2010 Giants Second Round Pick: Jarrett Parker, OF

Giants select Jarrett Parker, OF, out of Virginia, with their second pick.  Below is his MLB.com scouting report:

Scouting Report:  Jarrett Parker


Hitting ability: Parker has not shown great bat speed this season and has some holes in his swing.

Power: He does have some power, but it projects to be average, at best.

Running speed: His best tool, he's a plus runner.

Base running: He is a top-of-the-order base-stealing threat.

Arm strength: He has below-average arm strength.

Fielding: He has plus defensive skills.

Range: His speed gives him plus range.

Physical Description: Parker is lean and athletic, kind of like a young Mike Cameron type.

Medical Update: Healthy.

Strengths: Plus speed, which helps him on the basepaths and in center field, where he is a plus defender.

Weaknesses: There are questions about his overall hitting ability, with some holes in his swing and inconsistencies in terms of bat speed.

Summary: Parker had a rough go of it in the Cape Cod League last summer, but there was hope that he'd bounce back and fulfill expectaitons of being one of the more interesting college hitters in this year's class. It hasn't really worked out that way as he's struggled to find offensive consistency, though he was coming on a little bit late. What he does have is plenty of speed, which gives him the ability to steal bases and play a superb center field. Those are marketable skills, and the team that thinks he'll hit will still nab the Virginia outfielder fairly early on.

ogc:  Not too bad, I was seeing his name on some of the later mock drafts for the first round.  Looks like the Giants selected another player (like Brandon Crawford and Kieschnick previously) who was expected to do well in 2010 and be a first rounder, but didn't and thus fell.

Odd pick because he is just like Gary Brown, a speedy CF who plays great defense but don't have much power.  It is almost like they got him in case they don't sign Gary Brown, who is a Boras client.

Still, if both can learn to hit, it would be some fast lineups they will be in.  As I noted in the Gary Brown comments, he actually played more games in the infield than the OF in college, so he could possibly move to the infield at some point if necessary, so picking up both of them is not going to necessarily create a battle between the two of them for one spot.  In fact, Brown was more of a utility guy his freshman year, and he was a middle infielder in high school.  The Giants do have options if both happen to develop.