Some Minor Notes

• According to SF Gate the Giants have sent down Brian Horwitz and called up Eugenio Velez. Unless Eugenio has Todd Linden Syndrome, his second round in the majors should be much better than his first. The demotion of Brian Horwitz is surprising. I would much rather have Travis Denker be sent down.
• Here is a list of some Minor Leaguers who are on the DL: Brian Anderson, David Quinowski, Steve Palazzolo, Guillermo Rodriguez, Brian Bocock, Paul Oseguera, Ryan Shaver, Clayton Tanner, Steven Calicutt, Matthew Klimas. I was a big David Quinowski fan before the injury. Hopefully he comes back next year and pitches well.
• Nate Bump was named the EL pitcher of the week. Congratulations, Nate.

Prospect Watch 6/26/08

Fresno defeats Las Vegas 7-2.

Eugenio Velez: 1 for 4, HR, BB, K

Eugenio is hitting .313/.366/.507 in 134 AAA at bats. He also has a 10/6 SB/CS ratio. He is also hitting .213 against lefties and .368 against righties. The splits are probably SSS derived, as I had not remembered such drastic splits last season.

Travis Ishikawa: 1 for 3, HR, BB, K

Lazarus continues to do well against AAA, hitting .294/.381/.706 in his first five games at AAA. By most reckonings, the transition from AA to AAA is nowhere near as tough as the transition from A to AA. For Giants hitting prospects, the transition must be especially easy as they are moving from the pitching friendly EL to the hitting friendly PCL. In fact, according to this handy tool, Travis’s .291/.382/.462 mark in AA translates to .282/.371/.446 in AAA.

Connecticut lost to Portland 2-0.

DH Adam Witter: 2 for 3, 2B, BB, K

Adam was the only offense for the Defenders, as he raised his season line to .213/.333/.411. I like Adam a lot, even though at 25 he is already very old for the league. He’s on my list of players who will break out in a big way next season. Unfortunately, due to his age it may be too late when it happens. If things don’t break his way, he could be another AAAA lifer.

C Pablo Sandoval: 0 for 4, 3K

Ugly start, but at 21 years old, Pablo is at least three years younger than all of the other position players on the team.

SP Garrett Broshuis: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K

This is Garrett’s third straight start in which he has gone 7 innings (allowing 4 runs in those 21 innings). I’m rooting for Garrett because by all accounts he is a nice guy, but I don’t know if he has the pitches to succeed in the majors.

San Jose defeated Modesto 6-4 in 11 innings.

SP Henry Sosa: 3 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Henry’s only real hiccup since his return from the DL. Henry is allowing more hits this season than last, but he has also lowered his walk rate. He has 35 strikeouts in 32 innings.

RP Dan Griffin: 3 IP, 1 H, 2 K

A 6’7 RHP who throws from a low 3/4 angle, Dan is quite the presence on the mound. I like Dan more than I should. He’s already 23 and converted to a RP. His stats are good, but not fantastic (1.42 WHIP, 8.08 K/9) though he does induce a fair amount of groundballs (1.71 GO/AO). But if he can learn to control his pitches, his height and arm angle should make it hard for the batters to pick up the ball.

Augusta blanked Greenville 8-0.

2B Nick Noonan: 1 for 4 (.305/.334/.455)

1B Angel Villalona: 0 for 4, 2 K, (.233/.290/.408 )

SS Charlie Culberson: 2 for 4

Charlie had a terrible April (in which he hit .104) and a good May and June to raise his season stats to .219/.270/.306. If he ends the season at a .270/.360/.400, I would count his year a success. He is only 19 years old. Top 40 prospect for me, though he is more tools than skills right now.

SP Daryl Maday: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 R

A typical start for Maday, as he lowers his ERA to 1.58 and his WHIP to 0.95. A 6’2 RHP, he works in the low 90s, At 22 years old, I’d like to see him take on the Cal league, perhaps once Sosa, English or Pucetas get promoted. If he doesn’t get promoted, he may be the next Giant to win the Most Spectacular Pitcher Award.

Salem-Keizer defeated Tri-City 5-3.

Kelvin Marte: 1 IP, 1 K

I’m riding the K-train, and I’ve no intention of getting off.

The AZL Giants had the day off.

And of course, the really big news is Sergio Romo’s debut in the Giants game yesterday where he struck out two batters. Go Romo!

Prospect Watch 6/23/2008

Fresno was shellacked by Colorado Springs 13-1.

LF Eugenio Velez: 1 for 3, 3B, BB
Velez’s slash stats are .312/.363/.488 with a 9/5 SB/CS rate. The power is a tick more than I expected, but everything else is about where it should be. How significant is the fact that Matt Downs played 2B over him?

2B Matt Downs: 2 for 4, 2B
A good way to start his AAA career. At 24 years old, he is finally age appropriate to his league.

Connecticut lost to Portland 5-3.

Antoan Richardson: 2 for 2, 2 BB, SB (23)
The speedster is hitting .219/.348/.292. At 24 years old, he is old for AA. He’s always had a good walk rate, but it looks like that hole in his swing has finally caught up to him.

Joey Martinez: 1.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4 ER
According to Greg’s Defenders blog, Joey took a liner off his arm. Hope he’s okay.

San Jose is in the middle of an All-Star break. They won their division in the first half with a 43-27 record. I went to the last game before the break and will post a report of it tomorrow.

Augusta defeated Asheville 8-3.

2B Nick Noonan: 3 for 5, 2 2B, SO
His season line is .300/.331/.456. He needs to improve his BB/SO rate, but otherwise his performance has been great.

DH Thomas Neal: 2 for 5, 2B, SO
He is hitting .253/.332/.404 for the season. A slight disappointment thus far.

RP Waldis Joaquin: 1 IP, 1 SO
In his last four appearances, he has struck out 13 batters in 8.1 innings without allowing any hits or walks. Has he finally turned a corner? Some magical wondrous corner that gives him impeccable control?

Salem-Keizer lost to Tri-City 3-1.

RF Jeremiah Luster: 0 for 1, 3 BB
He has 6 BB and 4 SO in only 19 AB’s (.158 BA). I am curious to know if his patience at the plate will translate to a higher batting average.

The AZL Giants lost to the AZL Rangers 12-4.

CF Wendell Fairley: 0 for 3, 2 SO
Looks like the Giants sent Wendell to Scottsdale rather than Salem-Keizer. I can’t say I disagree with that decision, as he has struck out 5 times in six at-bats thus far.

Prospect Watch 6/12/2008

Fresno lost to Colorado Springs 4-2.

2B Eugenio Velez: 2 for 4, CS(4), PO
The hitting is encouraging, but Velez getting picked off negates any of his offensive accomplishments in this game. Eugenio MUST refine his SB skills in order for him to be a viable major leaguer. Moderated update: stop getting picked off dammit.

Connecticut defeated Trenton 3-0

DH Travis Ishikawa: 2 for 4, 2B, HR
Reputed to be excellent defensively, Ishikawa’s offense has stalled the last couple of years in AA. This year, however, he has hit to the tune of .292/.383/.472 while maintaining an excellent 32:41 BB:K ratio. Is this improvement for real? Probably. But he is still hitting a terrible .154/.297/.192 in 52 AB (SSS) against lefties. If he doesn’t improve against lefties, Travis may find his major league future short lived.

SP Joey Martinez: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Joey also had an 8:3 ground out to fly out ratio, which raises it to 2.39 for the season. He also struck out 47 batters in 71 innings. If he builds on todays performance and raises his strikeout ratio to a more respectable rate, he may have a future in the majors as a back of the rotation pitcher.

San Jose lost to Lancaster 8-4

SP Jesse English: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Another standout pitcher of the little Giants’ excellent rotation, Jesse has struck out 66 batters in 68.1 innings this season. He will turn 24 in September. It feels like Jesse’s been around forever, but that’s because he was reportedly kept in extended spring training due to anger issues. Jesse has always had the ability to strike people out on less than stellar velocity (I’ve heard high 80s/low 90s heat), but I have doubts as to whether he will be able to keep his walk rate down in AA. But because of his age, Jesse is another prospect who I’d like the Giants to promote aggressively.

Augusta defeated Asheville 4-3

1B Thomas Neal: 1 for 3, BB, K
An athletic first baseman (he was converted from the outfield), Neal followed up a terrific April with a terrible May in which he hit .217. It looks like he is raking again in June, as he boosted his season line to .265/.351/.429. He is still relatively young– he will turn 21 in August– and he has shown a propensity to take walk in a system that doesn’t seem to teach that skill very well. If his power develops and he continues his solid hitting in San Jose, he will rocket up prospect lists. As it stands right now, he is a top twenty prospect in the system.

RP Andy De La Garza: 3 IP, 0H, 0BB, 7k(!)
San Francisco seems to be very adept in finding pitching talent in the later rounds of the draft. Andy was drafted last year in round 18. A lefty at 6’4, he has struck out 49 batters in 45.2 innings this year while only walking eight. It’s only low A and Andy is already 23 years old, so take these results with a grain of salt. I’m going to wait to see how he fares in AA before I tag him as a legitimate prospect.

Comment starter: Who would you consider to be the superior prospect, Joey Martinez and his GB tendencies or Paul Oseguera who is slightly younger and left-handed? Or is it the secret special answer… neither?

Giants Minor Survey: Fresno Hitters

Today I’d like to start a multi-part multi-day analysis of the Giants Farm system, level by level. Numbers will be crunched. Statements will be stated. Prospects will be de- and re-prospected. At the end everyone will breathe a sigh of relief and nod at each other knowingly for having gone through an event that will have changed their lives FOREVER. By everyone I of course mean the two regular readers that frequent this blog. (Mom? Dad? Is that you?) Anyway. Onward!

AAA FRESNO GRIZZLIES

Like the Odyssey, the Aeneid and all of other great literary works of human history, our story starts in Fresno. Ah, Fresno. I remember you well, from that one time I stopped by.

There are three types of players in Triple-A: career minor leaguers, reclamation projects (usually players recovering from injuries of some sort) and prospects who are on the bubble of being on the major league roster. The Grizzlies this year seem particularly bereft of prospects, a consequence of a draft pick punting and poor amateur scouting during 2003-2005 and a Giants rebuilding year that claimed any prospect that had a pulse (except Nate Schierholtz who is being blocked by Randy “don’t call me Dwight” Winn). As a result, the Grizzlies batters average 27.3 years of age and the pitchers average 28.2, good for sixth and second oldest in the Pacific Coast League. (For your reference, the mean age for both pitchers and batters are 27.0 and there are sixteen teams total in the league.) That was a bone tossed out to the nerds. What it means for the rest of us normals is that the Grizzlies is an older team with a roster full of filler rather than prospects. How exciting!

True Prospects

These are legitimate prospects with a potential to be productive at the major league level.

RF Nate Schierholtz, 24: Nate is hitting .294/.345/.549 for an ops of .894. The big knock on his has been his lack of walks, but it appears that he has addressed that somewhat this year. Last year in Fresno he had a BB:K ratio of 17:54 in 411 at-bats. This year he has improved to 13:29 in 204 AB. He also improved his power stroke. Last year he had an extra base-hit percentage of 39.4. This year his xBH% is up to 45%. He is also reported to have a cannon for an arm and decent range. Also he helps old ladies cross the street and was recruited to infiltrate the Tal Shiar in the offseason. He should be called up to play everyday in San Francisco when Randy Winn gets traded.

IF/OF Eugenio Velez, 26: Giants fans got a whiff of Velez earlier this season and what they smelled was the acrid odor poor of defense and bone-headed baserunning that reminded young and old alike of that one time in college when a bag of potatoes was left to ferment in the pantry as an “experiment”. There were also a few troubling observations of emotional outbursts, though by most accounts prior to this year, Velez had no character issues prior to the season. I’ll chart it up to frustration for now. Velez had a breakout season in 2006 in low-A Augusta (.315/.369/.557, 64 steals) and followed it up with a good season in AA Connecticut (.298/.344/.399, 49 steals). He lost most of his power in the transition to AA and Dodd stadium, a very pitcher-friendly park, but kept his steals up. Thus far through 64 AAA at-bats, he is hitting to the tune of .393/.448/.574 with a 7/3 SB/CS ratio. He won’t maintain that line, but it is promising to see Velez hitting again. I don’t think he will ever be a solid regular in the big leagues, but he should be a decent utility-man once he straightens out his defense and base-running skills.

Fringe Prospects

These are prospects that profile to be bench players/AAAA type players.

CF Clay Timpner, 25: Clay has had 1.5 seasons at the AAA level before entering this season. Clay has always hit for decent average (his career BA is .280) and has above average speed. Unfortunately, his speed has not translated to stolen bases at the AAA level (his SB/CS is 21/21). He also does not get on base enough to offset his mediocre BA and lack of power. To compound these issues, he is only hitting .257/.327/.347 in Fresno this year. Unless he boosts his plate discipline and improves his SB skills, he is headed for AAAA land on a slow plane that has Underworld 2 on a loop and serves rubbery chicken fried steak with plastic utensils. Also there’s turbulence and you sit next to this guy who smells like gasoline which causes some consternation because there’s no gasoline on a plane… is there?

SS/2B Ivan Ochoa, 25: Ivan was a minor league rule 5 draftee from the Indians organization. This season he is hitting .304/.391/.418 while spending most of his time at 2B due to the presence of Burriss and Bocock. He has always had decent plate discipline with a questionable ability to hit for average. If this line is a sign of improvement and not just a small sample size mirage, Ivan has a chance to be a back-up IF at major-league level.

Guillermo Rodriguez and Eliezer Alfonzo: The Giants have a talent of taking older catchers and turning them into serviceable MLB-level back-ups. The last couple of years saw G-Rod and Notgardo. This year the G’s came up with Steve Holm! after Alfonzo was busted for PED’s and G-Rod sustained an injury. These two players likely won’t have any trade value, but they are certainly valuable to an organization as filler.

Struggling Prospects

SS Brian Bocock, 23: Brian Bocock should be in high-A. End of story. Bad, Sabean. Bad. No Cookie.

Next Up, Fresno Pitchers!