Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Down on the Farm: 7/1/2013

AAA  Fresno Grizzlies outslugged the Las Vegas 51's 14-6:

Gary Brown(CF)- 4 for 5, 3B.  BA= .246.
Cole Gillespie(RF)- 1 for 3, HR(9), 2 BB.  BA= .282.
Johnny Monell(1B)- 1 for 5, HR(15).  BA= .308.
Todd Linden(LF)- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .216.
Chris Dominguez(3B)- 4 for 5.  BA= .298.
Jackson Williams(C)- 1 for 5, HR(5).  BA= .225.
Eric Surkamp(LHP)- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 1.80.

Gary Brown stays hot.  Chris Dominguez continues to find success as a singles hitter.  Very nice first AAA start for Surkamp since hitting the comeback trail.

AA  Reading Phightin' Phils defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 4-1:

Craig Westcott(RHP)- 6.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 4.15.
Angel Villalona(1B)- 0 for 4.  BA= .000.

Westcott homered for the Squirrels only run.

High A  San Jose Giants cracked the Modesto Nuts 5-3:

Chris Lofton(CF)- 3 for 5, 2B, 3B.  BA= .238.
Ricky Oropesa(DH)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .500.
Myles Schroder(1B)- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .265.
Edwin Escobar(LHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.19.

Welcome back to California, Ricky!  4'th 2-hit game in a row for Schroder.  Have I mentioned I really like Myles Schroder?

Low A  Kannapolis Intimidators topped the Augusta Greenjackets 8-6:

Andrew Cain(CF)- 2 for 4, 3B, BB.  BA= .236.
Matt Duffy(SS)- 1 for 3, 2 2B.  BA= .311.
Joey Rapp(1B)- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .222.

Short Season  Boise Hawks edged the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 3-2:

Tyler Hollick(RF)- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .371.
Eugene Escalante(C)- 3 for 4.  BA= .233.
Jake Shadle(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.19.

Rookie AZL  Giants beat the Padres 8-5:

Drew Stiner(C)- 3 for 4.  BA= .500.
Luis Ysla(LHP)-  4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.50.
Dusten Knight(RHP)- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Eury Sanchez(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(2).  ERA= 0.00.

Stiner had the Giants only multi-hit game.

DSL  Boxscore not up yet.

19 comments:

  1. Wow, maybe Brownie has turned a corner. After his hot streak ended with a bad cold streak, returning to this K-infested ways, it just looked like part of his ups and downs, but he has had a nice couple of games where he's heated again. Good for him, hopefully he can keep it up this time.

    That's the difference between minor leaguers and major leaguers, the ability to repeat good performances regularly, showing off the talent that got him signed as a pro ball player in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's sad how many people are writing Brown off already. He's going through the same thing in Fresno that he did in Richmond last year. Cold start, then starts to even things out. I know he's not stealing bases like we all think he should, but man, 36 xbh at the halfway point of the season isn't bad at all. He's obviously got more pop than a lot of people thought, and I'd think his speed has to be in play with all those extra bases. Maybe he's not going to be a .300 hitter, but if he can hit .275 with gap power, defense and speed, I'd take him on my team. Look what Blanco is doing this year with his gap power and defense. I could easily envision Brown being the same kind of player, with more pop in his bat. I'm just hoping the Giants don't trade him, as Baggs suggested.

      Delete
    2. Sad but understandable. Many fans are just that fickle when a player performs poorly.

      His power was actually around when we drafted him, it was just that most were not aware. I covered this on my blog when he was drafted but his stellar last college season was the best OPS in his conference for the prior 6-7 seasons that I could find, beating out Evan Longoria even, and if I recall right, his ISO was even higher than Longoria, even though obviously Longoria had more homers.

      This is just his pattern: enter new league; struggles to figure out the league; figures out the league and is really good. He did that in college, culminating in his great junior year. He did that in Cape Cod, struggling his first season then playing very well in his second. He did that in AA, and now appears to be doing it in AAA (he came out hitting in Advanced A, but he did poorly in his pro debut at the end of the prior season, so I would count that as not doing well then figuring it out, just at the pro level, period, not league specific).

      I think that's his floor. With his speed and bat control, I think he should be a .300-ish hitter, with good gap power that, as you note, should result in a lot of doubles and triples due to his speed (much like his last season in college). His SB ability is meh, but you add gold glove caliber defense to that package and you have a very cheap but very productive player for 3.5 seasons or so, then arb controlled. He'll be a speed version of Belt in the OF, good offensive bat who plays great defense to boot, and can steal you a few bases.

      I doubt that Baggs has enough inside insights to know who the Giants will or will not trade (Giants under Sabean has had a "Do Not Trade" list; plus BA, who Baggs also works for, has repeatedly complained about the Giants not opening their kimono wide enough for BA, so I think it is clear that Baggs is just speculating on trading Brown, not that he knows that they would include him in a trade), so I wouldn't worry about a trade, mostly. But you never know when the Giants give up on a player, like Wheeler and Joseph. In Wheeler's case, not sure exactly what caused them to give up on him, but in Joseph's case, seems now to be a case of selling high.

      Delete
    3. He may improve his base stealing.

      Perhaps he has enough to work on right now that SB is in the agenda for later...like Susac working on catching at San Jose last year.

      Delete
    4. I never completely write off any player, but Brown has now had at least 3 major slumps that lasted 1 month or longer at 3 different levels. I am not sure these can simply be written off as adjustment periods. Just as his early season struggles were too soon to write him off, his current hot hitting is too soon to say he's all good now.

      I am cautiously encouraged by Brownie's recent hot hitting, but he needs to keep it going to quiet the doubts.

      Delete
    5. Yeah, he can't be a slow starter in the show. That dog don't hunt. Especially with the manager in charge. Unfortunately for Brown OBP ain't his game so he wouldn't attract the crazies with their Junior Saber Badges the way Belt does...

      Delete
    6. OBP has been Brown's game, though. If you look through his college and Cape Cod stats, that was the one thing he was able to repeat consistently, no matter how poorly he might hit at any level, he made sure to have a superior OBP (via walks and mainly HBP).

      In the pros, he has not been as successful in repeating his college experience, but up to now has generally been at least significantly better than average. He had a great one in SJ, and his .347 in Richmond, while not outstanding, it was still significantly above the .330 average, but to your point, he was only 53rd in the league. But if you take out his early adjustment period and start on 5/19, when he started hitting significantly better, he hit .297/.358/.428/.786 for the rest of the season, and that OBP would have ranked him a bit higher, 36th, still not great, but at least significantly higher than average of .330.

      But yeah, to your point, lately he hasn't been as good, but that could be level adjustment as well. And to attract the Juniors (nice one!) he has to get into Brock Bond territory, I guess.

      Given what I know about the draft, I've always been cautiously encouraged by Brown. While many fans got into the hype with his SJ run, I was actually mildly disappointed, because the numbers he put up were not that great, though his batting line looked pretty good. Because the best prospects of his age range usually dominate in Advanced A, I viewed as a notch or two below those top ones, so I expected some struggles going up the farm system, particularly given the EL's pitching-slant due to the pitchers parks there. And he has struggled both last season and this season, though it appears that was self-inflicted, as he apparently has been stubbornly (understandably though if what you had done previously, however weird, has gotten you to the heights of your profession, you don't want to change; but it is the best that knows that whatever level you reach, you need to learn, adapt, and change).

      I'm encouraged that he ended his cold streak so quickly and in a big way like this, this is the type of adjustment that is necessary for him to consistently produce offensively, and clearly he needs to continue this to be successful in the majors when he gets the chance.

      He can't be a slow starter in the show, but 8 homers in a month will usually get you more than a short look. I think he will get multiple chances, due to that plus particularly his strong defense, as then he'll be at least contributing strongly defensively even if he is still learning his offense at the new level. Pagan is OK in CF, but with him and Pence in the field, we probably really need a defensive standout CF inbetween them to make the unit strong defensively, which it had been in previous seasons, but not as much with Pagan in CF and Pence in RF.

      Delete
    7. Hey, Gary Brown got a mention at Sickels, where he is usually dismissed with a quickness. The comp was Drew Stubbs, Cincy's now traded 8th overall pick of the 2006 draft. Brown actually has demonstrated similar OBP to him, but with better BA (which is what you always want all things equal), and actually Brown's power #s are a slight bit better than Stubbs.

      The danger with Brown is his BA/OBP have been getting nicked every step of the way. I was expecting a yo-yo where his AAA #s replicated his California league #s, but that wouldn't really tell us exactly what we need to know. Instead, its been misery, followed by this pretty amazing power outburst.

      I think he is underestimated as an athlete, the crazy speed and the stealthy strength. He's really strong, if he gets the technique fixed, pitchers won't be able to bust him inside.

      Delete
  2. Dr. B, do you have any inside info on Ricky Oropesa. Could he just not handle the AA pitching? Was he injured? What's the plan for him going forward?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do not have any inside info on Ricky. I believe he is understandably disappointed in his AA performance and demotion.

      Delete
  3. Why do you like Schroder? the nu,bers aren't very impressive, especially for his position, and he seems way too old for his league

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just from an eyeball/scouting perspective, I like Schroder's size and athleticism and his ability to play multiple positions. I don't think he's ever going to be a front line starter at the MLB level, but with his ability to play 3B, I could easily see him being a nice utility guy.

      Delete
    2. Like Arias? I could see that. Getting any sort of value out of a guy like that is always nice. I thought you meant like as a starting 1B

      Delete
  4. Check out this post over at Giant Potential to understand how Brown has turned it around: http://jim.biola.edu/~connerp/wordpress/fresno-notes-late-june-2013/

    Very interesting that it wasn't until he was basically forced to correct his mechanics that he started to hit well again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a very nice site. I enjoyed that article.

      Delete
    2. I ran into that site too, via Giants Extra (Merc/Pavlovic), very nice site, I agre, lots of video interviews and blog posts.

      Delete
  5. So I hope the Gints farm does some fun stuff tonight, because the IFA was quiet (we got 2 DR SS's and might get a speedy OF tomorrow on his 16th birthday) but that no-hit has to be the lowlight of the season so far...

    Timmy is shaky every game out, rights the ship, and then caves at some point. He hasn't been getting any leads to work with, which doesn't help either.

    Come on Chris Dominguez, put some power to go along with this new approach. Wack that ball! (I have reviewed some old statements on Dominguez from Doug Mapson, and felt bad for some of my criticisms on his swing/miss game).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shankbone, can you provide a link(s) for the Giants signing of the Dominican shortstops? I can't find anything about it.

      Delete
    2. The names were in Badler's BA report (subscription required). He nailed them. Kiley McDaniel broke it in his twitter feed, you can find it there. Here's the clip: More July 2 signings I haven't seen reported yet: Mets sign Luis Silva/RHP/Venezuela, Giants sign Manuel Geraldo & Kelvin Beltre, both SS/DR

      I don't know anything about Geraldo or Beltre. They are apparently mid-six figure, which could mean 200K or 500K. Badler and others are predicting the Gints take Mikey Edie, a VZ LLWS hero as well. Edie hit a 343 foot bomb when he was 12 back in 2009. Now he's 16 today, and most likely a Gigante.

      Badler estimated the Gints would be using 1.5MM of their 1.9MM on these 3 cats.

      My Giants snagging pitchers theory is up in flames. The Braves got lefty Luis Barrios. The Rangers paid the piper (big time) on Marcos Diplan. Apparently multiple teams are in on Mayky Perez, which means the price stays above 1MM, and he wont' be a Gigante. The Rockies might have ended up with the best IFA pitcher overall Erick Julio.

      Delete