minor lines, 7/24/10

The Giants’ 5th rounder, out of Coastal Carolina Univ., in the recent draft finally made his pro debut in the desert last night after having reprtedly been in camp for about 2 weeks:
1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 4 batters faced (the 3rd out came on a runner caught stealing)

Here’s a bit of trivia about Hembree. He signed the highest over-slot contract that has been approved by the MLB front office so far this season. Hembree’s bonus was for $185,000 bonus, while his MLB-suggested slot was $144,900, for an over-slot amount of $40.1K. Yes, there have been reports in the press of many other deals that were more than $40.1K over-slot, but none of those have been approved by MLB, and none of those players are in camp yet. According to several recent reports that is about to change this week. The MLB FO is about to increase the overslot percentage that they are ready to approve.

Bucardo’s getting called up to San Jose. keep up the good work Jorge

There was another Giant making his pro debut last night in the desert. In fact, he pitched the inning before Hembree and earned the win. At his current rate he will be the first relief pitcher in the history of baseball to record a win in every appearance!

Schumer is a 6’, 180 lb. RHP/3B out of UNC-Asheville that didn’t get drafted last month. The Giants signed him as an udrafted FA about 20 days ago and he’s been working out with the Scottsdale club for about the past 10 days. According to his college coach the Giants like him so much that they suggested he could end up pitching in Augusta later in the summer:

“Justin pitched in some free agent camps and really impressed some scouts,” commented Bulldog head coach Tom Smith. "We were hoping he would get drafted but the Giants thought enough of him to sign him and send him to their Arizona team. They told Justin that if he pitched well there he could possibly be promoted to Augusta (Ga.) of the South Atlantic League later in the season. “We’re proud of Justin,” added Smith. “He worked hard this season and really grew into a good pitcher. His record (2-6) doesn’t reflect how well he did, especially at the end of the year.” Schumer had the second lowest ERA on the team (4.40) in 2010. He struck out a team-high 49 hitters in 72 innings pitched with one save and one complete game.

Schumer was both a starting pitcher and a infielder (mostly 3B, but he also played SS, and 2B) in college. The Giants want him to be a pro pitcher. I’m sure that they know what they’re doing, but I like his hitting stats way better than his pitching. His slash line for the 2010 season was:
.384/.461/.621/1.082 with a wOBA=.465, K-rate=17.6, and BB-rate=12%.
You can check out his pitching stats here – other than the low # of HRs allowed it’s not pretty:
http://www.collegesplits.com/cgi-bin/csPlayer.cgi?pl=schumju42

Finally, here’s the scouting report on Schumer from the PerfectGame website. This was written way back in the summer before his senior year in college:

Shumer is a 5-11, 160 lb senior shortstop from North Carolina who was one of the top prospects at the Atlantic Coast Top Prospects Showcase. He’s a top level defensive shortstop who should excel at that difficult position throughout college and perhaps beyond. Shumer shows excellent arm strength for the position. He threw 88 mph during infield drills and made some cannon throws during the games. Shumer made all the plays you’d want to see a shortstop make. At the plate, Shumer has surprising power for his size. He pressed a bit during batting practice and got long to the ball, but drove the ball hard consistently during the games, including a few deep shots that showed his pop. Shumer stays very balanced in the batter’s box and is a versatile hitter. He’s a 7.11 runner who can take the extra base. Shumer also pitched a bit and showed prospect tools at that position as well, with a live 84-86 mph fastball after playing shortstop for 2 days. Shumer is a winner with a very bright baseball future. He is also an excellent student.

Rafael Rodriguez, the relief pitcher for the Angels’ AAA franchise that is.

LOL D’Backs. The Angels really appear to have gotten a much better deal here – especially when you consider what they gave to the A’s to obtain Haren in the first place. The Angels get 2.5 seasons of Dan Haren (29 years old), for Joe Saunders (29 year old starting pitcher for the Angels), the 25 year old AAA reliever, Rafael Rodriguez, a 21 year old LHP in A ball (record is 13-3) and the infamous PTBNL. It seems like the Giants could have offered them a better deal, centered around J. Sanchez (who I like much more than Saunders). But, the Snakes probably would never trade Haren in their own division unless it was an absolute steal, and BS is most likely saving Sanchez in an attempt to get a big bat before the deadline.

BB started for Richmond tonight, after sitting out 1 game with a sore wrist. He’s 1-3, with a double and 2 flyouts through 6 innnings.

Pretty solid line for Wellemeyer there. When he comes back to the big league club, he should totally push MadBum to the bullpen.