San Francisco Giants Draft Preview IV: High School RHPs
by Grant on Jun 4, 2009 11:51 AM PDT
48 comments
Do Shelby Miller, Jacob Turner, and Zach Wheeler all blend together into one amorphous high-school rightie mass for anyone else? Maybe it's the -er last names. Maybe it's the scouting reports that have mid-90s fastballs and some sort of hard breaking ball for all of them. Maybe it's the lack of in-game footage for all three. In ten years, it'll be clear that one of these pitchers would have been a fine choice at #6. I'm not going to pretend that I have even a hint as to which one will pan out.
I will write this, though: A 2013 rotation with Madison and Shelby at the top would be hawt. Or creepy. Maybe just a little strange. It shouldn't affect the Giants' draft board, but as a tiebreaker, it beats a coin flip.
Since 1999, the Giants have drafted five high school right-handers in the first round of the amateur draft:
Tim Alderson
Craig Whitaker
Matt Cain
Boof Bonser
Jerome Williams
Four of the five were top-100 kind of prospects at one point, with only Whitaker languishing forgotten in the minors. Even though Bonser and Williams haven't done a lot at the major league level, don't forget that they did bring a lot back in trade. Like, an All-Star catcher and a fire-throwing closer, which is a sweet haul. The jury's still out on Alderson and Cain, of course, but both still have a chance to bring a veteran back in trade. If we take Miller, Turner, or Wheeler, there's pretty good chance that we could trade one of them for Mo Vaughn's enormous, power-laden son in 2015. That has to be kept in mind for this draft.
Quick bits on all three:
- Shelby Miller is a Texas right-hander, which is a classification that has that Pennsylvania QB kind of sheen to it. By law, I'm required to work the names Josh Beckett, Roger Clemens, and Nolan Ryan into this post. Miller throws hard.
MLB.com Draft Report
Fan report from Lone Star Ball
Prospect Insider report - Zach Wheeler is a Georgia right-hander. By law, I'm required to work in an Allman Brothers reference into this post. Wheeler throws hard.
MLB.com Draft Report
YouTube video #1
YouTube video #2
Baseball America story - Jacob Turner is a Missouri right-hander. By law, I'm required to work in a, uh, Kirk Rueter reference. Let me work on that one. Turner throws hard.
MLB.com Draft Report
PG Crosschecker report
Video from ProspectTube
Interview with a Yankees blog
I'd be fine with any of the three at #6, as it would mean that someone in the Giants organization is high on them. I'd guess that a couple of these guys are far up the Giants' draft board, and the cost of buying out their college commitments might be a factor. I wouldn't take any of them above Aaron Crow right now, but the Giants might not have the chance to draft Crow.
Ranking pulled from my nether regions: 1. Wheeler, 2. Turner, 3. Miller. Ask me again tomorrow, and I might reverse the order, mainly because I have no idea what I'm writing about. But if this draft summary has a point, it's that I trust the Giants to pick the right high-school arm if that's the direction they want to take. Any of the three would work for me.
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They Mill, they Turn, they Wheel.
Supporting San Francisco Dugout since 2005 and Manny Burriss since 2006, and bringing you all your California League needs since 2009.
by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Jun 4, 2009 11:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Harry Truman
bringing you moral turpitude since 1963
by Idaho Nick on Jun 4, 2009 11:56 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Maybe he didn't pitch, but he spit and scratched.
bringing you moral turpitude since 1963
by Idaho Nick on Jun 4, 2009 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Mort Cooper
bringing you moral turpitude since 1963
by Idaho Nick on Jun 4, 2009 11:57 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Jerome Williams may not have done much in the long run, but he did at least have a couple of pretty good years in 2003 and 2004.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Also, it’s really weird to me that it’s been so long since Jesse Foppert, Jerome Williams, and Kurt Ainsworth were the incredibly exciting future of the franchise. I’m getting old. Also, what a disappointment that was. Here’s hoping Bumgarner and Alderson fare more like Lincecum and Cain than like those three.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fopper, Williams, and Ainsworth haunt my dreams.
by xanthan on Jun 4, 2009 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I really wonder what the heck happened to Foppert. With Williams and Ainsworth it was loss of velocity via injury. Foppert’s problem seems completely tied up in his inability to find home plate.
Merkin Valdez? Manuel Mateo? A rose by any other name...
by rotorueter on Jun 4, 2009 12:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Foppert had TJ and he never really recovered. Ainsworth had shoulder problems and he never recovered. Jerome just got fat.
by xanthan on Jun 4, 2009 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Williams became a bit of a head case, too.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Here's a pic I took of him pitching for the Rivercats recently
The eyes are just as scary as the combination of crazy stuff and inherent wildness.
This was from my first ever sports photography session in Omaha, NE. Note: in the Athletics Nation post, I refer off-hand to “Sandoval” as if everyone knows who he is. Definitely forgot where I was.
"The BB's are out. The BB's are being arseholes to me." - Brian Wilson.
by hairball on Jun 4, 2009 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
And Ainsworth’s injury, as I recall, was really freaky. I remember reading an article about how, as far as the Giants could tell, no pitcher had ever had that particular type of shoulder injury.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It was a cracked shoulder something or another, I think. I can’t find any specifics right now.
by xanthan on Jun 4, 2009 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fractured scapula. Very weird injury indeed.
Supporting San Francisco Dugout since 2005 and Manny Burriss since 2006, and bringing you all your California League needs since 2009.
by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Jun 4, 2009 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oh, and Ainsworth also falls in that Williams/Bonser category of bringing an awful lot of trade value.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It’s Former Giants Pitchers Whose Careers Make You Sad Talk!
Also:
Salomon Torres
Shawn Estes
William Van Landingham
etc.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was going to out Atlee Hammaker on that list, but then I forgot.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Indeed.
At one point he looked like he’d be one for the same reasons – came up in 1999, had iffy numbers but enough flashes of brilliance to be really intriguing, then ended up getting hurt and was getting knocked around in the minors so much he looked like a lost cause.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Former Giants prospects/pitchers who’s careers make me sad:
Noah Lowry
Merkin Valdez
Francisco Liriano (if he hadn’t always gotten hurt, he never would have been traded and we’d have our own Johan Santana)
Jerome Williams
Jesse Foppert
by Hobbes2d on Jun 4, 2009 4:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The book isn’t closed on Valdez yet!
Judgment Day is coming
comics | art | Nattowear
by Natto on Jun 5, 2009 12:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Didn’t Foppert lose velocity too? As I recall, when he came up his velocity was down, and it was all very mysterious why that was, and then he had to get Tommy John surgery.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pie > cake, that Bochy is endowed by his creator with certain undeniable traits, that among these are veteran man-love, a gigantic skull, and the pursuit of the double switch.
Adopted Giant: Fred Lewis, who can still draw a walk.
by jcb9 on Jun 4, 2009 12:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think he lost phantom velocity
in the minors he was “throwing 96” (allegedly). This never, ever showed up in SF.
FIRE BRIAN SABEAN... UNLESS HE KEEPS DRAFTING WELL. .. AND SIGNS UNDERRATED PLAYERS LIKE AFFELDT OR PHELPS. .. OR ALRIGHT WHO'S PLAYING WITH THE ALIEN MIND-SWITCHING RAY?
-------
PARPG- Indy post-apocalyptic roleplaying game currently in early planning stages.
by zenbitz on Jun 4, 2009 12:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
By all accounts, he really did throw that hard, or harder. He was already hurt by the time he made the majors.
by Evan on Jun 4, 2009 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Actually, even Foppert says that the reports about his velocity in the minors were exaggerated.
“It’s kind of a little hard to believe,” Foppert said. “I don’t think I was ever in the upper 90s.”
I think he was probably closer to 93 in the minors. His major league fastball was around 88-89, so obviously something was wrong with him by the time he made the majors, but this is a definite case of exaggerated velocity. It’s pretty common, though. Cain’s Wikipedia page, for example, says he throws 93-98, while in real life he’s more like 90-95.
Adoptive parent of Noah Lowry.
:-(
by Cookyman on Jun 4, 2009 6:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I remember that. I went to Ainsworth’s first ML win as well as Williams’ first ML win. Foppert was my favorite Giant for a while.
Supporting San Francisco Dugout since 2005 and Manny Burriss since 2006, and bringing you all your California League needs since 2009.
by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Jun 4, 2009 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
He was probably way more than worth whatever we paid for him.
Merkin Valdez? Manuel Mateo? A rose by any other name...
by rotorueter on Jun 4, 2009 12:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
If I'm not mistaken
There’s a Madison Younginer in this draft. Imagine cornering the market on Madison ___g__ners.
"The BB's are out. The BB's are being arseholes to me." - Brian Wilson.
by hairball on Jun 4, 2009 12:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Or M________ ________s!
The San Francisco Giants: Where old men go to die.
by GrahamCrakalaka on Jun 4, 2009 12:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Would that make MadBum into Madison Oldiner?
Meet my new son: Sundrendy Windster, coming soon to a minor league near you.
by EliminateMe on Jun 4, 2009 12:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
We could call them Mad the Younger and Mad the Elder!
Merkin Valdez? Manuel Mateo? A rose by any other name...
by rotorueter on Jun 4, 2009 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
2011 Giants lineup:
1B – Pablo Sandoval
2B – Emmanuel Burriss
3B – Pablo ______
SS – Emmanuel ______
CF – Aaron Rowand
LF – Fred Lewis
RF – Fred Schierholtz (CHANGE UR FUCKIN’ NAME)
C – Buster Posey
Rotation:
#1: Tim Lincecum
#2: Madison Bumgarner
#3: Matt Cain
#4: Madison Zito
#5: Tim Alderson
SYMMETRY FTW
by quincy0191 on Jun 4, 2009 2:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
so what happened to all the talk about donovan tate?
by sadison bummedgarner on Jun 4, 2009 12:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
oh good God, please, NO…. just.. No. He’s too raw and will probably end up playing at USC.
by aBulldog on Jun 4, 2009 2:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
He’s not that raw. He profiles as a plus defender in CF, and isn’t nearly as raw as he’s sighted offensively. He’s commited to UNC not USC.
by Hobbes2d on Jun 4, 2009 3:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
oilean and telamonian!
i adopt Les Plack, D.D.S. for the following reasons:
1. greatest name for occupation ever (except maybe lesbian prostitute sharon bottoms)
2. i am hoping for free dental care from my son (if he ever hears of this)
3. When asked a question about how he felt about Manny being suspended, Les replied "All smiles"
by Headhunter Rollins on Jun 4, 2009 1:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree that the organization’s recent perspicacity in the drafting of pitchers makes me willing to enthusiastically support any of these three if they become our choice at #6. Even so, after reading about them this past season, I’m inclined toward Miller and Wheeler, in that order.
Sergio Romo: striking out professional hitters since 2005. And winner of the 2012 NL Fireman of the Year Award!
by Lyle on Jun 4, 2009 1:49 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I trust the Giants to pick the right high-school arm if that’s the direction they want to take.
When they do take a high school arm and he turns out to be Craig Whitaker version 2, we’ll know who to blame.
GROUGTHINK ALERT
Chatterbalks dot com: Still with jokes. Now with updates.
by groug on Jun 4, 2009 1:58 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Whom to blame. Sheesh, stupidhead.
by Dan from NM on Jun 4, 2009 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Is it?
Why?
GROUGTHINK ALERT
Chatterbalks dot com: Still with jokes. Now with updates.
by groug on Jun 4, 2009 9:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Who is for subjects. Whom is for objects. Who is that? Whom do we ask?
Joe Martinez: My fingers are crossed and my palms are together for you.
When it's all said and done, America will be remembered for three things: The Bill of Rights, jazz, and baseball.
by cornball on Jun 8, 2009 6:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I honestly think there are college pitchers that will be better to take. For the #6 pick, I have seen SOOOOO many players picked at the Giants spot, and a ton of other guys picked ahead of the Giants that I haven’t given much though to. I think the Giants can get two solid pitchers in the 1st and 2nd round.
Also, I think their are a couple lefties out of HS that are better than these righties. There’s a California kid out of Capistrano that looks awesome and if he were to stay in California, might be coaxed into signing with the Giants instead of going to College.
I agree though, Crow, if he’s on the board, should be our pick ahead of these guys.
I think the top 3 picks will be, Strasburg, Ackley, Crow… the 3 guys I would like from this draft. The next two guys will probably be pitchers as well, but from what I can see, there’s just a plethora of talent at the pitcher spot, and nobody really knows who’s better than who.
by aBulldog on Jun 4, 2009 2:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
What happened to Lincecum in 2013?
How come Lincecum wouldn’t be on the top of the rotation in 2013? Why only miller and bumgarner? If you think we can’t sign him, you’re dumb because that’s the year el lefty malo comes off our books.
by HarbirD on Jun 4, 2009 5:28 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Shelby Miller
if going HS arm the Texas RHP is the big sturdy body GM Sabean prefers.
by wilriv21 on Jun 4, 2009 10:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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