little doubt that he can handle AA, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if that’s where he begins the 2027 season. Then again, the Giants could take things a little more slowly, and have him get a few starts with San Jose and/or High-A Eugene before pushing him to the upper Minors. Time will tell!
Now let’s add to the list! As a reminder, voting takes place in the comment section now.
The list so far
- Josuar González — SS
- Jackson Flora — RHP
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
No. 3 prospect nominees
Jacob Bresnahan — 21.4-year old LHP — 2.92 ERA/4.32 FIP in High-A (98.2 IP); 5.06 ERA/3.60 FIP in AA (16 IP)
Bo Davidson — 24.3-year old OF — .861 OPS/122 wRC+ in AA (315 PA); .923 OPS/138 wRC+ in AAA (234 PA); .714 OPS/100 wRC+ in MLB (22 PA)
Luis Hernández — 17.10-year old SS — .917 OPS/117 wRC+ in the ACL (228 PA); .594 OPS/48 wRC+ in Low-A (98 PA)
Jhonny Level — 19.6-year old SS — .968 OPS/134 wRC+ in Low-A (217 PA); .836 OPS/119 wRC+ in High-A (331 PA)
Ramon Marquez — 21.1-year old RHP — 1.86 ERA/2.67 FIP in Low-A (29 IP); 2.48 ERA/2.45 FIP in High-A (40 IP)
Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page. All stats are from the 2026 season.
