The first 2 days of the MLB Amateur Draft brought an interesting, almost quirky mixture of young players into the organization, provided of course all of them sign contracts. Let's get right to the breakdown(listed by Round/Overall Pick):
1/14 Tyler Beede, RHP, Vanderbilt. 6'3", 215 lbs. 8-7, 3.58, 103 IP, 47 BB, 108 K's. It may show how stuck we still are on W-L and ERA that Beede's stock dropped this season from a consensus top 3 pick to #14 and even at that, some people are thinking this is an overdraft. If you compare his primary stats with 2013 when he went 14-1 with a 2.32 ERA, it looks like he had a terrible season. If you look past that, he actually improved his secondary numbers from 103 K's and 63 BB in 101 IP. Beede has a big, strong body and a strong right arm. His FB is mid-high 90's with an excellent hard curveball and changup. Most pre-draft boards had him ranked #5-22. I think the Giants got themselves a top 5 talent and a guy who just might be the best player in the draft, period. I expect him to move rapidly and possibly be ready to take his place in the Giants rotation by 2016 when the Timmys contracts are up. Great pick, IMO.
2/52 Aramis Garcia, C, FIU. 6'2", 195 lbs. .368/.442/.626, 8 HR, 4 SB. A hit-first catcher who can stay behind the plate, Garcia's college numbers compare favorably with Max Pentecost who was taken in the first round. Garcia is a bit bigger than Pentecost with room to fill out. I think he may end up with more power. The Giants continue to show how much they value catching in the organization and got a good one here.
3/87 Dylan Davis, OF, Oregon St. 6'0", 215 lbs. .283/.338/.430, 7 HR, 4 SB. Those numbers are not too impressive, but OSU is a tough environment for hitters. Davis led the Cape Cod League in SLG% and we all know how much stock the Giants put in CCL performance. Davis does not have a lot of speed, but has a plus arm. He pitched in college and could fall back to that if his bat does not develop as hoped.
4/118 Logan Webb, RHP, HS. 6'2", 195 lbs. 4-3, 0.49, 57.2 IP, 30 BB, 73 K. A bit of an under-the-radar pick, Webb did not get noticed much until his senior season when his FB velocity jumped into the mid-90's. The Giants must think they can sign him as they rarely, if ever, miss on signing their top 10 picks regardless of college or HS status. He threw 145 pitches in one HS game this season and followed that up with a relief appearance 3 days later in which he reportedly struggled to break 90 MPH with the FB. Yikes! BTW, he was also his HS's QB on the football team.
5/148 Samuel Coonrod, RHP, Southern Illinois. 6'2", 190 lbs. 2-6, 2.87, 84 .2 IP, 47 BB, 77 K's. Hard thrower who hits up to 96 on the gun, sits 92-94 MPH. Also tends to get a wild hair up his nose. The Giants obviously think they can fix problems like that. Could be a future setup man/closer.
6/178 Skyler Ewing, 1B, Rice. 6'1", 220 lbs. .335/.403/.512, 9 HR. Unusually strong hitting numbers from a program that is known for it's pitching. Part of Ewing's appeal may be that scouts think he can catch.
7/208 Seth Harrison, OF, Louisiana-Lafayette. 6'1", 195 lbs. .318/.376/.547, 9 HR, 15 SB. Harrison is one of several good hitters on the La-Laf squad. I had my eye on Caleb Adams because of his shiny BA, but Harrison is a bit bigger and stole 9 more bases. Just a guess that Harrison may have a higher ceiling as a pro.
8/238 Austin Slater, OF, Stanford. 6'2", 2015 lbs. .350/.397/.509, 2 HR, 6 SB. Slater is considered a "tweener" in that he isn't quite fast enough to be top CF and he may not have enough power for a corner job. Probably a good risk here to see how the bat plays.
9/268 Stetson Woods, RHP, HS. 6'8", 200 lbs. 3-2, 0.57, 24.2 IP, 6 BB, 41 K. Stetson Woods! What a name! Man, I'm glad the Giants drafted him for the name alone! I'm calling his warmup music as the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly right now! Tall drink of water who currently hits 93 MPH on the gun with oodles of room to fill out. Get him signed, Sabes!!
10/298 Matthew Gage, LHP, Sienna. 6'4", 240 lbs. 4-7, 4.50, 110 IP, 39 BB, 90 K's. Does not look as big as listed on video. A bit nondescript apart from his size. He seems like a nice, unassuming kid, almost naive. You should see the video of his GF playing catcher for him in a bullpen sesh!
This draft will succeed or fail on the shoulders of Tyler Beede. Apart from maybe Garcia, everything else is icing on the cake. I think Beede is up to it. Time will tell.
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stetson signed letter of intent with fresno....good, but not great program
ReplyDeleteroll of the dice picking an hs kid, but giants already had him touring att before the draft
have a feeling that unless the money is right, they kid will opt for a 3 year stint in college and take his chances in 2017
this draft looks like a lot of projects...which isnt all that bad
bacci
If the Giants had Stetson touring AT&T Park before the draft, I would say they almost certainly know what his asking price is and believe they can meet it. Otherwise, they would not have taken him top 10.
DeleteGreat draft lets hope Beede pans out
ReplyDeleteWhere would you rank Bedde with the giants prospects?
ReplyDeleteI think Beede has more advanced, put-away secondary stuff than Kyle Crick right now, so I think I would rank him as the top Giants prospect out of the box.
DeleteDo you think he starts out in San Jose next year, moves to Richmond midseason, if all is well?
DeleteI think it is possible he starts next season in Richmond, but that is probably putting an unreasonable expectation on him.
DeleteTop of the list, definitely.
DeleteI listened to a KNBR podcast interview of Mr.Barr talking about Beede, almost sounds like the Giants could not believe their eyes that he was available. I am in on the thinking about projecting into lineup full time in 2016 "barring" injury.
ReplyDeleteRichard in Winnipeg
I did not expect him to drop that far and I'm guessing the Giants didn't either.
DeleteOn the other hand, Shankbone over at You Gotta Like These Kids is still reeling in despair over the pick, and the loss of Touki. Seems his basic take on Young Beedah is that he's all arm, no heart. And I must say, his performance against Stanford yesterday did tend to bear that out; no big-game pitcher there. I certainly hope Tidrow and the gang can make this all-arm guy a pitcher -- and that LaRussa doesn't manage to turn Touki into Bob Gibson.
DeleteI like Touki too and would have been very happy if the Giants had drafted him, so I have no disagreement with Shankbone on that front. I just think Beede has just as much stuff and is farther along in his development. Remember, Touki has command issues of his own.
DeleteI will add that I don't put that much stock in college playoff performance. It's a very small sample size and the end of a long season. Just ask Nick Vander Tuig. In fact, my one big hesitation with Beede is that he could ruin his arm pitching too deep into the college playoffs and College WS.
Live blog versus thinking before writing are two different things. I do think Touki is a type of talent that comes along once every 3-4 years at best. Beede definitely has the tools available to be an Ace. Its going to be a big time test of the Giants hyped pitcher whisperer talents to get him there. Should be fun to root for. I'll put up an objective review in a couple days.
DeleteAn immediate thought after the first two picks -- a close-to-MLB pitcher and a close-to-MLB catcher -- was that the Giants are suddenly positioned well to give up Krick and Susac to headline a midseason trade if they choose. Is there a whiff of Samardizja in the air?
ReplyDeleteIf the Giants believe they need to upgrade at the trade deadline to make a run, I have every confidence they will do whatever is necessary to accomplish it. That could mean giving up some top prospects.
DeleteNice take, Jim. Agreed +1.
DeleteThanks for your great draft comments! Which college pitcher that the Giants drafted #1 were you more high on when selected Stratton or Beede and why?
ReplyDeleteLG
I was pretty sure Tim Lincecum was a special pick. He had huge command issues himself, but the K rate was beyond special. I figured the Giants would figure out a way to decrease/manage the high walk rates and the K's would make up for it.
DeleteI liked Stratton, but he was a late bloomer who kind of broke out his junior season. You always wonder about those, not that I'm giving up on him at all, yet. I think Beede is a notch better prospect than Stratton as he has been considered an elite prospect for a lot longer. I think he could be special, but maybe not as special as Timmy was. For some reason, my comp for Beede is Zach Greinke. They just seem like similar pitchers to me.