Krukow: Top 100 prospect Arroyo ‘legit; give him another glove'

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The Giants have one of the best young infields in all of baseball.

If Matt Duffy, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik hold down third base, shortstop and second base respectively for the forseeable future, what will the franchise do with top prospect Christian Arroyo?

"Give him an outfield glove, make him start learning how to play the corner positions in outfield," Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow said on KNBR 680 on Monday morning. "... He is legit. A guy I think is built for the high part of the strike zone, but he's more than that. He has an idea about using the whole field.

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"You look at his natural swing plane but you also look at his ability to stay back on pitches, which is essential in this generation of player. So many pitchers come up there and they have three, or four, or five different speeds and it really is difficult as a hitter to stay back on your back leg, and this is one thing Arroyo does well.

"And I think he has some power in his swing as he develops. You don't get your power really until your ages 24 to 30, so I think he has some pop that's yet to develop. Very exciting young player."

The Giants selected Arroyo with the 25th overall pick in the 2013 draft.

According to MLB.com, he's the No. 82 prospect in baseball.

Over 90 games for Single-A San Jose in 2015, he hit .304 with nine home runs and 42 RBI.

He started at shortstop in 88 of those appearances.

[PAVLOVIC: Beede, Arroyo among Giants non-roster invitees]

"From the Giants perspective, yeah, absolutely, give him another glove," Krukow explained. " ... Learn the third base position, if you can turn a pivot from both sides of second base and shortstop, that's even better as a 'Super U' (super utility) player. And I think you're gonna see more and more of this as players develop out of the Giants system -- their ability to play other positions."

In 2014, Arroyo started 26 games at second base for Single-A Augusta.

"You're always dealing with injury, and if you have a guy who has had some experience at second base, or third base or in left field, it just makes it so much easier for him to stay at the big-league level," Krukow said. "He can hit here, he's gonna hit here a long time and he's a very charismatic kid, too. People in San Francisco are gonna love this guy.

"At some point in time this year, I think we might see this kid in the big leagues."

Arroyo won't turn 21 years old until May 30.

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