SAN FRANCISCO -- Wade Meckler's meteoric rise through the Giants' minor league system has now landed him in the big leagues just 13 months after he was drafted.
The Giants on Monday called up Meckler and veteran utility man Johan Camargo, the team announced, dramatically mixing things up for a roster that has featured the league's worst offense over the last six weeks.
In corresponding moves, the Giants sent Luis Matos and Mark Mathias to Triple-A, while Anthony DeSclafani was transferred to the 60-day IL and Luis Gonzalez was designated for assignment to clear to 40-man roster spots.
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The Camargo addition wasn't particularly surprising, as the veteran infielder will take over the backup job on the infield. But Meckler has arrived not long after being taken in the eighth round of last year's draft. It's not hard to see how he did it.
The 23-year-old hit .439 in Low-A after the draft last year and then batted .456 in 20 games in High-A earlier this year, earning a quick promotion. In a Double-A league that's tough on hitters, he hit .336 with a .881 OPS and a nearly even strikeout-to-walk ratio. Meckler was promoted to Triple-A, and again made quick work of the level.
In 10 games for the River Cats, Meckler had a .400/.546/.600 slash line with eight walks and five strikeouts. Overall, he has a .377 average, .472 on-base percentage and .999 OPS in 92 minor league games.
"We talk a lot when we're talking about guys with good plate discipline about whether you can kinda look over the baseball," president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said on "Giants Talk" earlier this month. "I just think he sees the baseball so early and can kinda commit to swinging or shutting it down so early. Even at that level (in Triple-A), you can see when someone does it in a really special way. It reminded me a little bit of LaMonte (Wade Jr.) and how he does it, and obviously Brandon Belt was the same way when he was here.
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"That is just such a carrying skill when you can do that. If you combine it with Wade's bat-to-ball skills, it has a chance to be a really cool offensive package and a really productive offensive package here, and could be very soon."
RELATED: Why Zaidi believes Meckler can be special
Meckler ended up beating expectations once again, which is nothing new for a player who was the smallest student at his high school as a freshman and was twice cut from the team at Oregon State. He kept grinding, and while he likely won't hit for much power at the big league level or steal many bases, he fits right in with the organization's hitting philosophy. That's something Meckler learned on his first day as a Giant, when he listened to a member of the organization give a speech about how important plate discipline is.
"I was like, 'Sweet, that's how I've been thinking about hitting for the last three years,'" Meckler said during an interview last month while in Double-A. "It's been a great fit."