#35 Adam Duvall, 3B. 6'1", 205 lbs. BD: 9/4/1988. B-R, T-R.
Low A: .285/.385/.527 with 22 HR's.
Adam Duvall was drafted in the 11'th round in 2010 out of Louisville, so he was a college teammate of Chris Dominguez while there. He signed right away and put up a .688 OPS for Salem-Keizer that summer where he played both 2B and 3B. The Giants moved him to 3B exclusively in Augusta for the 2011 season. Duvall may have had the best season of any Giants prospect and they had quite a few good seasons in 2011. He hit for average, with plate discipline and power. He did commit 27 errors there so has some defensive work to do. You might want to look up how many errors Pablo Sandoval made at 3B when he was in Augusta just for comparison.
At age 22, he was not young for low A but not impossibly old. I expect him to move up to San Jose for 2012. If he puts up similar numbers there, he will be ranked a whole lot higher in next year's list.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Down on the Farm: #34 Brett Bochy
#34 Brett Bochy, RHP. 6'2", 192 lbs. BD: 8/27/1987.
Low A: 1-0, 1.38, 39 IP, 8 BB, 53 K, GO/AO= 0.66, 10 Saves.
Brett "Melonhead Jr" Bochy was one of the better college closers in the country at University of Kansas going into the 2010 season. He lost that season to Tommy John surgery and was then drafted by the Giants in round 20. He showed up in Augusta in 2011 and put up spectacular K and BB ratios. BA's draft scouting report on him has him with a 91-93 MPH FB/slider combo. I'm thinking he may have picked up velocity post TJ although I have not heard that. At age 24, I would think young Mr. Bochy is on the reliever fast track. He should start 2012 in San Jose. I look forward to seeing him pitch!
Low A: 1-0, 1.38, 39 IP, 8 BB, 53 K, GO/AO= 0.66, 10 Saves.
Brett "Melonhead Jr" Bochy was one of the better college closers in the country at University of Kansas going into the 2010 season. He lost that season to Tommy John surgery and was then drafted by the Giants in round 20. He showed up in Augusta in 2011 and put up spectacular K and BB ratios. BA's draft scouting report on him has him with a 91-93 MPH FB/slider combo. I'm thinking he may have picked up velocity post TJ although I have not heard that. At age 24, I would think young Mr. Bochy is on the reliever fast track. He should start 2012 in San Jose. I look forward to seeing him pitch!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Down on the Farm: #33 Alex Burg
#33 Alex Burg, C/3B/1B. 6'0", 190 lbs. BD: 8/9/1987. B-R, T-R.
High A: .298/.369/.550, 14 HR in 262 AB.
ABL(Australian Baseball League): .277/.374/.546, 10 HR in 130 AB.
Alex Burg is my sleeper of sleepers although a few other prospect oriented sites have started to notice his numbers. He didn't get assigned to San Jose until after Hector Sanchez' promotion, but what he lacked in quantity of experience there, he sure made up for in quality hitting for average, with patience and power. He also played multiple positions including catcher. Now I ask, how valuable is it for your backup catcher to be able to play a couple other positions plus hit like that? Burg then headed off to Australia to play winter ball there and put up almost identical numbers. I don't know what the relative strength of competition is there, but the quality of international baseball has improved dramatically in recent years. The league features professional players from Korea, China and Japan.
He was drafted in the 24'th round in 2009 out of Washington State. where he hit .346/.466/.631 his senior season. His MLB debut was delayed until 2010 due to a knee injury requiring arthroscopic surgery suffered toward the end of his college career. He appeared in 3 levels in 2010 hitting a combined .245/.331/.443 so his Iso's were not much different than his 2011 numbers.
He's built like a mini-me of Tommy Joseph. In fact, I though he WAS Tommy Joseph until I checked his number in the program at the Cal League game where I saw him play. He's got a short, compact swing that generates good power. He strikes out a lot, but also draws a good share of walks. Patient hitters are going to strike out more because, well, you can't have strike 3 until you first get to strike 2! He does seem to be able to drive pitches he swings at.
He has some Asian facial features, his middle name is Musashi and His mother's name is Izumi, so I would deduce that he is Japanese-American. I would think he will get a chance to show what he can do with AA pitching in 2012. If he does well there, hey, I think he have a long career as at least a utility IF/C at the MLB level.
High A: .298/.369/.550, 14 HR in 262 AB.
ABL(Australian Baseball League): .277/.374/.546, 10 HR in 130 AB.
Alex Burg is my sleeper of sleepers although a few other prospect oriented sites have started to notice his numbers. He didn't get assigned to San Jose until after Hector Sanchez' promotion, but what he lacked in quantity of experience there, he sure made up for in quality hitting for average, with patience and power. He also played multiple positions including catcher. Now I ask, how valuable is it for your backup catcher to be able to play a couple other positions plus hit like that? Burg then headed off to Australia to play winter ball there and put up almost identical numbers. I don't know what the relative strength of competition is there, but the quality of international baseball has improved dramatically in recent years. The league features professional players from Korea, China and Japan.
He was drafted in the 24'th round in 2009 out of Washington State. where he hit .346/.466/.631 his senior season. His MLB debut was delayed until 2010 due to a knee injury requiring arthroscopic surgery suffered toward the end of his college career. He appeared in 3 levels in 2010 hitting a combined .245/.331/.443 so his Iso's were not much different than his 2011 numbers.
He's built like a mini-me of Tommy Joseph. In fact, I though he WAS Tommy Joseph until I checked his number in the program at the Cal League game where I saw him play. He's got a short, compact swing that generates good power. He strikes out a lot, but also draws a good share of walks. Patient hitters are going to strike out more because, well, you can't have strike 3 until you first get to strike 2! He does seem to be able to drive pitches he swings at.
He has some Asian facial features, his middle name is Musashi and His mother's name is Izumi, so I would deduce that he is Japanese-American. I would think he will get a chance to show what he can do with AA pitching in 2012. If he does well there, hey, I think he have a long career as at least a utility IF/C at the MLB level.
Hot Tip: Sabes Comments; Cafardo on the Offseason
There's a link to an interview Brian Sabean did with Mychal Urban over on sfgiants.com Message Board. Sabes had a few interesting things to say:
1. He sees Theriot as taking pressure off Crawford against certain LHP's.
2. I sounds like he really, really wants Brandon Belt to be the starting 1B.
3. He talked about Huff playing LF, but you get the feeling that they don't quite know what to do with Huff.
4. Sounds like if Huff is still on the team at the start of the season, Nate is the 4'th OF
Nick Cafardo who writes a baseball column for the Boston Globe ranked the teams by the the success of their offseasons. I was pleasantly surprised to see him rank the Giants #15. He had some good things to say about the two trades for Cabrera and Pagan and about Brian Sabean. The link is on MLBTR.
In a sad and surprising development, somebody hacked the MLB Draft Guide site and destroyed all the files. I absolutely love what Matt Grabusky is doing on that site and here's a shout out to Matt to keep his chin up and keep going.
....and a shout out to Calvin n Hobbs over on MCC for a link to mlbreport.com and a great interview with Giants prospect Mike Murray. Not sure off the top of my head if he made honorable mention on my top prospect list. If not, maybe I will have to add him.
1. He sees Theriot as taking pressure off Crawford against certain LHP's.
2. I sounds like he really, really wants Brandon Belt to be the starting 1B.
3. He talked about Huff playing LF, but you get the feeling that they don't quite know what to do with Huff.
4. Sounds like if Huff is still on the team at the start of the season, Nate is the 4'th OF
Nick Cafardo who writes a baseball column for the Boston Globe ranked the teams by the the success of their offseasons. I was pleasantly surprised to see him rank the Giants #15. He had some good things to say about the two trades for Cabrera and Pagan and about Brian Sabean. The link is on MLBTR.
In a sad and surprising development, somebody hacked the MLB Draft Guide site and destroyed all the files. I absolutely love what Matt Grabusky is doing on that site and here's a shout out to Matt to keep his chin up and keep going.
....and a shout out to Calvin n Hobbs over on MCC for a link to mlbreport.com and a great interview with Giants prospect Mike Murray. Not sure off the top of my head if he made honorable mention on my top prospect list. If not, maybe I will have to add him.
Down on the Farm: #32 Chris Marlowe
#32 Chris Marlowe, RHP. 6'0", 175 lbs. BD: 10/26/1989.
College(OK State): 3-3, 5.05, 41 IP, 34 BB, 71 K's, 4 Saves.
Rookie AZL: 1-0, 0.00, 3 IP, 1 BB, 5 K's.
Christopher Marlowe is a smaller guy with a big arm and two plus-plus pitches. He just needs to be able to control them. Marlowe pitched in JC ball before transferring to Oklahoma State. He put up huge K numbers out of the bullpen there but the walks obviously hurt his ERA. BA's scouting report has him sitting at 93-95 MPH with the fastball, maxing out at 97 MPH. He has a sharp putaway mid 80's breaking ball to go with it. If he adds even an average changeup, he could probably be a starter. At worst, he can be a dominant arm out of the bullpen. As Kruk would say, he can get a wild hair up his nose, so the Giants task is to help him get the walk rate down, something they haven't been as good at as some other aspects of pitching development.
College(OK State): 3-3, 5.05, 41 IP, 34 BB, 71 K's, 4 Saves.
Rookie AZL: 1-0, 0.00, 3 IP, 1 BB, 5 K's.
Christopher Marlowe is a smaller guy with a big arm and two plus-plus pitches. He just needs to be able to control them. Marlowe pitched in JC ball before transferring to Oklahoma State. He put up huge K numbers out of the bullpen there but the walks obviously hurt his ERA. BA's scouting report has him sitting at 93-95 MPH with the fastball, maxing out at 97 MPH. He has a sharp putaway mid 80's breaking ball to go with it. If he adds even an average changeup, he could probably be a starter. At worst, he can be a dominant arm out of the bullpen. As Kruk would say, he can get a wild hair up his nose, so the Giants task is to help him get the walk rate down, something they haven't been as good at as some other aspects of pitching development.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Hot Stove Update: Bayou Boys Reunited
With the Giants payroll uncertainties all resolved to 2012 with the signing of Tim Lincecum, Brian Sabean turned his attention to the final phase of the offseason, AKA dumpster diving. This is where even the most ardent Sabean naysayers admit he has had his share of successes, and why not? There is almost no downside to signing a guy to a non-guaranteed contract in MLB!
The first signing was of relief pitcher Clay Hensley another former Giants prospect who was traded to San Diego for Matt Herges a long, long time ago. Hensley is now 32 yo and has had an up and down career both as a starter and reliever. His best season was probably 2010 with the Florida Marlins when his K/9 spiked up to >9. He even closed for the Marlins some that year! Bruce Bochy was his manager in San Diego. If anyone can coax another bounceback out of him, I would think it would be Bochy and Rags. He could make a nice 7'th man out of the bullpen and provide insurance for the rotation as a 6'th starter in case of emergency or an expected Zito fail. I'll give this one a thumbs up.
I have been defending and promoting Brandon Crawford all winter as the Giants best option to start at SS outside a Jose Reyes or Jimmy Rollins which was never going to happen. As a result, I have developed this protective paternal instinct around Crawford and regard with suspicion anything that might threaten his big opportunity. I guess that's why I'm not quite as enthusiastic over the signing of Ryan Theriot(The Riot to Bip Roberts). I probably should not fret about it because at this point in his career, Theriot is almost certainly not a starting SS as his offensive and defensive numbers have been in steady decline for several years now. He has maintained the ability to hit LHP's pretty well and the Giants projected lineup leans to the left with some switch-hitters who probably hit better LH, so the Giants may be thinking of him as a RH bat off the bench or a RH platoon partner with Crawford. He also does give them a bit of a safety net in case Crawford's offensive numbers crater, but Theriot would probably remind Giants fans more of Miguel Tejada or OCab on defense than, say, Omar Vizquel. In fact, Theriot's Bayou Buddy, Mike Fontenot, had much better defensive numbers at SS last year than The Riot Man! Problem is, Fonty would not make a platoon with Crawford because they both hit LH. Theriot also gives the Giants another option at 2B if Freddy Sanchez' shoulder blows up in Spring Training.
Theriot's signing also opens up almost unlimited opportunity for fun with names and relationships. There's The Riot, of course, made all the more funny by Bip Roberts' local presence. Theriot and Fontenot sound like they should go together in some kind of foot stomping country song: "Theriot and Fontenot, the place is buzzin'. Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen." There's Bayou Brothers, Bayou Boys. The Riot and The Hobbit. The possibilities are already running wild!
Rumors are also out there that the Giants and Xavier Nady have a mutual interest. Nady would be the RH bat off the bench/dumpster dive I have been talking about for awhile. Nady and Bochy also have a connection from San Diego days so it seems like a strong possibility. It's been awhile since Nady as an offensive force of any kind, let alone adequate defensively, but he was a serious hitter in his day. As we've seen, you never want to say never in this game.
These moves create competition for several roster spots putting pressure to perform on several young players. It puts pressure on Crawford to not crater on offense at SS. It puts pressure on Emmanuel Burriss to up his game a notch or two just to hold a roster spot. A Nady signing might jeopardize Brett Pill's chances of making the roster out of spring training and probably would make it more likely that Brandon Belt starts the season in Fresno.
Should be an interesting Spring Training!
The first signing was of relief pitcher Clay Hensley another former Giants prospect who was traded to San Diego for Matt Herges a long, long time ago. Hensley is now 32 yo and has had an up and down career both as a starter and reliever. His best season was probably 2010 with the Florida Marlins when his K/9 spiked up to >9. He even closed for the Marlins some that year! Bruce Bochy was his manager in San Diego. If anyone can coax another bounceback out of him, I would think it would be Bochy and Rags. He could make a nice 7'th man out of the bullpen and provide insurance for the rotation as a 6'th starter in case of emergency or an expected Zito fail. I'll give this one a thumbs up.
I have been defending and promoting Brandon Crawford all winter as the Giants best option to start at SS outside a Jose Reyes or Jimmy Rollins which was never going to happen. As a result, I have developed this protective paternal instinct around Crawford and regard with suspicion anything that might threaten his big opportunity. I guess that's why I'm not quite as enthusiastic over the signing of Ryan Theriot(The Riot to Bip Roberts). I probably should not fret about it because at this point in his career, Theriot is almost certainly not a starting SS as his offensive and defensive numbers have been in steady decline for several years now. He has maintained the ability to hit LHP's pretty well and the Giants projected lineup leans to the left with some switch-hitters who probably hit better LH, so the Giants may be thinking of him as a RH bat off the bench or a RH platoon partner with Crawford. He also does give them a bit of a safety net in case Crawford's offensive numbers crater, but Theriot would probably remind Giants fans more of Miguel Tejada or OCab on defense than, say, Omar Vizquel. In fact, Theriot's Bayou Buddy, Mike Fontenot, had much better defensive numbers at SS last year than The Riot Man! Problem is, Fonty would not make a platoon with Crawford because they both hit LH. Theriot also gives the Giants another option at 2B if Freddy Sanchez' shoulder blows up in Spring Training.
Theriot's signing also opens up almost unlimited opportunity for fun with names and relationships. There's The Riot, of course, made all the more funny by Bip Roberts' local presence. Theriot and Fontenot sound like they should go together in some kind of foot stomping country song: "Theriot and Fontenot, the place is buzzin'. Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen." There's Bayou Brothers, Bayou Boys. The Riot and The Hobbit. The possibilities are already running wild!
Rumors are also out there that the Giants and Xavier Nady have a mutual interest. Nady would be the RH bat off the bench/dumpster dive I have been talking about for awhile. Nady and Bochy also have a connection from San Diego days so it seems like a strong possibility. It's been awhile since Nady as an offensive force of any kind, let alone adequate defensively, but he was a serious hitter in his day. As we've seen, you never want to say never in this game.
These moves create competition for several roster spots putting pressure to perform on several young players. It puts pressure on Crawford to not crater on offense at SS. It puts pressure on Emmanuel Burriss to up his game a notch or two just to hold a roster spot. A Nady signing might jeopardize Brett Pill's chances of making the roster out of spring training and probably would make it more likely that Brandon Belt starts the season in Fresno.
Should be an interesting Spring Training!
Down on the Farm: #31 Austin Fleet
#31 Austin Fleet, RHP. 6'2", 200 lbs. BD: 4/17/1987.
Low A: 8-5, 4.32, 66.2 IP, 24 BB, 48 K.
AA: 0-0, 2.77, 13 IP, 2 BB, 6 K's.
AFL: 2-1, 3.00, 18 IP, 3 BB, 17 K.
Fleet was drafted as a senior out of Coastal Carolina, a top notch college program. He was a starter for his first 3 seasons there, but became a top college closer his senior season. BA's Draft Database says he showed a 93-94 MPH FB in college with good sink. He signed quickly and the Giants immediately put him at starter in Arizona where he pitched well, but probably at too low a level to really challenge him.
He sputtered a bit in Augusta pitching in both starting and relief roles. He then put up a solid line in the AFL, which probably helped his stock a lot. One thing I noticed is that he seemed to morph from a ground ball pitcher with a GO/AO= 1.67 in 2010 to a pretty extreme flyball pitcher with a GO/AO= 0.48 in AA and 0.79 in the AFL, although those are both very small sample sizes.
I'm thinking AA is the most likely place for him to start out 2012, most likely out of the bullpen, but he could be moved back to starter any time.
Low A: 8-5, 4.32, 66.2 IP, 24 BB, 48 K.
AA: 0-0, 2.77, 13 IP, 2 BB, 6 K's.
AFL: 2-1, 3.00, 18 IP, 3 BB, 17 K.
Fleet was drafted as a senior out of Coastal Carolina, a top notch college program. He was a starter for his first 3 seasons there, but became a top college closer his senior season. BA's Draft Database says he showed a 93-94 MPH FB in college with good sink. He signed quickly and the Giants immediately put him at starter in Arizona where he pitched well, but probably at too low a level to really challenge him.
He sputtered a bit in Augusta pitching in both starting and relief roles. He then put up a solid line in the AFL, which probably helped his stock a lot. One thing I noticed is that he seemed to morph from a ground ball pitcher with a GO/AO= 1.67 in 2010 to a pretty extreme flyball pitcher with a GO/AO= 0.48 in AA and 0.79 in the AFL, although those are both very small sample sizes.
I'm thinking AA is the most likely place for him to start out 2012, most likely out of the bullpen, but he could be moved back to starter any time.
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