Austin Slater, OF. DOB: 112/13/1992. B-R, T-R. 6'1", 194 lbs.
2014 College(Stanford): .341/.386/.493, 17 2B, 6 3B, 2 HR, 6 SB, 16 BB, 29 K, 229 AB
2014 Rookie AZL: .333/.333/.556, 3B, 0 BB%, 22.2 K%, 9 PA
2014 Short Season: .347/.417/.449, 6 2B, 2 HR, 7.6 BB%, 12.9 K%, 132 PA
Austin Slater was the Giants 8'th round draft pick in 2014 out of Stanford where he played CF and really blossomed at the plate his junior season. He then just kept right on peppering the field with basehits in his first professional season displaying the high contact approach that the Giants currently emphasize.
I found a Perfect Game scouting report from his HS days(he was drafted in round 44 by the Dodgers out of HS, but did not sign and went to college): "Has all the tools, 6.67 runner, 91 IF, very good D actions, CAN REALLY HIT(caps are mine), 5 tool talent."
I also found a batting practice video from Stanford. He has almost no extraneous movement in the batters box. Very slight load, front foot moves forward and toward the plate by about 1 inch. Stiff wristed swing with a hip turn. That's about it. Sound familiar? Kind of like a mirror image of Joe Panik and not unlike Daniel Carbonell's much criticized swing.
I think there is more power in there somewhere, but he has huge hit tool. I look forward to seeing him play for the San Jose Giants in 2015.
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I am very excited to see a full year of Slater. I guess in all the info I looked at for him I never saw he was drafted previously by the Doyers. I think I want him to succeed more than ever. But seriously, it appears he can hit. I don't expect 20 HR a year from this kid but maybe 12-13 HR with a BA of close to .300 and a lot of 2B's. Maybe he could be a poor man's Tony Gwynn except Gwynn's extremely high BA and low K rate probably will never be reproduced.
ReplyDeleteI want to try him in the infield
ReplyDeleteIf Belt has that breakout year that we have all been expecting then you might get your chance to see a guy like Slater at 1B. Belt is probably aiming for Freddie Freeman money in a few years and unless get him extended soon we will not want to pay him that kind of money.
DeleteThinking he meant more of a utility guy who can work at 2nd and 3rd.
DeleteMore likely Posey would be the one moving over in that time frame.
Yes. I doubt Slater would be the guy either. More or less venting about Belt. I don't understand the arbitration number he turned in after playing in only 61 games. I know a lot of it is the agent but I am starting to think he is going to pull a Sandoval and leave us after we have been good to him. I know it is a part of the process but it wouldn't hurt to have a plan B when he hits free agency.
DeleteI would not get too anxious over Belt and his arbitration case. In the big picture, is the $1.5 M difference really that big a deal? I'll take a guess and say he and the Giants end up working out a deal for $3 M this year and $4.5 M next year, or they may use the numbers as a starting point for a longer term deal. If he eventually leaves, so what? I know the Giants have historically had a tough time filling the position, partly because they insist on good D there, but 1B should not be a tough position to fill.
DeleteI like his skill set.What outfield position does he play?
ReplyDeleteHe played CF for Stanford. I think he played LF for Salem-Keizer with Dylan Davis in RF and Fargas in CF.
DeleteIt looks like we finally have a race shaping up to see a home grown product make it as a starter in the OF. Will it be Carbonell or Williamson who are presumed to be the closest being at AAA, or will Horan blast 30 HR at Richmond and get promoted from there. Maybe it will be Slater who hit the ground running and forces his way to Richmond in 2015 pretty much catching Horan.
ReplyDeleteOff topic comment here but I wanted to post this so you guys could all feel sorry for me, I moved to Oklahoma City from Cali in '98, it has been pretty good living out here until the last few months when we learned that the Dodgers had purchased the Oklahoma Redhawks and are moving their AAA team to OKC. We learned a couple of weeks ago that they are re-branding the team to the OKC Dodgers and have also tainted the City of Tulsa moving their AA affiliate there. Sacramento comes here June 2-5 so that should be fun but I hate seeing my town tainted with that scum sucking blue.
DeleteI am sorry to hear that.
DeleteThat should be against human rights.
DeleteIt depends on how much you relish being contrarian. When I became a Giants fan in the mid 1940s, I wasn't only living in Brooklyn, but was sharing a house with an uncle and aunt who were ardent fans of the Ebbets Field team. Besides, in 1946, when I got fully invested, the Giants finished last--it was the season when the Ds' manager Durocher famously sneered about his Giants' counterpart Mel Ott, "Nice guys finish last." But I recall enjoying thinking of myself as bold, independent, free from following the crowd, etc. And it absolutely added to the joy of 1951, and Thomson's HR, with two guys who had shaken off the incrustations of blue sin, Durocher and Stanky, now firmly on the side of Goodness.
DeleteOf course if I had been older and had had children of my own at the time, I might have feared for their tender souls so near the dark pits of dodgerdom, with such ubiquitous temptations to fall and submerge themselves therein. But I think of my own experience as something I relished.
Thanks all, I think I can handle it pretty well, I did grow up in So Cal around more blue than black and orange. I do have a couple of buddies here that are Dodger fans and they are telling me this is what happened from selling my soul to the devil for 3 rings.
DeleteIf it makes you feel better I recently married a Dodger fan. She is not a diehard fan like I am of the Giants but she knows how to push my buttons here and there.
DeleteSorry man, my wife could really care less about baseball but likes to go to games occasionally. Her dad was a Dodger fan so she likes to pull my chain as well with some crazy comments about liking the dodgers but it's just an occasional act, I think.
DeleteI too ran out of the house and into the street screaming with joy when Thomson homered in 1951, BUT, truth said, I prefer blue to black and orange, as colors. I mostly wear blue. As a Gator fan, I like Blue and Orange, and wear the right colors at AT&T, BUT I'm NOT sure what to wear at Raley Field this year, besides my Giants fitted hat.
DeleteTalk about putting salt on a wound. Ouch
ReplyDeleteRBJ,
ReplyDeleteThe Giants moved their affiliate out of Fresno to greener pastures in Sacramento. The Astros are moving in. How do you think I feel?
On the bright side, the Astros should have more AAA talent than the Giants were able to field.
-Baseball Ry
I feel for you, I have a lot of family in Fresno, I actually went to K and 1st grade in Fresno in the early 70's and have visited there numerous times to see my great uncle who was a huge Giants fan. If he was still alive he would be pissed Fresno no longer had a Giants team. The Astros don't put much into the AAA experience other than the players, we could see a huge change when OKC changed from the Rangers to the Astros a few years ago. Sorry to add to the disappointment.
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