And here are your 2016 Augusta Greenjackets presented on Minor League Opening Day, which should also be a National Holiday.
Catchers: Zack Bowers, Matt Pare, Adam Sonabend.
Infielders: Kelvin Beltre, Tyler Brown, Dillon Dobson, Skyler Ewing, Lucious Fox, Manuel Geraldo, Jalen Miller.
Outfielders: Jean Angomas, Gustavo Cabrera, Dylan Davis, Ashford Fulmer, Seth Harrison.
Pitchers: Phil Bickford, Michael Connolly, Tyler Cyr, Ryan Halstead, Conner Kaden, Ryan Koziol, Mac Marshall, Jake McCasland, Matthew Pope, Michael Santos, Heath Slatton, Caleb Smith, Cory Taylor, Grant Watson, Logan Webb.
This is an inneresting roster, to say the least, starting with 6 of the 7 infielders listed as SS's. Lots of youth, tools and bonus babies on this roster and it looks like finding playing time for everybody is going to be a headache. I guess that's a good problem to have. Let's see. I think Beltre could move to 3B. Dobson played 1B last year in Arizona, so I don't think he's a SS anymore. Brown played mostly 2B in Arizona and played darn so I think we'll see a lot of him at 2B. Geraldo played both SS and 2B in the DSL. Both Fox and Miller may be outfielders in the long term, so that move may come sooner than later for one or both. The Giants may try to work out some rotations so as to not wear down the kids in their first full pro seasons.
On the pitching side, I see Bickford, Marshall, Santos, Watson and Webb as starters, maybe Cory Taylor if they go with 6.
For those of you who have ground your teeth at the Giants lack of high upside young talent in the lower minors, this is YOUR team! It could be a great team, but it's also likely to have a lot of growing pains, especially early in the season.
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As we mentioned in the opening, this is Minor League Opening Day. Starting pitchers for Giants affiliates today include Ty Blach, Tyler Beede and Andrew Suarez. The Augusta starter is TBD.
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Remember Tyler Kolek? Second overall draft pick by the Marlins a couple of years ago? He's getting the TJ, which comes as absolutely no surprise at all. I think I said he was a TJ waiting to happen way back when he was drafted.
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Alrighty - Let's see if what I wrote from before got answered..
ReplyDeleteIn anticipation of the upcoming Augusta blurb (and some of the questions about defensive positioning coming up here), I'll not apologize for redirecting my questions a bit here:
I figured Jalen Miller would be a strong candidate to be transitioned to CF early on, seeing as Fox is going to be climbing the ladder at right about the same level throughout their respective Minors developments. I'm sure they'll let the season and defensive chops play themselves out a bit, but what what's the likely positional future for these Giants, considering all the of condensed talent in Augusta right now?
Additionally, I'll bring up a young Mr. Manuel Geraldo - whom Roger shone a light on yesterday from his article over at MCC. It's a great bit about the dense nugget of talent that's going to be taking the field together this year over in Augusta, GA.
Here's what Roger quoted in his article on McC, from BA's Ben Badler about Manuel Geraldo:
"At 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, the 17-year-old Geraldo is a 60 runner and has plus arm strength. With good actions, range and footwork, he has a chance to be a quality defender at shortstop."
I have loved recently reading and recognizing Sabean's penchant for drafting a ton of shortstops and then just playing them all over the field. However, it certainly would seem that if you may be transitioning them to a VERY different position - such as CF - you need to groom them there from early on - as plus defenders in CF can only get to that status by getting TONS of reps and learning the art of reading a ball off of contact. Athleticism alone will not do the trick.
Thoughts?
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In retrospect, I think you've at least touched on most of these aspects. Let's see what the Giants do with the first month of the season and check back in on the subject of where they're all going to play then.