Hunting for Break Outs!

Looking for this year's pleasant surprises!

Photo Credit: Shelly Valenzuela | San Jose Giants

As MLB’s Jim Callis discussed on last week’s There R Giants’ podcast, in 2022 the Giants had one of the most volatile systems in baseball. Disappointments there were, with top draftees sliding down based on poor health or poor showings, but buttressing nearly every fall was an unexpected and sometimes down-right amazing rise! Vaun Brown’s explosive first year was one of the bigger stories in all of minor league baseball, but the toolsy Grant McCray wasn’t far behind him in terms of potential impact. On the pitching side, Mason Black easily surpassed his higher drafted colleagues, while Landen Roupp proved to be a third-day draft pick who pitched like a first-day one.

It was a year of most wondrous surprises!

Giant Prospective @giantprospectiv

Grant McCray showing off his plus-plus wheels with this triple. A top 5 prospect in the Giants organization.

I don’t feel like too much of a Debby Downer in suggesting we’re unlikely to see a story to equal Brown’s rise this year — dynamically toolsy fifth year MBA students just don’t come along all that often! Still, there will be guys who take impressive steps forward that we just didn’t see coming over the next six months. Our task today is to….er….see them coming! Let’s see how we do.