The SF Giants Prospect Round-Up: A System Shakeup

Happy Post Fireworks Week!

Sure, July 4th was a week ago. But there were still some sights to say that you saw…

Joey Bart

Just a reminder…

Also, he had a grand slam after that two home run game.

System Shuffling

This week saw the Giants make a move that affected the status of three prospects.

The long-awaited debuts of Ray Black and Steven Duggar happened after their promotions as Sunday. While Black struggled in his first appearance, it’s not inconceivable that the two are in the Majors for a long while, if not for good.

To make room? The Giants traded away two Major Leaguers: Austin Jackson and Cory Gearrin, and one of the rising stars in the minors: Jason Bahr.

The Giants’ prospect depth certainly gets shallower, with two soon-to-be graduates and one traded. But at least graduations are what you want the farm system to do. Still, with Bahr traded, the gulf of high-ceiling pitching between High-A and Double-A widens. Shaun Anderson has helped in that regard, but the Giants will still have a hole in pitching depth hitting the Majors soon.

All-Star Futures Game

Let’s be honest; most people are probably very disappointed with how Heliot Ramos’ season. The 18-year old has come alive a bit of late, but still has a line of .246/.324/.380. There are a lot of reasons to not be incredibly worried or upset by this, but it certainly hasn’t been an impressive line.

However, everyone still sees the potential in him, and that’s one reason why he was selected to the All-Star Futures Game.

e’ll be joined by fellow Giants prospect Shaun Anderson. The 23-year old Anderson, who was acquired in the Eduardo Nunez trade, has put together a strong season in the Eastern League with a 3.45 ERA in 17 appearances. Anderson has 93 strikeouts agains 22 walks in 94 innings of work.

Fans may rightfully get picky about the Giants’ farm system being shallow, but the Giants did send two prospects, rather than being one of the 11 teams with only one representative.

A Change in International Free Agency

Okay, this one isn’t a Giants’ story, but it has some very interesting implications.

The July 2nd signing period covers all countries except the U.S. and Canada, but generally you do not see players from Japan or Korea signed the same way you see players from the Caribbean. This was for two reasons: Those countries had strong professional leagues that allowed those players to develop, and because the money that American teams could offer had recently become much more limited.

But the Royals signed 16-year old Kaito Yuki out of Japan, believed to be the youngest player ever signed out of Japan to the Majors.

Is this a one-time thing? Or, after this year, will Major League Baseball begin to see a bigger race to sign the youngest players out of Japan, starting a new race with NPB? I can’t imagine that Japan might not consider putting some rules in place to protect their major source of players, their own country.

That’s off in the future. However, if this begins some controversies that carry into the already contentious upcoming collective bargaining agreements, remember this is the start of an international revolution.

Richmond Finally Gets a Player of the Week

30-year old Jerry Sands became the first Richmond player to win a weekly award this season from the Easter League. It’s been that kind of year for Richmond.

For the week of July 2nd through July 8th, Sands hit .429 (9-for-21) with five doubles and two home runs over six games. That powered him to a .952 slugging percentage on the week.

Sands is batting .258/.349/.509 in 78 games this season, as the first baseman has been one of Richmond’s stabilizing forces in a season of turmoil. He has 13 home runs and 24 doubles on the year.

A Nice Story About Rehabbing Pitchers

Logan Webb and Mac Marshall are two pitchers working their way back to health this season in San Jose. Things have gone a little better for Webb than for Marshall, who is back on the disabled list, but their shared journey has helped them grow closer.

Saturday’s Lines

Sacramento and Richmond are still on their All-Star Breaks

Yes, I was mistaken…the All-Star Games are scheduled for Wednesday…oops.

San Jose Footprints

• Welcome to the California League, Joey Marciano. In 80.1 innings, Joey only gave up three home runs at Augusta. It only took 4.1 innings for him to reach that number in San Jose.
• Rodolfo Martinez had his worst game of the season, with three hits and three walks turning into six earned runs. He’s now at a .290 batting average allowed, the highest he’s allowed in San Jose. He’s previously struggled giving up hits, but mostly only up in Richmond.
• Bryce Johnson got on base with a pair of hits and a pair of walks. It’s the second 2-hit game in a row for Johnson, and his OBP is now up to .324.
• Jalen Miller reached double-digit home runs for the first time in his career with a 2-run shot. His slugging percentage is .456, which is far higher than his previous high of .346 last season.

Augusta Putt-putt Course

Augusta had a scheduled day off.

Salem-Keizer Crater

Salem-Keizer also had a scheduled day off.

Arizona Black Adders

• Sean Roby led the Black team with three hits, giving him a .308 batting average at the level. In 10 games, he’s collected five walks and five strikeouts in 39 at-bats.
• Frankie Tostado had his third straight game with multiple hits. He’s got a .375/.393/.518 batting line, with 11 strikeouts against two walks.
• Tyler Herb got into his third rehab game, giving up two runs in four innings. Herb’s ERA of 7.04 in the AZL as the 26-year old works his way back.

Arizona Orange Order

• Seth Corry had another solid start on the season. He’s only given up one earned run, and has not allowed an earned run in four of his five starts. Corry still has 10 walks against 25 strikeouts in 22.2 innings this season.
• Chris Heston continued his rehab, with his fifth game in the AZL. He’s worked primarily in relief and has yet to give up a run in seven innings, with seven strikeouts against one walk.
• Tyler Flores got on base five times on the day, with two hits and three walks. He now has nine walks against nine strikeouts in 49 at-bats. The 22-year old is batting .347/.433/.490 in 14 games this season.
• George Bell had his first 2-walk game of the season, bumping his on-base percentage up to .419 in 15 games. The 20-year old also has five stolen bases in five attempts.
• Yorlis Rodriguez extended his hitting streak up to eight games with a two-hit game. The 18-year old has six walks on the season, and his OBP (.451) is higher than his slugging percentage (.409).

Dominican Beach

The DSL Giants were postponed due to rain.

The Wrap-Up:

Do you love amazing baseball plays on pixelated video? Sure you do!

Reminds me a little of a 2012 play by Sandoval and Crawford, except with an extra throw to first. Ironically, apparently that only exists in pixellated video as well.

What? You want something Giants’ related? Okay, how about my absolute favorite alternate jerseys yet this year!

The Astros can take their tequila sunrise and hit Margaritaville!