#17 Mike Kickham, LHP. BD: 12/12/1988. 6'4", 205 lbs. B-L, T-L.
Rookie AZL: 0-0, 11.57, 2.1 IP, 2 BB, 3 K's. College(Missouri State): 4-9, 5.25, 96 IP, 30 BB, 103 K's. MINK League(Sedalia Bombers): 3-0, 0.29, 24 IP, 7 BB, 42 K's. 2 hits allowed!
Mike Kickham is sort of a mirror image of Seth Rosin. A big LHP from a respected college program whose K and BB numbers were far better than his ERA. Drafted in the 6'th round, the Giants had to work a bit harder to get him signed as he was a draft eligible sophomore giving him an extra years of leverage. A dominating performance in the MINK collegiate summer league convinced the Giants to spring for a well above-slot bonus of $410 K. He was signed pretty late so only made a brief appearance in pro ball at the end of the season. Between college and the summer league, he had already pitched a lot of innings.
Mike throws a hard fastball that goes 88-92 and has touched 94. He also features both a true slider and an overhand curve as well as a decent changeup.
Kickham may be a bit of a project, but has a high ceiling and the potential to be a fast mover. I want to say he should start out in San Jose, but that rotation might be getting a bit crowded. Since he only had one year of D1 college experience, the Giants may want to start him more slowly in Augusta and let him put it all together before promoting him. We'll see. Another nice sleeper/breakout pitching prospect in the organization.
It's not really a video, but on youtube.com there's an extended interview with Mike on a Springfield, MO radio station. One recurring theme we seem to hear time after time from prospects who the Giants draft is that they seem to be very secretive about who they are interested in drafting. Kickham said there were about 5 teams calling and expressing interest, then all of a sudden the Giants came out of the blue and grabbed him in the 6'th round.
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For a high ceiling player he has pretty good K/BB numbers, so hopefully he can move fast.
ReplyDeleteHe should get a lot of attention this year, especially since it seems there isn't much going on with LHPs at the lower levels.
I would expect him to be in the Augusta rotation due to his 1 year of D1 college pitching, but more importantly to work closely with Steve Kline. It seems like Kline was the man who most helped Runzler get to where he is and I assume the Giants will guide him on a similar path.
ReplyDeleteThanks DrB, I'm especially enjoying reading your comments on prospects drafted last year like Kickam, Rosin, Chuckie Jones, whom I haven't read much about. It'll make it more enjoyable for me to check out the minor league boxscores this year.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Kickham seems like the perfect project for ol' Pigpen, or whatever Steve Kline's nickname was.
ReplyDelete#16 Seth Rosin is where this list started to get really interesting for me. Most even casual fans know who Brandon Belt is by now, but how many have even heard of Seth Rosin and Mike Kickham? What's really exciting for me is that IMO there are really interesting names all the way to the bottom of the list and into the honorable mentions. The Giants system may have been left a bit thin at the top after the graduations of Posey and Bum, but this is a deep, deep system with lots of high ceiling guys scattered throughout the system.
I have Kickham at #7, so I'm expecting big things from him. Glad to see you give him a mention here. Hard-throwing lefty? Yes, please.
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