Scouting the Draft: 2017 Giants Draft Review(Rounds 2-40)

So let's finally catch up with where the Giants later round picks from 2017 stand.  With 3 HS draftees at the top, this class will take longer to make final judgement.  List is by round:

2.  Jacob Gonzalez, 3B, HS:  Low A- .227/.296/.331, 8 HR, 7 SB, 6.1 BB%, 21.1 K%, 507 PA.  First full seasons have been known to grind down some pretty good HS draftees.  Gonzalez hit a decent .252 in the first half but collapsed to .199 in the second half.  I had not heard of him before draft day even though he is Luis Gonzalez' kid.  I liked Mark Vientos who the Mets took 1 pick later.  After that, it's pretty tough to make a case the Giants could have drafted better here.  The problem for Jacob going forward is the Giants have some pretty good 3B prospects behind him who will be hunting for playing time.  Grade C.

3.  Seth Corry, LHP, HS:  R- 3-1, 2.61, 38 IP,  9.95 K/9, 4.03 BB/9.  Short Season- 1-2, 5.49, 19.2 IP, 7.78 K/9, 6.86 BB/9.  Corry has shown dominance when he controls the strike zone but has a major wild hair that can get up his nose.  He's going to be a project.  Grade C-.

4.  Garrett Cave, RHP, College(Tampa):  Low A- 6-10, 5.20, 116 IP, 9.16 K/9, 5.20 BB/9, GB/FB= 1.77.  Hard thrower with strong K and GB rates.  Another Giants project to tame his wildness.  Grade C.

5.  Jason Bahr, RHP, College(Central Florida): Low A- 6-4, 2.75, 68.2 IP, 11.53 K/9, 2.75 BB/9.  A+(Giants)- 2-0, 1.69, 16 IP, 8.44 K/9, 1.13 BB/9.  A+(Rangers)- 2-4, 5.80, 35.2 IP, 8.07 K/9, 3.03 BB/9.  Was off to a nice start to his pro career with the Giants but was included in a trade to the Rangers as the price of taking Austin Jackson and Cory Gearrin and their contracts off the Giants CBT ledger.  If there was one move that could/should have cost Bobby Evans his job, it was signing Austin Jackson, which never made sense from the get-go.  Grade B.

6.  Bryce Johnson, OF, College(Sam Houston St.):  A+- .249/.339/.324, HR, 31 SB, 10.6 BB%, 22.7 K%.  No power but can draw a walk, steal a base and cover ground in CF.  Grade C+.

7.  Logan Harasta, RHP, College(SUNY Buffalo):  R- 1-1, 1.10, 16.1 IP, 15.43 K/9, 2.76 BB/9.  Jumbo body.  Not sure what he was doing in rookie ball.  Maybe coming off some sort of injury?  Grade C.

8.  John Gavin, LHP, College(Cal St. Fullerton):  Low A- 5-5, 2.08, 95 IP, 10.52 K/9, 3.51 BB/9.  A+- 1-2, 5.60, 27.1 IP, 9.22 K/9, 3.29 BB/9.  Another big body.  Dominant in Low A which is too low a level for a major college draftee.  Peripherals in SJ look better than ERA.  Grade C+.

9.  Aaron Phillips, RHP, College(St Bonaventure):  Low A- 6-7, 3.72, 101.2 IP, 10.62 K/9, 1.42 BB/9.   Very nice numbers but placement very conservative.  Grade C+.

10.  Rob Calabrese, C, College(Illinois-Chicago):  Low A- .193/.283/.320, 5 HR, 3 SB, 8.4 BB%, 29.5 K%, 227 PA.  Disappointing numbers for a prospect who put up strong offensive numbers in the same college conference as Daulton Varsho.  Grade D.

11.  Doug Still, LHP, College(Missouri St):  Low A- 0-0, 3.00, 3 IP, 3.00 K/9, 3.00 BB/9.  A+- 0-0, 7.71, 4.2 IP, 13.50 K/9, 1.93 BB/9.  Short Season- 2-0, 2.84, 19 IP, 9.95 K/9, 2.84 BB/9.  Hard to know what to make of these numbers spread out over several levels.  Peripherals look good, though.  Grade C?  Breakout candidate for 2019?

12.  Aaron Bond, OF, JC:  Short Season- .268/.320/.585, 14 HR, 8 SB, 7.0 BB%, 28.9 K%, 201 PA.  Low A- .205/.301/.218, 3 SB, 12.8 BB%, 30.9 K%, 94 PA.  5-tool prospect with some pop in his bat. K rate is worrisome. Struggled in Augusta(what hitter doesn't?). Thrived in Salem-Keizer(what hitter doesn't?)  Has to get over the Augusta hump. Grade C+.

13.  Tyler Schimpf, RHP, College(Texas):  Low A- 4-4, 5.45, 38 IP, 10.42 K/9, 4.03 BB/9.  A+- 0-0, 3.86, 2.1 IP, 7.71 K/9, 0.00 BB/9.  Peripherals better than ERA.  Grade C.

15.  Orlando Garcia, SS, College(Texas Tech): Low A- .243/.342/.350, 8 HR, 9 SB, 11.4 BB%, 27.3 K%, 501 PA.  Conservative placement.  A bit of pop, a bit of speed, strong BB%, high K's.  Grade C+.

16.  John Russell, RHP, College(Connecticut): Low A- 8-5, 2.49, 61.1 IP, 10.57 K/9, 2.79 BB/9, 7 Saves.  A+- 0-0, 0.00, 4 IP, 11.25 K/9, 0.00 BB/9.  Could be a fast mover on the reliever track.  Grade  C+.

19.  Frankie Tostado, 1B/OF, JC: R- .281/.332/.415, 3 HR, 2 SB, 7.0 BB%, 12.3 K%.  Pro debut in rookie ball at age 20.  Nice numbers but at a low level in a strong hitting environment.  Grade C+. Grade A name, though.

21.  Logan Baldwin, OF, College(Georgia Southern):  Low A- .249/.310/.389, 6 HR, 26 SB, 5.9 BB%, 31.4 K%, 474 PA.  Like the SB's but the rest of the line is scary.  Grade C-.

22.  Greg Jacknewitz, LHP, College(Xavier): Short Season- 4-3, 6.88, 53.2 IP, 7.55 K/9, 3.35 BB/9.  Jacknewitz has yet to show he can compete with pro hitters at any level.  Grade D-.

23.  Shane Matheny, 3B, College(Washington St): Low A- .205/.292/.287, 6 HR, 9.9 BB%, 30.0 K%, 363 PA. Disappointing numbers from a guy who seemed to have strong peripherals up to this season.  Not sure where he fits from here.  Grade D.

24.  Nico Giarratano, SS, College(San Francisco):  Short Season- .269/.337/.421, 5 HR, 9.3 BB%, 21.1 K%, 193 PA.  Hit near the Mendoza line in college, but the bat was surprisingly good here.  S-K though.  Grade C+.

25.  Franklin Van Gurp, RHP, College(Florida International):  Low A- 4-0, 1.77, 40.2 IP, 10.62 K/9, 3.54 BB/9.  A+- 1-0, 6.95, 22 IP, 13.50 K/9, 8.18 BB/9.  Struggled after promotion to SJ.  K rate remains strong, though.  Grade C.

26.  Kyle McPherson, SS, College(James Madison):  Short Season- .314/.370/.493, 7 HR, 7.4 BB%, 14.1 K%, 311 PA.  Moved to 2B.  Nice hitting line in a low level, hitter friendly venue.  Grade C+.

28.  Peter Lannoo, RHP, College(Cornell):  Low A- 1-2, 3.38, 18.2 IP, 9.16 K/9, 1.93 BB/9.  A+- 1-7, 4.19, 58 IP, 6.05 K/9, 3.26 BB/9, 2 Saves.  He also pitched 1.2 shutout innings for AA Richmond.  Unimpressive numbers at age appropriate level(A+).  Grade C.

29.  Frank Rubio, RHP, College(Florida):  Low A- 0-1, 1.55, 29 IP, 9.93 K/9, 1.86 BB/9, 10 Saves.  A+- 2-2, 5.52, 31 IP, 6.68 K/9, 2.32 BB/9, 9 Saves.  Also pitched 4 innings in AA.  Seems to be on the Closer track, but peripherals in A+ not closer-like.  Grade C+.

34. Conner Nurse, RHP, HS:  R- 1-1, 3.23, 53 IP, 9.51 K/9, 4.42 BB/9.  Tall kid at 6'6".  Kid is a project but love the upside out of round 34.  Grade B.

35. Dalton Combs, OF, College(Huntington(Ind)):  .318/.375/.512, 5 HR, 5.6 BB%, 24.3 K%, 144 PA.  College corner player.  Was S-K's hottest hitter down the stretch, but at age 23.  Grade C+.

36.  Joey Marciano, LHP, College(Southern Illinois):  Low A- 4-3, 2.58, 80.1 IP, 7.95 K/9, 2.46 BB/9.  A+- 1-4, 8.33, 31.1 IP, 7.47 K/9, 4.31 BB/9.  You can really see the difference between Augusta and San Jose as time and again, pitchers put up great numbers in Augusta then faceplant in SJ.  Grade C.

37.  Andy Rohloff, RHP, College(Central Florida):  R- 1-1, 3.00, 24 IP, 10.50 K/9, 2.25 BB/9.  Should not be in rookie ball at age 22.  Grade C-.

I did not realize the Giants drafted Keaton Winn and Blake Rivera in this draft. They did not sign and were re-drafted by the Giants in much higher rounds with the requisite increase in signing bonuses.

There is still a lot of upside in this draft, especially from the HS kids, but there is also the possibility that the entire draft could end up as a washout.