Giants outfield prospects Austin Slater, Steven Duggar thriving in Triple-A

Austin Slater is hitting .385 for Triple-A Sacramento. Austin Slater is hitting .385 for Triple-A Sacramento. Photo: Henry Schulman / San Francisco Chronicle Photo: Henry Schulman / San Francisco Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Giants outfield prospects Austin Slater, Steven Duggar thriving in Triple-A 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

ANAHEIM — Don’t look now, but center fielder Steven Duggar‘s batting average at Triple-A Sacramento is up to .298 after his typical slow start. Fellow outfielder Austin Slater’s start has been anything but slow. His .349 batting average is among the best in the Pacific Coast League.

The front office and manager Bruce Bochy monitor their Triple-A players. As they showed with Mac Williamson, they are not shy about dipping into the minors for offensive help, which they have needed.

Williamson was an easy call. He has big-league experience and his power numbers and spring-training performance were hard to ignore, and Hunter Pence was lost at the plate and has a thumb injury. The next opening might be tougher to create.

None of their outfielders beside Williamson has minor-league options. The Giants would risk losing Gorkys Hernandez or Gregor Blanco through waivers, and they hate to let go of player “inventory” unless they have no choice.

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Though Slater’s numbers are gaudier — in addition to the batting average, he has nine extra-base hits in 43 at-bats — Duggar’s road to the big leagues might be easier. The Giants view him as their future center fielder and Austin Jackson (.208, one extra-base hit) has struggled. The Giants signed Jackson for two years to move around the outfield and platoon with Duggar if the rookie won a job.

Williamson provided scouting reports on both outfielders.

On Slater: “Every game when I was down there, he put together great at-bats. He was swinging at good pitches and working the whole field. He really looked locked in.”

On Duggar: “I felt like the numbers didn’t speak the whole truth of him. He was having long at-bats — eight, nine pitches — but he just wasn’t finding the barrel at the end of his at-bats. If you look at the percentage of quality at-bats, it’s only a matter of time.”

Briefly: Johnny Cueto’s 0.35 is the lowest ERA for a Giants pitcher after four starts since Ray Sadecki’s 0.25 in 1968, the Year of the Pitcher. ... Brandon Crawford singled in the eighth inning to snap his hitless streak at 19 at-bats. Joe Panik was 1-for-19 before his three-hit day.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.