Wednesday, February 3, 2016

DrB's 2016 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #42 Jose Reyes

Jose Reyes, RHP.  DOB:  1/3/1991.  6'1", 185 lbs(5'11", 184 per Fangraphs)

Low A:  4-1, 1.36, 46.1 IP, 8.74 K/9, 2.14 BB/9
A+:  5-6, 5.86, 78.1 IP, 6.32 K/9, 2.07 BB/9.

Jose Reyes has kicked around the Giants lower minor leagues for several years despite being a hard thrower with seemingly good command.  He put it all together early in the season for Augusta, dominating the SAL.  He struggled after a promotion to High A San Jose, running up an ERA of 8.61 in his first 8 starts.  The Giants stuck with him and he finished the season strong with a 3.02 ERA over his last 5 starts with 31 K's against 9 BB's in 38.2 IP.  He pitched out of the bullpen in the Cal League playoffs throwing 5 shutout frames in one game but getting knocked around in two others.

Reyes features a mid-90's FB with good command to both corners of the plate.  He adds in a hard hammer curve that he uses as a put-away pitch.  I don't have any info on a changeup and maybe that is the final missing piece?  He may have to scramble to land a starting gig with either San Jose or Richmond coming out of spring training, but his stuff should work in the bullpen too.  He has the stuff for a ceiling of mid-rotation starter, but may have to settle for a future bullpen role.  He is getting a bit long in the tooth for his level.  ETA is probably 2018.  Another interesting sleeper in the Giants system.

4 comments:

  1. It's good to read what you and others are saying that the Giants have a good system with a lot of depth. Excited about Christian Arroyo and the upcoming season. Keep up the good work.

    LG

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    1. Yes, that narrative is finally starting to get some national recognition. Sickels has been saying it for a couple of years now. BA defended the Giants system in a recent Q/A. We'll see what the new guy at Fangraphs has to say if he ever gets around to the Giants. I don't read Baseball Prospectus, but from some discussions I've read around the internet, it seems they're still hating on the Giants.

      BTW, Fangraphs KATOH projection system for how prospects project to perform in the majors has Clayton Blackburn at something like #28 best prospect in all of baseball!

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    2. As far as I can see, both BP and MLB.COM think very little about the Giants farm system or prospects. And I think I've been pretty clear in showing the double-standards MLB.com has shown by using the Keury Mella Top-100 ranking (as in 'lack of' pre-trade, 94 post-trade) and it's other implications (such as why all the Giants ahaed of him weren't on the list).

      I do appreciate Sickels as he's been reasonably fair. Sickles, btw, has Blackburn at #3. Not too shabby for a guy who rarely gets any respect outside of the fan base and inside the fan base there is still some hesitancy about jumping on his bandwagon.

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    3. There was a great article today in Fangraphs about how all 30 MLB teams are put together. So, how long have we been hearing about how bad the Giants farm system is? Pretty much forever, right? Well, guess which team has the most "homegrown" players on their 40 man MLB roster? And it's not just the benchwarmers and AAA guys. Which team had the highest "homegrown" fWAR last year?

      I mean, it is way past time for the naysayers to not just say the Giants are doing "something" right, but to admit that there is "something" wrong with the way they have been evaluating farm systems.

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