Down on the Farm: DrB's 2011 Giants Top 50 Prospects- #28 Jacob Dunnington

#28 Jacob Dunnington, RHP. BD: 2/2/1991. 6'2", 160 lb. B-L, T-R

Rookie AZL: 3-0, 0.63, 28.2 IP, 15 BB, 45 K, 3 Saves.

Here's a story that is almost too good to be true. Jacob Dunnington went undrafted after his HS senior season in Redmond, WA. That means that major league teams apparently thought 1500 players were better than him in the 2009 draft. I'm not sure why he went undrafted, but I've read that he had a late growth spurt his senior year and picked up an extra 5 MPH on the fastball after the draft. Apparently the Giants had a scout who was on the ball and they signed him as an undrafted FA in the fall of 2009. Now, it's not that unusual to sign undrafted FA's out of indy leagues or college after the draft, but it's almost unheard of to sign a HS kid after the draft. These kids usually want to go to college of junior college to try and improve their stock rather than sign for essentially nothing.

As you can see, even though Dunnington is a bit taller than Timmy, he has a slight build for a pitcher. Like Timmy, he hails from Washington state, and he even bats L and throw R like Timmy! He reportedly has a fastball in the 92 MPH range. Otherwise, scouting reports are sketchy. He certainly put up impressive K numbers in the AZL. His walk rate could be better, but was compensated for by the K rate which gave him a K/BB of about 3-1. He pitched exclusively in relief with some Save opportunities.

At 19, he's on the old side for a HS signee getting his first pro experience. I'm guessing he shows up in Augusta in some capacity, probably the bullpen. He has room to fill out the frame, so could gain even more velocity as he gets stronger. We'll see if he stays in the bullpen or gets a chance to start somewhere down the line.