The SF Giants Prospect Round-Up: The International Signings

Happy Independence Day! Get ready for the alternate jerseys! Also, um, fireworks and BBQ and contemplation and other stuff. But mostly, the uniforms.

The July 2nd Signings

Obviously, Marco Luciano, Jairo Pomares and Luis Matos were the headliners of this group.

If you weren’t following ….., you should be. He’s been posting some details and video about the young players.

But here is where we need to state some comment sense. It’s unlikely we’ll see most of these players (particularly Luciano) this summer. And the oldest of these players, Melvin Marte, only turns 18 in 11 days (July 15th). That means that these kids will take some time to develop, so don’t rush them. And even then, these young men will be fighting against the odds to make it. This year, over and over, I’ve pulled out comparisons to Angel Villalona and Rafael Rodriguez, two notable busts.

But lets talk about the two international free agents the Giants did sign and have on their 40-man roster (not including Pablo Sandoval). Miguel Gomez was signed in 2011 for $200,000. Reyes Moronta signed in 2010 for $15,000. Bonus rules and amounts have obviously changed since even just 7-8 years ago, but obviously neither player were considered top prospects. But that’s the thing about the International Free Agent market, it’s hard to truly predict how these teens will develop.

So be patient.

By the way, read about Reyes Moronta’s signing and path to the Majors with this nice article by Kerry Crowley.

MiLB.com Grades The Giants Farm System…And It’s Barely Passing

The official Minor League Baseball website gave midseason grades to each farm system in the National League. The grades are based on player performance, not acquisitions and…well, it wasn’t good.

Click the link above to see the full details, but the Grade is a solid D. It specifically points out top hitter Heliot Ramos having consistency issues in Augusta, and (former) top arm Tyler Beede struggling to a mighty level. The players who have done good (Chris Shaw and Steven Duggar) are still having mixed campaigns, although it does point out a couple of bright spots in Shaun Anderson and Jason Bahr.

It is hard to argue with the grading. The top prospects in the system have not been great, and many of the top performances they have had have come from players without high ceilings or not the strongest pasts to base things off of.

Perhaps the full season grade will be better, if Ramos continues to show improvement, and some of the 2018 draftees come through with nice summer performances.

Then again, you’ll never know what’ll happen in the summer.

STOP THAT

Slater’s Off the List, But…Doval?

It should be noted that MLB.com doesn’t shuffle its prospect list midseason, even if it will replace players who get promoted or traded. After all, at this point I don’t think anyone would put Beede in the Top 10, nor why Ray Black is at #29 right now.

But…Camilo Doval? I don’t get into rankings much, but this one is a fun debate.

Doval definitely has a raw arm and had some huge power stats going into the offseason, striking out 14+ per nine innings (51 in 32.1 IP). The difficult thing is that for having a power fastball like Doval has, he gets hit hard. His WHIP has jumped up to 1.36, his average allowed is .230, and he’s suddenly giving up more flyball outs than groundouts. His stats look bad after he gave up eight earned runs in 1.1 IP over his first three games, including walking all four batters he faced in his first outing.

Since then, he has 42 strikeouts against six walks in 28 innings, and 20 hits allowed in that span. His ERA is 1.61 in the 22 games since.

Which Doval is which? Is he the wild, hittable raw player? Or is he starting to get control? And would he be the player you add to the Top 30 with Slater leaving (excluding the 2018 draftees and signees), or would you add someone else? Tell us in the comments who you would have added.

The Return of Seth Corry

This is a bit older, but this is a scouting report that should be good news mostly. Corry really struggled last year, with more walks than strikeouts. This year, in three outings, he has a 0.71 ERA with 16 strikeouts and seven walks in 12.2 IP. There’s no doubt, that is still a very high walkrate, but it’s much improved for the 19-year old. He’s still got room to grow, but he’s growing like he should be.

Hitter of the Week - Heath Quinn

It was a nice week for the San Jose outfielder, as he continues to put together a nice season.

Quinn was 9-for-23 with two doubles and three triples on the week, with three walks against just six strikeouts. That’s a batting line of .391/.461/.870.

The 3rd round pick is putting together a very nice season in his second go-around at San Jose. The 23-year old is batting .331/.387/.544 with 12 doubles and eight home runs over 44 games. At this point, it’s likely just a matter of time before he gets a chance with Richmond.

Pitcher of the Week - Juan Sanchez

A new name on our list as the 17-year old Sanchez has begun putting together some very good outing.

Sanchez struck out 12 against one walk in 11 innings, giving up just an unearned run on six hits. That included one start with five no-hit innings, and Tuesday he struck out eight in six innings.

The 17-year old left-hander is in his first professional season, and it’s fair to say it’s been good through his first six games. He has a 1.19 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP, and has 34 strikeouts against four walks in 30.1 IP. As the Giants welcome a group of big signings on the international market, one of last year’s July 2nd signings (for $125,000) is making waves. Sanchez was throwing 86-89 in the spring, with a curve and changeup both in the 70’s. I’d be interested to see what he’s throwing now.

Saturday’s Lines

Sacramento Litter Box

• Jordan Johnson’s Triple-A debut didn’t go well, and he didn’t get much support. Johnson had a 3.63 ERA in Richmond while in his second season there, striking out 77 in 79.1 innings. But he only struck out two while walking four in his Triple-A debut.
• The offense struggled to just four singles. Miguel Gomez picked up one, as his bat continues to pick up hits in his Sacramento return. He’s 9-for-25 (.360) since his return.
• Chris Shaw picked up one of the other singles, but the better news is that for the first game in his last seven where he didn’t strike out. He had 11 in his last 26 at-bats before this game.

Richmond Nuthouse

• An extra-inning loss for the Squirrels, despite some big hits. Jerry Sands hit his 12th home run, while Davis had his eighth of the year, but it wouldn’t be enough.
• Caleb Gindl broke a 2-for-16 streak with his 3-hit game, including his fourth double in Richmond, and ninth overall (including those from Sacramento.
• Chase Johnson was on the mound to start the game, and he struggled big time. Johnson, who hasn’t gone more than four innings in a start, had not given up an earned run since May 20th until this game.
• Garrett Williams made his third relief appearance, and his first one without allowing a run.

San Jose Footprints

• Raffi Vizcaino took the mound and had one of his roughest of the season. Over the last three games, he’s walked at least four in each game and gone, at most, five innings.
• And just because everything else is going rough, Frank Rubio had his first multi-runs allowed outing in San Jose. His ERA jumped up to 3.86 from 1.80 in the game.
• Jalen Miller was hogging all the SJ Giants’ hits, collect two of the three, including his 22nd double. He has a 5-game hitting streak after today.

Augusta Putt-putt Course

• Well, at least this wasn’t a complete blowout.
• However, Augusta’s run was scored through almost no work of their own. Manuel Geraldo got on base thanks to an error, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.
• John Gavin had an interesting start. He only allowed one hit, but gave up four walks in five innings. It was the one hit that bit him, a two-out home run in the first inning that gave Columbia a temporary lead.

Salem-Keizer Crater

• Hey, a win!
• The Volcanoes jumped out in front with back-to-back home runs in the first inning. David Villar hit his second of the season. He’s only 5-for-22 in six games at Salem-Keizer, but both home runs are there, along with four walks against just two strikeouts.
• Wander Franco (yes, that one) hit his first home run of the season as part of a two-hit game.
• Keaton Winn had the short start on the mound, as he’s gone only two innings in each of his four starts. Winn’s stayed fairly consistent in his four start, giving up six hits and six strikeouts with just one walk in eight innings.
• Greg Jacknewitz took 5.1 IP in relief. He has four outings in Salem-Keizer, one of which was a start. Three outings that went five innings and one that was 1.2 IP. Guess which one was the start?

Arizona Sun

Both Arizona Giants teams had the day off. So far, Orange has the better record, at 6-6, which givens them 4th place in the East Division. Black is 4-8, which is 5th in the 6-team division.

Dominican Beach

• Quite a day for third basemen, both of them, for the Giants. Luis Toribio had a 1-for-2 day with his 6th double of the season. Toribio is 3 for his last 14. He was lifted for a pinch runner in Martin Doria, who went on to go 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles.
• 18-year old Andrew Carabello hit his second double and first home run of the season.
• On the mound, pitcher of the Week Juan Sanchez earned the win, striking out eight while allowing just one unearned run on six hits.

The Wrap-Up:

I loved this!

The Giants’ Turn Ahead The Clock uniform was very, very weak. Almost no orange? Weak.

That said, I am all up for a new imagining of Turn Ahead the Clock, with a brand new concept for the Giants. And a lot of other teams. Something that doesn’t feature only super-sized logos.

Am I the only one?

Finally, let me get political with baseball jerseys. The Eugene Emeralds wore their Monarcas identity last night, for the Copa de la Diversión. They had a special July 4th-themed jersey for their hispanic alternate identity, featuring the Statue of Liberty and the Ollin symbol shared by the Aztecs and Mayan cultures, which I am not educated enough to even try to describe, although I’ll let the Emeralds’ tweet try to.

But the symbol that I’m taking to heart the most is the Monarch identity they have taken, and not just for the baseball bat they’ve hidden in the logo.