2014 Top Prospects

[calsnowskier]

Looking at Brown's yearly stats, he had that phenomenal year at SJ, but has been mediocre otherwise:

Gary Brown Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com

I'm wondering if I'm looking at a 'roids profile here. His 2011 year was great with a .925 OPS, and he even stole 53/72 bases. All his other years average .200-.250 LESS on his OPS, and his SBs and SB% go way down as well.

I know a lot of people here are high on Brown, but IMO he needs to put up some better numbers pretty quick. He's at a .725 OPS this year in Fresno, after .660 last year, and only 5/9 on SBs. Not MLB prospect numbers.

I am not sure anyone is super-high on Brown. I know I jumped off his band-wagon a couple years back. He does not have the consistency and appears to be a bit of a head case. However, I still think he has the package to be at least a journeyman/AAAA OF for a decent number of years.

I do not think he looks like a PEDs case at all. He was good in college and continued that into his early pro career. However, because of this success, he was un-coachable, so his performance fell as he rose in the system. There was a reason that he was passed over by every other OF in Fresno for a cuppo last year even though the big club had a major need in the OF. The org was sending him a message. "Shape up or you will not make it to the show."

 

[tzill]

Whoa. You must be a tough grader. Blackburn has a sub-3.00 ERA, Blach has a sub-2.00 ERA. That's "meh"?

But yeah, Crick's still the pitcher who couldn't throw straight.

I've been tracking their PQS, and this is what I see:

Blach: started the season with two average starts, then two disasters, then two dominant ones;
Blackburn: dominant first start, then three disasters and two average starts
Mejia: four of his six starts have been dominant, the other two disasters.
Crick: dominant first start, four disasters since.
Marte: four of his five starts have been disasters
Snodgrass: two starts to stretch out, then a third one which was average.

I'm most encouraged by Blach, but he's not shown consistency yet. Blackburn hasn't been impressive. Mejia actually seems to be the most consistent guy so far, but he's had two really bad starts.

So, yeah, meh.

 

[Stokes1931]

And, Susac is on the DL with a concussion.

Really?

He played last night, and went 2-3 with 2 RBI.

He's hitting .312/.412/.483/.895 in 17 games

 

[calsnowskier]

Really?

He played last night, and went 2-3 with 2 RBI.

He's hitting .312/.412/.483/.895 in 17 games

He just got off the DL. I was unaware he was back

 

[Stokes1931]

He just got off the DL. I was unaware he was back

It's all good. I was unaware he was on the DL!

 

[SFGRTB]

Well, someone in this group is likely going to have to step up in Belt's absence. No one is much confidence, if any. My guess is Adam Duvall might make his way to the Giants. Or Colvin is added to the 40-man (Scoots to the 60-day DL) and Morse moves to 1B. I doubt Susac is called up. Villalona would be intriguing, but VERY doubtful.

 

[SFGRTB]

Stumbled across this tweet, remember this guy?

 

[calsnowskier]

Stumbled across this tweet, remember this guy?

Too bad he never panned out. He was always rather high on my board of our prospects.

A least we got something for him before he was done.

 

[SFGRTB]

Too bad he never panned out. He was always rather high on my board of our prospects.

A least we got something for him before he was done.

What did we get for him again? I can't remember the trade, I can just remember that he had 2 straight starts against the Giants in his only year in the majors. Dominated one of them.

He was always one of my favorite prospects, so much mystery surrounding him.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Escobar with a nice game last night for Fresno:

Grizzlies Report for 5/23: Fresno 7, Salt Lake 3 | Fresno Grizzlies | FresnoBee.com

Shining moment: After allowing 10 runs in his past two starts combined, Grizzlies LH Edwin Escobar (2-5) held the Bees to one run on three hits and two walks in 62/3 innings. Escobar, who lowered his ERA to 5.05, also had a season-high eight strikeouts.

Hitters did their job, too:

Hits aplenty: Fresno rode a 12-hit attack, including three from No. 3 hitter Juan Perez and a home run by Darren Ford, to a 7-3 road victory over Salt Lake in a Pacific Coast League game Friday night. Eight starters finished with at least one hit, with Joe Panik and Andrew Susac getting two each. Gary Brown drove in two runs with a single in the Grizzlies' three-run fourth.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Minor league update:

All hitters, sorted by OPS:

2014 San Francisco Giants Minor League Affiliations - Baseball-Reference.com

All pitchers, by ERA:

2014 San Francisco Giants Minor League Affiliations - Baseball-Reference.com

 

[calsnowskier]

What did we get for him again? I can't remember the trade, I can just remember that he had 2 straight starts against the Giants in his only year in the majors. Dominated one of them.

He was always one of my favorite prospects, so much mystery surrounding him.

We sent him and Stoffel to Houston for Keppinger.

Was not a HOF trade, but it did give us about 1/2 a season of decent util inf play.

 

[tzill]

Escobar with a nice game last night for Fresno:

Grizzlies Report for 5/23: Fresno 7, Salt Lake 3 | Fresno Grizzlies | FresnoBee.com

Shining moment: After allowing 10 runs in his past two starts combined, Grizzlies LH Edwin Escobar (2-5) held the Bees to one run on three hits and two walks in 62/3 innings. Escobar, who lowered his ERA to 5.05, also had a season-high eight strikeouts.

Hitters did their job, too:

Hits aplenty: Fresno rode a 12-hit attack, including three from No. 3 hitter Juan Perez and a home run by Darren Ford, to a 7-3 road victory over Salt Lake in a Pacific Coast League game Friday night. Eight starters finished with at least one hit, with Joe Panik and Andrew Susac getting two each. Gary Brown drove in two runs with a single in the Grizzlies' three-run fourth.

Huh....

 

[Mays-Fan]

Guess who's kicking some pretty good butt (.957 OPS) in Fresno - again?

Travis Ishikawa Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com

 

[tzill]

Guess who's kicking some pretty good butt (.957 OPS) in Fresno - again?

Travis Ishikawa Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com

My buddy and I have a $25 dollar bet on whether he gets called up by the end of May.

Fingers crossed it's Duvall.

 

[SFGRTB]

Ray Black. Remember the name. Kid has ELECTRIC stuff, 99-102 fastball and a nasty snapping slider at 83-86. Pretty easy delivery, doesn't look like he's putting in much effort, has pretty good command.

His problem has been staying healthy. Was completely MIA the last 2 years, but he's pitching now. If he can stay on the diamond, this kid has legit closers stuff. He's in Augusta right now, but could race up the system as fast as his fastball, if he can stay healthy.

 

[SFGRTB]

Also, another success story. Hunter Strickland has been throwing this year since his Tommy John last year. Before he went down, Strickland was dealing in San Jose. He had been a starter most of his career, but the Giants converted him to a full-time relief job so he could air out his fastball. Sits around 92-94, throws a slurve and change. Giants are really high on him. He's on the 40-man. He was briefly in San Jose, but then quickly promoted to Richmond. He could see the bigs this year, surely in September if not sooner.

Fun fact, the Giants claimed him off waivers last April from Pittsburgh. He went to Pittsburgh in exchange for Adam LaRoche a few years back.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Escobar with a nice game last night for Fresno:

Grizzlies Report for 5/23: Fresno 7, Salt Lake 3 | Fresno Grizzlies | FresnoBee.com

Shining moment: After allowing 10 runs in his past two starts combined, Grizzlies LH Edwin Escobar (2-5) held the Bees to one run on three hits and two walks in 62/3 innings. Escobar, who lowered his ERA to 5.05, also had a season-high eight strikeouts.

Hitters did their job, too:

Hits aplenty: Fresno rode a 12-hit attack, including three from No. 3 hitter Juan Perez and a home run by Darren Ford, to a 7-3 road victory over Salt Lake in a Pacific Coast League game Friday night. Eight starters finished with at least one hit, with Joe Panik and Andrew Susac getting two each. Gary Brown drove in two runs with a single in the Grizzlies' three-run fourth.

Escobar followed that up with another solid game on Monday June 2. Beat Sacramento 5-2:

7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Slightly off-topic, but for the first time this year (at least that I've noticed), all our minor league teams are at .500 or better. Notice the W-L in the "Affiliates Pitching" section at the top:

2014 San Francisco Giants Minor League Affiliations - Baseball-Reference.com

All else being equal, better teams have better players. Whether or not that translates to better prospects is another story.

 

[calsnowskier]

It is way early for any "official" lists, but DrB is SOOO excited about Beede that he is placing him as our overall #1 right now. He did not talk about Beede much pre draft because he did not figure there was any chance he would fall to us.

In the comments on his page, most look at the combination of Beede and Garcia in the first two rounds as a sign that both Crick and Susac are VERY much available for a big July trade (Samardja specifically).