Hello there, and welcome to the Prospect Round-Up! Maybe you don’t need to be welcomed, and you’ve been reading for years. But for those of you who haven’t been reading about the farm system in the past and, uh, are suddenly motivated to find any hope in the future possible, welcome! Or maybe you’re wondering why we keep putting up these roster previews for state capitals and golf vacation spots. Let me introduce you what we do here at McCovey Chronicles regarding the minors (and what’s new).
The minor league season starts tomorrow, and we will be providing you daily coverage of the minor league system. Here’s how the schedule works.
Thursday though Tuesday - You will get Minor Lines, a daily recap of the previous day’s minor league games. We will highlight the top performances, and perhaps even pedestrian performances by top prospects. We’ll include tweets, videos and hopefully insight into what you can expect. We’ll be changing things up with how we share the lines, since tables don’t look good in mobile. Please tell us if you like it! Minor Lines will be brought to you, mostly by my colleague Roger. However, I’ll be there for Tuesdays and occasionally filling in elsewhere.
Wednesday - We will bring you the Prospect Round-Up! For those who don’t read up on the Prospects everyday, this is your tl:dr. The Round-Up will give you the best of the week: updates on top prospects (and Tyler Rogers), the highlights from around the system, and occasionally outside commentary. This spring, we will also be talking about what could be coming in this June’s draft, when the Giants will have one of their highest draft picks ever. I’ll be handling this most weeks, although I may get help when needed. The Round-Up used to run on Sundays, but now it’ll help you get through your hump day.
Yeah, not exactly the most complicated schedule.
This year, you’re going to see a lot of new and exciting stuff at McC, including even more posting than ever, since that other guy that used to be here moved on. Just saying, the word-count will be high. But if your prospect news is getting lost in the shuffle, just head to the They Might Be Giants section, where all of our reports can be found in one place.
We’ll feature some other things throughout the year. Obviously, this year’s draft is as big as the Giants have had in years, and we will give you a lot of incorrect predictions about who the Giants pick, and then complain when they reach for a guy that was ranked #22 in pre-draft rankings by Baseball America. After the draft, we’ll review the picks for the most important quality they have, funny names, and maybe talk about their stats and scouting reports as well. But mostly, any pun that their names could be used for.
And, of course, as always, please comment on the stories. Ask questions, both myself and Roger will be around to answer as best as can. Find my hidden typo and tell me about it for free internet points. Tell us you love us. Tell us you love one of us more than the other. Tell me that you too believe Tyler Roger will be an important piece of the major league bullpen. Or tell Roger that, since he’s the one who doesn’t believe. (If you read us on Apple News, please come over to McCoveyChronicles.com proper to talk with us!)
So, I hope you’re looking forward to this season. I know we are. Give us a read, or 187 reads. And then show off to all your friends about how much you know about Tyler Rogers.
The Final Scrimmages
Sacramento and San Jose played an exhibition game on Monday…and since it was a scrimmage, it wasn’t like anything else. And there’s not much that was put online about it. So here’s what I could find in tweet form for your enjoyment.
Minor league exhibition game fun tonight. SJ pitchers facing SJ hitters with Sacramento players in the field. pic.twitter.com/KtpL6Xn2UO
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) April 3, 2018
Tyler Herb will be one to watch in the Sacramento rotation this season. Threw 4 scoreless innings tonight vs the powerful Sacramento lineup. 1 hit allowed, 1 walk, 4 K's. Was in total control. Added to SF's 40-man roster last November.
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) April 3, 2018
Apparently, Sacramento pitchers also faced Sacramento hitters, and that’s nice to see about Tyler Herb.
Speaking of pitchers:
Pat Ruotolo, still the most underrated #SFGiants prospect, struck out two in a perfect 7th. FB 92-94 with a 78-80 CB. Owned a 37.3 K% in Augusta last year.
— Giant Potential (@giant_potential) April 3, 2018
Keep an eye on Pat.
Jacob Heyward with the best at-bat of the night so far for the #SJGiants - just smashed a two-run double off the LF wall facing Rodolfo Martinez. Johneshwy Fargas doubled earlier in the inning.
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) April 3, 2018
Heyward had a hot short-season debut but cooled off last year, so this is nice to see. Yes, he’s Jason Heyward’s brother.
And so, the final score?
Final: River Cats - 1, San Jose Giants - 5.
— River Cats (@RiverCats) April 3, 2018
Thanks to everyone who came out! We'll see you at Raley Field on April 10th! #ClawsUp
On to some things from Tuesday’s game, which took place in San Jose:
Steven Duggar leads off tonight's exhibition game in San Jose with a towering home run to right center off Dereck Rodriguez. I think he's ready for the season.
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) April 4, 2018
Nice.
Also, apparently for this game, there were San Jose pitchers facing Sacramento hitters.
Jeff Arnold with a 2 run shot to left to take the lead over the #Rivercats , 4-3. @SJGiants #exhibition pic.twitter.com/l9sLIcNMZ8
— Tim Cattera Photo (@TimCatteraPhoto) April 4, 2018
And this is the only other news posted as of yet about the last scrimmage. No box scores, and they wouldn’t have counted, anyway.
But, hey, let’s just be happy no one took a baseball to the head.
Baseball America’s Official First Mock Draft
Another connection of Giants with Libertore. As bats fail to separate themselves or move into thus upper tier it seems more and more likely one of the lefties (libertore and mcclanahan) get call. Two months still left. We’ll see. https://t.co/I0klu4jNw8
— Roger Munter (@rog61) April 3, 2018
Warning, it’s behind a paywall. Also, it’s only the top 10, because the MLB Draft is a crapshoot to predict. This mock draft doesn’t exactly offer hard-hitting insight, basically predicting the Giants take Matthew Liberatore because he’s a high school left-handed pitcher, and so was Madison Bumgarner.
That said, it’s been reported that the Giants are scouting Liberatore, so this is just another connection.
Other than that, Casey Mize is predicted to go first overall, and five of the top six predicted picks are pitchers, which says something about this draft.
Juan Ciriaco - Retired and Rehired
Juan Ciriaco coaching at first base - will be the new fundamentals coach for the #SJGiants this season. Was in camp as a player only a week ago. Retired after 15 years, last 10 in SF system.
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) April 3, 2018
The now-34-year old Ciriaco has been a good organizational soldier. He didn’t start with the Giants, joining the team in 2008, after starting his career back in 2003. He’s played in every full-season affiliate during that time, including both Fresno and Sacramento. He hit .277/.320/.400 in 75 games at Sacramento last year. As Joe implies, Juan came into this season intending to play, but it seems that time has come to an end.
There is an interesting twist to this: When the Giants initially announced their coaching staff, the Fundamentals coach was Gary Davenport. Ciriaco now takes that position. Davenport, who has been a pretty regular presence in San Jose, moves to Richmond in that role. Who does he replace? No one. Richmond was the only team in the initial announcements to not receive a Fundamentals coach.
Why was there not a Fundamentals coach announced there at first? Why make this change now, so soon before the season? Honestly, I doubt we’ll ever know. But it is interesting, and worth making conspiracy theories about in comments.
Here’s Heliot!
Hello, Heliot. pic.twitter.com/ETLb9AaUDq
— David Lee (@David11Lee) April 3, 2018
Heliot Ramos swing during live. pic.twitter.com/PSWUlNnbrl
— David Lee (@David11Lee) April 3, 2018
I may need to make this a weekly feature: Pictures or videos of Heliot Ramos for no reason.
Nice to see that Lake Olmstead Stadium is getting a little more GreenJackets action, while the finishing touches are being put on the new SRP Park
Thursday’s Games
AAA: Sacramento at Tacoma, 7:05pm
AA: Richmond at Trenton, 7:00pm
High-A: San Jose at Inland Empire, 7:05pm
Low-A: Augusta at Columbia, 7:05pm
Everyone starts on the road! Make sure to say hello to Roger on Friday with Minor Lines, and enjoy your Prime Year Magic™!