Just Who Are the Non-Roster Invites?
A There R Giants "Roll Call!" Edition
We interrupt this There R Giants’ Top 50 (could ya string it out any more, Rog? Geez!) to celebrate pitchers and catchers reporting this week by finally digging into the non-roster camp invite list. It’s a big ‘un! And it includes a lot of interesting names — some of whom will play surprisingly big roles for the organization this year; some of whom will be gone on their way by April. All of whom, however, deserve a moment of recognition and appreciation, and that’s what we intend to do here today!
So let’s get spring training kicked off and underway by getting to know our NRI list, which brings together an exciting group of current — and former — favorites!
Today’s post is a There R Giants’ free for all! There won’t be too many of these, so if you like what you see, by all means become a subscriber to get all There R Giants posts (including at least five days a week during the season) delivered straight to your Inbox.
To wrap our arms around a jumbo list like this (37 players have been extended NRIs; give a thought and a prayer of thanks to the hard working clubbies!), we first need to break things down into more digestible chunks. But pitchers, infielders, outfielders, etc is a little staid for my tastes. Nope, when I look at a list like this, I have my own mental subcategories that I start populating.
Top Prospects (10)
Brett Auerbach (38*), Patrick Bailey (21), Vaun Brown (?), R.J. Dabovich (23), Tyler Fitzgerald (15), Ricardo Genovés (37), Kyle Harrison (?), Erik Miller (34), Casey Schmitt (?), Will Wilson (26)
*There R Giants’ Top 50 ranking
We start with the most exciting aspect of this year’s list (for our perspective anyway), the inclusion of plenty of top prospects. And, of course, each of these players has been (or will be) discussed in the course of the Top 50 series, so there’s no great need to go into them in detail as players in today’s post. However, I do think it’s important to pause and think about what this group represents en masse.
To get a sense of just how exciting this year’s list is from a prospect-centric perspective, perhaps it’s best to compare it to the previous year’s NRIs. Jumping back in time by a year, we come up with this — very different — list of camp invitees.
Now caveats are due here, of course. MLB’s lockout that extended throughout the course of CBA negotiations meant that last year’s camp was compressed, and needed to be focused on getting the major league squad (and some attendant depth) ready to go as quickly as possible. Still, last year’s list was notable for its lack of Marco Luciano or Luis Matos types.
Both of those guys had been invited to camps before, during and surrounding the weird pandemic year. Once the 2020 minor league season had been officially canceled, teams scrambled to figure out ways to get at least some work in with their most valued prospects. So, when the major league season was restarted in July, the Giants, like all teams, brought a large contingent of kids they really wanted to work with to the major league summer camp, and then sent them to the ominously named Alternate Site for the rest of the summer. That included Luciano, Matos, Bailey, Wilson, and others like Hunter Bishop (who caught COVID and couldn’t attend), Alexander Canario, and Luis Toribio.
In 2021, coming off of a year of relative inactivity, the Giants wanted to get a large group of prospects into camp early to get them some work, including some surprising players who had either impressed Giants’ officials in the Fall Instructional camp, or in the case of Kai-Wei Teng, hadn’t been able to get to that camp at all.
But even that group provides a distinct contrast to this year’s. Looking back on that 2021 list of prospect NRIs, what stands out is just HOW far away from helping the big league club nearly all of those players were. Bailey had yet to play a professional game at that point. None of Bishop, Luciano, or Wilson had ever appeared in a single game at a full-season level. Teng and Logan Wyatt’s A ball experience added up to about a month. Tristan Beck and Matt Frisbee had last appeared in High A, while Heliot Ramos and Sean Hjelle had spent a final month of the 2019 season in Double A, thanks to a late season promotion. By and large, this was not a group of players who had a puncher’s chance at impacting the major league team that season. This was an organization wanting to check in with their top guys and reintegrate them after a lost year.
The comparison with this year’s group is stark. Five members of our top prospects list above (Dabovich, Genovés, Miller, Schmitt, Wilson) have already appeared in Triple A. All five of them — plus Harrison — should be ticketed to begin the year in Sacramento. Fitzgerald spent an entire year in Double A, and could well join them. Brown, probably ticketed for Richmond to start the year, is not that far behind. Even Bailey, whose progress has been slow, should open the year in Double A. That’s a significant selection of the very best prospects in the organization who are now in a position to be part of the solution to the various contingency needs that will pop up during the course of a year. Adding in the kids already on the 40-man (Beck, Luciano, Matos, Rodriguez, Waites, and Winn), and you have 11 members of my Top 20 prospects in the system coming to big league camp AND then reporting to an upper minors affiliate to open the year.
Despite all the ways in which last year was a difficult season for the player development team, this is a real sea change moment. I don’t think people are quite catching on yet to how significant a role the farm could end up playing in the 2023 San Francisco Giants’ season. And it all starts right here on this list. The future is not as far away as it might seem.
Former 40-Man Members (12)
Melvin Adón (RHP), Sam Delaplane (RHP), Trevor Hildenberger (RHP), Bryce Johnson (OF), Mauricio Llovera (RHP), Darien Nuñez (LHP), Ford Proctor (INF/C), Drew Strotman (RHP), Miguel Yajure (RHP), Donovan Walton (INF), Colten Welker (3b/1b), Austin Wynns (C)
This is a truly astonishing list — and an oh so Zaidi-esque one in its way! Yes, there truly are a full dozen players invited to this year’s camp who are former members of the Giants’ 40-man roster. Some of these players were on the roster for a matter of mere days (like minor league union organizer Hildeberger or Yajure). Some of them were on the roster for years (Adon). And many have split the difference by being on the actual 40-man for days, but the 40-man adjacent 60 day IL for significantly longer periods of time (Delaplane, Nuñez, Welker). Many have actually appeared — and impressed — in a Giants uniform, led by Wynns, who played in 66 games for the team last year.
And Wynns, of this group, is the one that stands out as having a strong chance to make the major league club. He reports to camp this week knowing that he’s entering a spirited competition with Roberto Perez, Rule 5 draftee Blake Sabol, and even Joey Bart to fill the team’s catching contingent. Llovera is another who could conceivably pitch his way onto the roster with a strong camp. He was impressive in his looks last year and has solid stuff. Most likely, however, he pitches his way onto the Sacramento roster as another depth arm, and waits for opportunity to come his way.
One of the more interesting sub-groups of this category belongs to the players whom the Giants grabbed off the waiver wire and chose to roster through long injury rehabs. This has been a consistent strategy of Zaidi’s, and it paid dividends last year when Luis Gonzalez ended up playing an unexpectedly large role on the team. If other teams aren’t willing to pay the cost of the rehab for a talented and interesting player, the Giants feel they are in position to scoop that player up, and see what they have later on down the line. It’s a good use of resources, and yet another strong rebuke to fans who complain about the team being “cheap” (which they decidedly are not, as opposed to somewhat risk-averse, which they decidedly are).
Those players do represent a real cost for a major league team. In addition to the use of medical and rehab resources, players who are moved from the 40-man to the 60-day IL are paid a (prorated) major league minimum for every day (a minimum that got a decent bump up last year). Add a couple of those players up together and you can be spending a couple million “just to see what you have.” It stands to reason, then, that the Giants really DO want to see what those investments have brought them. So pitchers like Delaplane and Nuñez, as well as 3b/1b Welker, do figure to have a slightly higher profile in this camp than some of the other members of THE CHURN.
Delaplane actually tried to return from his long Tommy John rehab in 2022 (the first time he’d appeared since blowing out his elbow in 2019), but something clearly went wrong with that plan, as he threw just 3.2 innings before heading back to the IL — an ominous sign. He’s struck out more than 40% of the batters he’s faced as a professional so far, and his pitch data is extremely intriguing to a team like the Giants, featuring an extremely vertical shape that is highly unusual. If healthy, he’s a player that could move quickly, but he hasn’t been healthy now in over three years.
The soon-to-be 30 year old Nuñez was grabbed away from the Dodgers, who DFA’d him after he, too, underwent Tommy John surgery. He was immediately flipped to the 60-day IL to begin his rehab. Nuñez had surgery in late April last year, so he figures to be still working through rehab bullpen session during camp, but he could be ready to appear in minor league games later in the spring. The former Cuban refugee brings an above average fastball from the left-hand side, which will always be a welcome sight in baseball. He appeared briefly with the Dodgers in 2021, striking out more than a batter an inning in 7.2 IP, but allowing seven earned runs as well.
Welker is a former top five prospect in the Rockies’ system, and made his major league debut with the Rox in 2021 before a serious shoulder injury ended his time with the club that had drafted him. Welker can really hit, and his combination of a strong eye and excellent contact make him a natural for the Giants’ proclivities. But as a right-handed bat who can fake it some at 3b but is really better at 1b, he’s stuck behind an awfully long depth chart with the Giants — especially given his lack of premium power.
Several of the players in this grouping are the result of one of Zaidi’s favorite tricks — making waiver wire claims and then immediately flipping the player back onto the waiver wire, hoping to sneak them through and then assign them outright to Sacramento. That’s the path that has Yajure, Strotman, and Hildenberger (originally) to the organization. You can see how successful the strategy has been in this list — successful from a perspective of adding talent to your inventory, that is. It’s always worth remembering that there are human costs to this strategy that are probably less fun for the players themselves. Of that group, Strotman is maybe the top name to know for me. Another survivor of Tommy John, Strotman has now been through the Rays, Twins, and Rangers organization before coming to the Giants. He has a starter’s mix of pitches, though the control’s been a bit wonky since TJ, and relief might be his ultimate role.
Yajure was expected to get a chance at the Pirates’ rotation after coming over from New York in the Jameson Taillon deal — and he has made a handful of starts the last two years — but fringy stuff and persistent health issues used up his chances in Pittsburgh without much to show for them.
A special toast goes out to Adón, who has really battled back from a shoulder injury suffered in winter ball in 2020. That injury, I’m told, was just about as severe as it’s possible to tear a muscle. Words like “gruesome” have been used to describe the damage that surgeons found when they went in to repair him. It’s been a long haul, but Adón was really throwing well at the end of the year in Richmond. It would be great to see the big guy get his MLB debut at long last.
And lastly, while I know Giants’ fans have no great love for Donnie Walton at this point, it’s worth noting that he has an excellent ZiPS projection for the coming season and a strong track record of hitting. Now let’s be clear, he absolutely shouldn’t be playing shortstop (a member of the Giants organization referred to that particular experiment to me in terms that sounded an awful lot like “mucking around”), and he’s even stretched a bit at 2b, but he certainly has hit in his minor league career. At this point, he’s behind 40-man member, Brett Wisely, who is a very similar, albeit significantly younger, player. Similar things can be said about Johnson and Proctor, who both made their major league debuts last year, and even got themselves a batting average. Both are fine players who provide the versatility and platoon advantages that the Giants crave, but in each case, circumstances would need to align properly to provide a path back to the 40-man.
Former Big Leaguers (8)*
Nick Duron (RHP), Jorge Guzman (RHP), Ronald Guzman (TWP, 1b/LHP), Sean Newcomb (LHP), Ljay Newsome (RHP), Roberto Perez (C), Stephen Piscotty (OF), Joe Ross (RHP)
*Obviously, there are more former big leaguers included in the group of former 40-man players above — but you already know about those guys! If however, you feel the need for completionism, there are 17 former big leaguers among the NRI list in total.
Ah, the former big leaguer NRI. This is how Dominic Leone and Zack Littell began their Giants’ careers! It’s also how Alex Blandino and Jimmy Rollins began…uh…theirs! In other words, this is the big giant dart throw of every spring. Occasionally one of these guys works out, most of them end up back on the road looking for the next opportunity. But every one of them is currently nurturing sweet dreams of a successful return to the Show, and some of those dreams will come true!
The most obvious chance at a successful path back, of course, belongs to Perez, who, if healthy, is certainly one of the two best catchers in camp — and arguably the best! The 34-year-old has played nine years in the majors, almost entirely with Cleveland. He boasts two Gold Gloves in his career, and once belted 24 homers in a season (though, to say that was an anomaly for the guy with the career .360 SLG would be an understatement). The “if healthy” clause is doing yeoman’s work here, however, because he is a 34-year-old catcher, and the IL stints have piled up a bit lately. His Cleveland career ended after a 2021 that included a 60-day IL assignment for a broken finger, and a 10-day assignment for shoulder inflammation. His 2022 season with Pittsburgh ended early with yet another 60-day stint, this time for a serious hamstring pull. Father Time is undefeated, but if healthy, there’s a plus defender here who could help.
Ross and Piscotty help fill our requisite allotment of local kids. Piscotty, who grew up in Pleasanton and went to Stanford, hasn’t been even an average hitter in the big leagues since 2018, but he’s a good defender, and, somewhere in there, is a guy who once hit 27 HR. He’s a solid depth option. Ross, who pitched at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland as a youngster, is still rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery, and is on schedule to be ready to pitch later in the year. He’s this year’s version of Matthew Boyd. When healthy — which is totally different from if healthy — he’s been a reasonably competent starter for the Nationals, but there have been a fair amount of stretches between when healthys.
Newcomb fills the role of former top prospects who have never quite put things together. The 15th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Newcomb has formerly been the #1 prospect in both the Angels’ and Braves’ systems. After being sent to Atlanta in the Andrelton Simmons deal, he spent six years trying (and mostly failing) to stick in the Braves’ rotation. Though he has excellent stuff for a lefty (including a mid-90s fastball), he’s struggled with control and consistency. But what really seemed to derail his career was taking a 102 mph laser off the bat of J.T. Realmuto to the head in 2019. Since then, he’s only thrown about 70 innings in the majors. Under a different sort of pain, Newcomb is also a charter member of a tragic brotherhood of MLB pitchers who came within an out of a no hitter.
Duron, Newsome, and J. Guzman all fit in that “they’ve been in the majors before, but they’re not really ‘major leaguers’ if you know what I mean” bin. Newsome’s 30 career innings with Seattle (6.53 ERA) dwarves the totals of Duron (1 MLB inning) or Guzman (2.2). Guzman spent all of last year in the Giants’ system after having spent the previous five years in the Marlins’ organization. He took the long ride up, starting the year in extended spring, then making appearances in the complex league, Low A, High A, and Double A. While in Richmond, he showed a powerful arm, but he struggled to throw strikes, and also allowed two homers in a span of 13 total batters faced. Big velo, though!
Ronald Guzman might qualify as the most interesting player in this group, thanks to his designation as a Two-Way Player — a term Giants fans are becoming increasingly familiar with lately, whether the object of their desire is young Reggie Crawford, or next year super-star free agent Shohei Ohtani. And, of course, with Farhan Zaidi’s love of flexibility, the desire to find a player who can provide both dingers and strikeouts is perfectly natural. Of course, the thing about being a two-way guy is that at least one of those ways has to be legitimately big league. Michael Lorenzen’s hitting probably wouldn’t have kept him in the big leagues if he hadn’t legitimately been an MLB-caliber pitcher. If you can mash, then having the ability to come in occasionally and whip a few 96 mph fastballs for a batter or an inning is a nice addition to the skillset. If you can really take down big league innings, then you don’t have to be a great hitter to offer value as an occasional pinch-hitter with the ability to go yard.
And that could be the flaw in Guzman’s plan to make it back to the majors as a two-way player. So far in his five years in the big leagues, the LHH 1b hasn’t exactly mashed, with a career line of .225/.302/.410 in more than 800 PA (good for a wRC+ of 84). Still, it’s a tantalizing concept!
Not Former Anythings (7)
Armando Alvarez (INF), Raymund Burgos (LHP), Clint Coulter (OF), Brett Cumberland (C/1b/DH), Kade McClure (RHP), Daniel Tillo (LHP), Brady Whalen (1b)
Is that too mean of a category head? These guys are beloved by their mothers too, after all! I just meant that these guys are distinguished from the rest of the NRIs by never having appeared in the majors OR on the Giants’ 40-man roster — nor anyone else’s, for that matter. McClure, in fact, was picked up specifically because he wasn’t a 40-man member, in the deal that sent Gregory Santos to the White Sox. The son of former NFL QB Brian McClure, Kade fits in the familiar fringe back-end starter bucket.
Burgos is a former 18th round pick of Cleveland’s out of Puerto Rican Academy ball. He features some premium stuff from the left-hand side, but has been badly waylaid by repeated injuries. I’ve been assured by people who have seen him recently that the stuff is still there, however. Tillo, who spent part of last season in Richmond, has a similar background. A 3rd round pick of the Royals, he can really bring it, but hasn’t yet put all the pieces together into consistent performance. Tillo’s a terrific athlete — a former All State basketball player in high school, and he’s also the Zelig of the Giants’ organization, having previously been teammates, at two different colleges, with current org mates, Sean Hjelle, Riley Mahan, and Keaton Winn.
Cumberland fits in a similar bin with Rule 5 pick Sabol and 2022 trade acquisition Andy Thomas, in that he’s a catcher whose primary virtue is his bat. The switch-hitter once led the Pac-12 in HRs for Cal, though as a pro, his power has been more solid than plus. He’s hit just .231 over six minor league seasons, but with a lot of walks boosting his OBP (another thing he has in common with Thomas).
Coulter could almost fit in that same category, too, as he was drafted out of high school as a catcher. But after failing to make much progress at the position, he ultimately transitioned to the outfield. Coulter is a former wrestler — and looks it. Taken in the 1st round by the Brewers way back in 2012, injuries began to curtail his progress, and he got stuck in Double A for several years in the middle of the last decade. Coming from the Brewers’ org, he’s someone the Giants should have good intel on, since Pro Scouting Director Zack Minasian and much of his team have history in Milwaukee.
Interestingly, Coulter and Whalen attended the same obscure Washington-state high school, though not at the same time. Whalen entered Union HS of Camas, WA just after Coulter was drafted by the Brew Crew. After scuffling around in rookie and A ball levels for the first five years of his career, Whalen discovered a little extra power in 2022, and managed to hit his way up to Double A, hitting .291/.370/.459 across three levels.
The 28-year-old Manny Alvarez has spent his career in the Yankees organization, where he’s filled in around the diamond, hit for a decent average (.261 over six seasons), kept the strikeouts low, and walked a decent amount. The right-handed hitter has a slightly fringy arm for the left side of the diamond, though he’s played plenty of 3b in his career.
And there you have it! As you get ready to turn on the early spring training games from Scottsdale Stadium, keep this post handy so that when the “who the heck is that guy” guy enters the game, you’ll have a resource to help you find the answer.
But the two most important things for you to remember about this post are:
somebody from this group that you are absolutely dismissing and skipping over today will be featured on Baseball References’ 2023 Giants’ page tomorrow; and
the top prospects are finally making their way to the top level.
That’s good news!
Remember, today’s post is a There R Giants’ free for all! There won’t be too many of these, so if you like what you see, by all means become a subscriber to get all There R Giants posts (including at least five days a week during the season) delivered straight to your Inbox.
So much great info. That was really outstanding.
Good stuff. Made me wish success for several guys I'd never heard of. (Whalen?) And yet, how many unclaimed spots are there on the big club? One? Two? None? Giants Triple A games ought to be fun to watch.