Whatever happens, there’s no denying that the Giants are fully embracing their youth movement. Last night’s lineup included six different starters whom I’ve covered in Richmond during the four years since I’ve started this site. The trade of Alex Cobb meant that 40% of the rotation has also rolled through Richmond in the last few years. As of last night, literally half of the Giants’ roster had never called any other organization home and four other players made their major league debut with the Giants. That’s an amazing 17 homegrown players on a 26-man roster! For good or for ill, we are in the era of the homegrown Giants now.
And that, essentially, is what the Giants mostly attempted to achieve with this deadline. Trading Jorge Soler opened up an everyday space for Marco Luciano. Trading Cobb meant that Hayden Birdsong secures a very well-deserved rotation spot. Next year’s There R Giants’ Top 50 will look very different — four members of last year’s top 10, and six members of the top 20 will graduate this year and nearly all of them have put themselves in position to play major roles for this club going forward.
For those of you who are so good as to support my work, you’ve been following these players, watching video of these players, reading their words, and listening to them talk about their development for years now — and now we get to see them compete in the greatest baseball crucible of all. It’s pretty exciting!
The moves yesterday were small in nature, but they do mean that we have a hello and a goodbye to say. Let’s start with the goodbye. Eric Silva was pushed aggressively up to Double-A this year after suffering through a difficult 2023. It started a little bumpy, but Silva has really been coming on the last couple of months. Over his last 10 games, Silva has posted an 0.61 ERA and a sparkling 22 to 3 K to BB ratio. Silva as the return for Mark Canha makes sense if Detroit still views Silva as a potential starter. As a reliever, his 94-95 fastball is solid and has excellent shape — but it’s not quite the “OMG what IS that thing?????” pitch that most big league relievers have in their pockets these days. But viewed as a starter candidate — as I know Silva himself still sees himself — he’s an appropriate lottery ticket return for a solid veteran like Canha.
For myself, when I think about Silva, I don’t focus on the rising fastball or the darting curve or the strikeouts — I remember what a thoughtful young man he was. How curious about his world and how interested he was in becoming the best version of himself. I can’t wait to see where he goes from here and wish him all the success in the world!
The other trade — sending Cobb to Cleveland, where he will hopefully end his major league career with a long-desired playoff appearance (and the Guardians desperately need pitching) — brought in a young left-hander, which no club ever has too much of. Jacob Bresnahan dominated in the ACL this year, striking out 34% of the batters he faced, and earning a Pitcher of the Month nod (oddly, he never pitched against the ACL Giants in 11 starts). Predominantly, the 19-year-old did this damage with a changeup that has potential to develop into a serious weapon with time. That earned him a promotion up to Low-A, where he made his level debut last week. Fantasy/dynasty/prospect writer Chris Clegg caught up to him at that start, reporting a 91-93 fastball, 82-83 slider, and a high 80s change with good fade — and whiffs on all three pitches.
Bresnahan is a project. He’s got a loose arm and a projectible body, and he’s spent the first year of his career in one of the finest pitching development orgs in baseball. There’s no current “wow” pitch, but it’s good raw materials. He’s a flyer who is worth bringing on board and hoping things continue to develop in a positive direction. Welcome aboard, Young Master Bresnahan!
For those of you who think in terms of rankings (and I might need to revisit that briefly next week), it seems like Bresnahan and Sabin Ceballos both probably sit in the 40 FV range, which likely will put them somewhere in the 20-30 range in the system when all is said and done (especially given all the graduations we’re likely to end up with this season).
HITTER of the NIGHT: Bo Davidson (SJ), 2 for 3, 2 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Ricardo Estrada (DSLB), 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
A rare back-to-back “Hitter of the Night” honorific for Bo Davidson, who is absolutely on fire lately. We also have a Web Gem of the Night, which ended up being a crucial play in this game. Let’s hear it for what I believe is the first ever career home run robbery from Grant McCray. This is pure poetry from McCray:
Let’s head to the Lines!
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