Full Futures Game rosters were announced yesterday, and joining Kyle Harrison on the NL team is…..[drumroll please] … There R Giants’ favorite, David Villar! I’m starting to feel like my year of full-throated advocacy over here in my little corner of the world is finally having an effect! Of course, Villar’s year of bashing dingers at a dizzying clip is the thing that’s really having the effect, but I’ve enjoyed rooting along with his ride to the top! It’s incredibly rare for a guy who has basically never enjoyed major prospect status — never even ranked in the Top 30 of an MLB Giants’ list or made a single appearance in Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook — to get a Futures Game invite, and it’s a credit to the hard work David’s put in improving his game, DEVELOPING!
Of course, what Villar hopes is that he’s never anywhere near the Futures Game, because that would mean that he’s still in the big leagues and unavailable for such fooferawl. Were that to happen, they would replace Villar on the roster, possibly with another Giant (Casey Schmitt, perhaps?). First things first, of course. Villar has about 10 days until Evan Longoria is ready to come back on the roster — enough time to prove himself an irreplaceable piece of the roster! Get to bashing dingers, David! That way you can keep hanging out with Marty.
Secondly, the Giants have a new player! About time — my “new player incoming” chops were getting a little rusty. Haven’t used them in at least a week! RHP Tobias Myers has been acquired from the Cleveland Guardians for that old standby: “cash considerations.” And, no, I have no idea what the difference between “considerations” and cold, hard cash is exactly.
Don’t look at the numbers, because they aren’t that pretty! 1-9 with a 6.00 ERA for the Triple A Columbus Clippers — oops, I guess I made you look, didn’t I? What’s more interesting about Myers though, is who has been interested in him. Since being drafted by the Orioles back in 2016, he’s been acquired by the Rays, the Guardians, and now the Giants. That’s a list of teams that seem to know what they’re doing when it comes to acquiring pitchers! Of course, he’s also been de-acquired by two of them which…well, I don’t know what that means! Just last fall, Cleveland went out of their way to acquire Myers, sending a very talented 20-year-old infielder and adding Myers to a 40-man that was already overstacked. Barely half a year later, they sent him to the Giants for cash, which suggests that they didn’t feel like they acquired the guy they thought they were getting.
At his best — and most interesting — Myers combines a mid-90s fastball with one of the most extreme vertical moving breaking balls in the minors, and excellent command of both of them. It doesn’t seem like he’s been at his best this year, but the Giants have been pretty good at getting the sweetest juice from the fruit, and with a 24-year-old pitcher, it’s far too early to assume the final chapter’s been written. So, we’ll see….
Now, let’s get to what we love most … Minor Lines!!! Did you see yesterday’s piece on Sean Roby, in which he told me he’d like to get to 30? He’s getting closer…
HITTER of the Night: Heliot Ramos (Sac), 3 for 6, HR (7), 2 R, 4 RBI, BB, K, SB (3)
PITCHER of the Night: Randy Rodriguez (Eug), 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
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