The Giants lost one player in the AAA Phase, Round 2, RHP Cameron Lamb. Here is what BA said about him:
Aussie has yet to pitch in full-season ball, but coming off solid season in Northwest LgeBut in the AAA Phase, Round 1, the Giants selected RHP Scott Shuman from the Rays. Here is what BA had to say about him:
Pitches at 93-95 mph with power slider. Tough look for RHB (36 SO% at Double-A)ogc thoughts
Not sure why the Astros took Lamb. He's 23 YO and hasn't even pitched for a full-season team yet. And in the Short Season Northwest League, he was hardly dominating with 6.5 K/9, though nice control, with only 2.4 BB/9. Good luck to him.
Shuman look very interesting. His 2011-2012 seasons was not anything to look at, his K/9 was great 14-15 K/9 but his BB/9 was horrid, 10-12 BB/9. He is 24 (25 next year March) and just pitched in AA. As BA noted, mid-90 power with power slider and is a bit of a Roogy. But, ugh, that walk rate!
This pick, I think, shows the influence of John Barr. Since we got him, the Giants started to take more fliers on prospects who once was a big talent but for whatever reasons, lost a bit of their shine and fell a bit or a lot. Shuman was ranked the Rays #24 prospect after his 2010 season.
His 2010 season was what was so interesting. Age 22 so old for A-ball, but he had a 3.01 ERA, 13.9 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9, high but doable when you strikeout nearly 3 times as many. And he only gave up 50 hits in 71.2 IP, plus only 5 HR (a trait he kept on his way up the ladder, low HR/9).
That reminded me of another 22 YO (though LHP so that is special) with mid-90 velocity who did well in A-ball: Jonathan Sanchez. He was a starter but in 125.2 IP, had 8.7 H/9, 0.6 HR/9, 2.8 BB/9, and 11.9 K/9. It was the K/9 that was very interesting. Walks could be worked on, Matt Cain used to be a wild thrower with us in the minors, it is amazing to see him control his pitches so well now compared to then.
Not that he'll necessarily be like Dirty, but he showed some potential in A-ball before getting lost the past two seasons. Hopefully Tidrow, our pitching doctor, will prescribe something good for him and get him back on the prospect path. And if not, no big loss, we only paid $50K to get him, and if the other team takes him back, we get $25K back, so at worse it costs us $25K to take a look at him and kick his tires. Tidrow loves power arms like this, who knows what might happen?
Since both of these picks were in the AAA phase, they do not have to be offered back to the former team, so the Giants have some time to work with this kid. Of course, next year he'll still be Rule 5 eligible, in fact, I think he'll be a minor league FA, so he could go to yet anther team next year if not protected on the 40 man roster. Nice pickup by the Giants, IMO.
ReplyDeleteThanks DrB, I didn't know that nuance of the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft.
DeleteYes, very interesting pickup, particularly since they can just keep him for a year and work with him now without any need to do something to retain him. So they can send him to any level then, they are not required to keep him in AAA?
Yes that is my understanding. They can treat him like any other prospect in their system.
DeleteThat's great news, I can't wait for the Giants to get their gurus' hands on him and work with him.
DeleteI think it's funny to think that Sanchez had a 2.8 BB/9 in A-ball now that we have seen his command issues.
ReplyDeleteHa! Good point. Good contrast, now that we are talking about it, between a prospect who grew and developed and another who never progressed much beyond what he was before.
DeleteOf course, we must remember that Cain was a kid still when doing what he was doing in A-ball whereas Sanchez was already 22 YO (most very good prospects are in AA by the time they reach 22 YO). Age context is always very important to point out with minor leaguers and their performances.
Also goes to show how much of a leap it is from the hitting talent in A-ball to that in the majors.
Speaking of lefties at Augusta:
DeleteLeft-handed pitcher -- Edwin Escobar, Augusta (22 games): The 20-year-old Venezuelan posted a 7-8 record and 2.96 ERA in 22 starts for Augusta. He fanned 122 batters while allowing 32 walks in 130 2/3 innings. After going 2-4 with a 3.77 ERA in the first half, Escobar turned things around after the break. In his final 11 outings, Escobar was 5-4 and he lowered his ERA more than a full run to 2.33.
Signed by the Rangers as a non-drafted free agent in 2008, Escobar entered 2012 with a 7-16 record and having never recorded an ERA below 4.75 in any of his previous three seasons. Much of his success this year can be attributed to a higher strikeout rate and holding opponents to a .241 batting average, his lowest since turning pro.
Said Evans: "Other clubs have asked about him a lot. He is a guy with excellent command and he was able to mix in all of his pitches -- his fastball, curveball and changeup. His command improved during the course of the year, and he was one of the top starters in the league."
Link: http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121202&content_id=40495550&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb
I can't wait to see Crick, Stratton, Blackburn, and Escobar tearing it up together at San Jose. Escobar is great and we got him for practically nothing. The Giants will soon hopefully have a situation like the rays where we have 7 or 8 guys who could be MlB pitchers.
DeleteThanks for providing the link Shankbone, beat me to the punch, that is a great article on our prospects.
DeleteBut with that reminder, I'm surprised that Heston got the nod over Blackburn or Crick.
Christian over Gary Brown is an interesting one as well. I can't help but feel they are giving Brown a bit of a cold shoulder as a challenge. His prospect status has taken quite a beating, he was an afterthought to prospect watchers in the AFL.
DeleteThe SJ rotation is where it's at next year. Amazing talent, don't forget about Martin Agosta to go with Crick/Blackburn, Stratton and our young lefties Mejia and Escobar. It will be interesting to see how the Giants sort em all out. Somebody might be bumped to Richmond fast.
I wouldn't be shocked to see one of those guys overachieving. My guess is that it would be Blackburn. He only had one start at San Jose last season, but he gave up just one run on 3 hits with 9 strikeouts and just one walk over 7 innings, and that was in a playoff game. That's good stuff to see. He may be in Richmond by mid-season
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