The Giants signed minor league free agent Kieren Lovegrove, RHP. Lovegrove hails from Johannesburg South Africa. He is 24 years old and has spent the last 7 years laboring in the Indians organization. Coincidently, David Laurilia had a feature on him in Fangraphs on 11/18/2018 which is a fun read. It seems that Mr Lovegrove is a bit of a Nuke LaLoosh character who throws very hard but has little idea where the ball is going or why making him a very Giantsy FA pitcher to sign. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same!
Kieren did have the best results on the field of his career last year working through 3 levels of play, but the wild hair was never too far away from his nose. Here is his combined stat line for 2018:
4-0, 2.73, 59.1 IP, 31 BB, 66 K, 3 Saves.
He seems to be a 2+ pitch pitcher with a FB and Changeup. The + comes in because he throws a 4-seam FB but when it is down in the zone it moves like a 2-seam and when it is up it moves more like a standard 4-seam.
Welcome to the Giants, Kieren Lovegrove!
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6.23 BB/9!
ReplyDelete2018 AAA: 3 IP, 1 H, 3 SO, 0 W
¡viva largo y prospere!
In "DrB's Preliminary Midseason Top 20 Giants Prospects" Manuel Geraldo isn't ranked, nor is he listed in MLB's top 30.
ReplyDeleteHe had a good year in Augusta, finished strong, maybe one of the few bright spots, and is still young -- below average age in low A.
Is there anyone else?
The proof will come next year if he is advanced to San Jose. There are not a whole lot of SS in the system, are there?
Howard and Hinojosa? One may be a 2Bman the other a drug problem. Are Beltre and Brandon Van Horn the Giants' future SS?
Adrianza, Uribe, and Renteria are long gone.
Craw's replacement may become a BIG problem.
Shortstop is a big weakness in the system. Howard or Hinojosa could probably play it but would likely not come close to Crawford's defense. I really like Geraldo but he's running out of time as his eligibility for the Rule 5 Draft shows. If he is not picked up by another team, he needs to step it up at SJ enough to get added to the 40 man roster or he will be a minor league FA next year.
DeleteMarco Luciano, the 7 figure international bonus baby, has elite tools. Will he stick at SS? How long will it take him to develop into a MLB player?
Do the Giants have the 3'rd pick in the Rule 5 Draft? Richie Martin!
Delete...or Drew Jackson!
DeleteI think the 2018 Rule 5 draft order is based on inverse order of finish so the Giants would pick 9th. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that Martin would be long gone by then, since a team could keep him as a back up infielder based on his defense alone. Drew Jackson is intriguing, as are Max Schrock and Kean Wong, both 2B who might make the Giants more inclined to trade Joe Panik if either can prove capable of manning the position. Since relief pitchers tend to be the favored player type picked, there is a chance that one of the infielders could be available at #9.
ReplyDeleteSo Minor League Ball did a piece on 9 intriguing names for the Rule 5 Draft. Richie Martin was near the top of the list and Drew Jackson was not on it all all. Zaidi already traded for Jackson once. I'll guess that if Drew Jackson is on the board when the Giants picked, he's coming to spring training in a Giants uniform.
DeleteDon't see the attraction for Drew Jackson, still in AA @ 25 yo -- unless he can take his HRs to the majors and K a whole lot less.
DeleteIs either a good bet?
He played 103 games in AA last year hitting .250 and he's going to play MLB?
Panik was solidly hitting .300 at Jackson's age.
Could save $4M by trading or just non-tendering Joe, but some one has to play 2nd and hit better than .250, doesn't he?
Let's see, 15 HR's, 22 SB's, 11 BB%, OPS .803. Yeah, my bad. What was I thinking?
DeleteSorry, I hit a wrong button, but Anon replied by pointing out Drew Jackson's K rate of 27%. I looked it up. Per Fangraphs his K rate was actually 22.7%. Pair that up with an 11% walk rate and that's actually quite good!
DeleteI used MLB's SO/AB (93/342 = 27%), but if you use PA, it goes down significantly as you point out -- he walks a lot!
DeleteMea culpa, I guess it should be how often he strikes out for total plate appearances.
However, I suspect his Ks will go up and his HRs down when he jumps to MLB from AA.
I don't see the Giants rostering a Rule 5 player in 2019 considering their lack of depth.
Most prospects do not spend a full season at AAA as most teams prefer to stash players with MLB experience at AAA for depth. If you can play in AA, you are essentially ready for MLB. I would say a lack of depth is all the more reason why the Giants might take a chance on a Rule 5 player who might do more than draw splinters from riding the pine. We'll see. I just know that Zaidi traded for this guy when he was GM of the Dodgers and has every reason to still like him a lot. I think there is a pretty good chance the Giants grab him if he's there at #9 on Rule 5 Draft day.
Delete