Hi Roger, I had more personal questions this time, if you don't mind me asking. I would love to know more about what covering the farm system day-in day-out is like. We're pretty spoiled with the amount of content we get daily, so how much time does it take to do the write-ups, answer mailbag questions, do the podcasts, travel around etc.? What would you say is your favorite aspect of doing There R Giants?
Do you think the Giants will ask Hayden Birdsong to develop a traditional windup motion this offseason, or does his quick upward progress suggest they think he’s best suited out of the stretch anyway? A couple different announcers have said that Hayden works out of the stretch just because it’s a vestige from when he was a reliever, but I don’t know pitching well enough to know if there’s some velocity or stamina uptick he could expect to gain by throwing from a full windup.
Do you feel like the Giants are promoting as many rookies as they are because:
1) they are grasping at straws trying to find the same magic when Bailey and Schmitt were promoted.
2) they truly need help from their minor league system due to injuries and lack of performance.
3) they are turning to the people who they want to be their starters in the future and moving on from the vets who are not going to be around much longer.
I’m in Africa jr seeing wild animals AKA Id how with my Mormon in-laws and your reads are the highlight of my trip. I’m seeing our 2023 draft picks, way high on people’s updated rankings. If you were doing a top 30 like most of these/where/why do you place our our greenhorns? Peace my dude!✌️
With the Giants' ACL season coming to an end who do you see helping San Jose (or Eugene!) down the stretch? Would it be too much to expect Eldridge , perhaps just as a DH?
How many of the AA/AAA pitchers heavily factoring into next year’s rotation? (I’m sure TBA will be a mainstay in the rotation!). Seems to me like they have 4ish spots semi filled with Webb Cobb Disco and Strip(don’t think he ops out). Wood is gone imo and I would think Manaea is pitching his way toward opting out. With Cobb, disco, and Strip being free agents after 24 it seems like we would want to give Winn, Beck, Harrison, Black, etc a good shot at establishing vs signing some back end names. Any thoughts?
I’m wondering how concerned I should be about the recent slides into AAA by some of the more promising rookies. You noted that any moves down are not historically helpful to overall development. There are exception of course, and these are (mostly) really young players we are talking about. I know your crystal ball is no better than mine, but would appreciate you weighing in.
In San Jose, Foster is playing SS and Velasquez is playing 2B. Does it look like this is a pattern if they both progress? Is Foster a better SS defensively or just more experienced?
Callis/MLB.com ranked Ramos very low in the top 30. Has his recent performance with the Giants changed your opinion about where he should be ranked? Do you think it has changed the Giants' opinion about his future with the team? (I was at last weekends games against the Rangers, and he looks impressive in person.)
Much of Logan Wyatt's potential is determined by his bat, but what do you think about his defense at 1B? (I only saw him play a little bit in SJ)
Wil Jensen has quietly, consistently put up his fair share of zeroes at every level. He doesn't have knockout stuff, but how might you envision a path to the bigs? If he can keep it up I imagine somehow, somewhere he will at least get a shot.
Out of all the Giants' MLB debuts this season, whose do you feel Farhan Zaidi is privately most proud of? Obviously, it'd be like picking between his children, but I thought a whimsical question would be fun given the variety of paths to the debuts. My take is that Farhan would lean toward an underdog prospect creatively acquired under his watch, and someone his staff guided through an arduous development. No one exactly fits that bill ... but I think Tristan Beck would be closest.
What do you think the Giants have in Luis Matos? For such a highly regarded prospect I was expecting to see better defense and speed on the bases. His ability to make contact got him promoted, but that contact seemed real soft. Experience and strength should improve his quality of contact, but what is a reasonable expectation for the kind of player Matos might become?
Roger, any advice for how a fan should handle losing at the big-league level? I try to turn the page when the game is over, but I'll admit to being a bit grumpier than I should be sometimes, especially when a contending team (like this year's) hits a rough patch
I apologize if you’ve answered this question before so feel free to ignore it if you already have! How do you think the situation in Eugene impacts player development and performance at the level? Not being able to use the facilities all the time and the dreary weather seems like it would be an issue. Watching guys struggle with hitting at the level and then watching them succeed (Bailey and Matos come to mind even though Luis was dealing with injury.). Does this give more context to somewhat “disappointing” performances of current prospects at Eugene?
Hi Roger, I had more personal questions this time, if you don't mind me asking. I would love to know more about what covering the farm system day-in day-out is like. We're pretty spoiled with the amount of content we get daily, so how much time does it take to do the write-ups, answer mailbag questions, do the podcasts, travel around etc.? What would you say is your favorite aspect of doing There R Giants?
Do you think the Giants will ask Hayden Birdsong to develop a traditional windup motion this offseason, or does his quick upward progress suggest they think he’s best suited out of the stretch anyway? A couple different announcers have said that Hayden works out of the stretch just because it’s a vestige from when he was a reliever, but I don’t know pitching well enough to know if there’s some velocity or stamina uptick he could expect to gain by throwing from a full windup.
Do you feel like the Giants are promoting as many rookies as they are because:
1) they are grasping at straws trying to find the same magic when Bailey and Schmitt were promoted.
2) they truly need help from their minor league system due to injuries and lack of performance.
3) they are turning to the people who they want to be their starters in the future and moving on from the vets who are not going to be around much longer.
I’m in Africa jr seeing wild animals AKA Id how with my Mormon in-laws and your reads are the highlight of my trip. I’m seeing our 2023 draft picks, way high on people’s updated rankings. If you were doing a top 30 like most of these/where/why do you place our our greenhorns? Peace my dude!✌️
* Idaho
With the Giants' ACL season coming to an end who do you see helping San Jose (or Eugene!) down the stretch? Would it be too much to expect Eldridge , perhaps just as a DH?
How many of the AA/AAA pitchers heavily factoring into next year’s rotation? (I’m sure TBA will be a mainstay in the rotation!). Seems to me like they have 4ish spots semi filled with Webb Cobb Disco and Strip(don’t think he ops out). Wood is gone imo and I would think Manaea is pitching his way toward opting out. With Cobb, disco, and Strip being free agents after 24 it seems like we would want to give Winn, Beck, Harrison, Black, etc a good shot at establishing vs signing some back end names. Any thoughts?
I’m wondering how concerned I should be about the recent slides into AAA by some of the more promising rookies. You noted that any moves down are not historically helpful to overall development. There are exception of course, and these are (mostly) really young players we are talking about. I know your crystal ball is no better than mine, but would appreciate you weighing in.
In San Jose, Foster is playing SS and Velasquez is playing 2B. Does it look like this is a pattern if they both progress? Is Foster a better SS defensively or just more experienced?
Callis/MLB.com ranked Ramos very low in the top 30. Has his recent performance with the Giants changed your opinion about where he should be ranked? Do you think it has changed the Giants' opinion about his future with the team? (I was at last weekends games against the Rangers, and he looks impressive in person.)
Two quick FSquirrel questions:
Much of Logan Wyatt's potential is determined by his bat, but what do you think about his defense at 1B? (I only saw him play a little bit in SJ)
Wil Jensen has quietly, consistently put up his fair share of zeroes at every level. He doesn't have knockout stuff, but how might you envision a path to the bigs? If he can keep it up I imagine somehow, somewhere he will at least get a shot.
Out of all the Giants' MLB debuts this season, whose do you feel Farhan Zaidi is privately most proud of? Obviously, it'd be like picking between his children, but I thought a whimsical question would be fun given the variety of paths to the debuts. My take is that Farhan would lean toward an underdog prospect creatively acquired under his watch, and someone his staff guided through an arduous development. No one exactly fits that bill ... but I think Tristan Beck would be closest.
What do you think the Giants have in Luis Matos? For such a highly regarded prospect I was expecting to see better defense and speed on the bases. His ability to make contact got him promoted, but that contact seemed real soft. Experience and strength should improve his quality of contact, but what is a reasonable expectation for the kind of player Matos might become?
Roger, any advice for how a fan should handle losing at the big-league level? I try to turn the page when the game is over, but I'll admit to being a bit grumpier than I should be sometimes, especially when a contending team (like this year's) hits a rough patch
I apologize if you’ve answered this question before so feel free to ignore it if you already have! How do you think the situation in Eugene impacts player development and performance at the level? Not being able to use the facilities all the time and the dreary weather seems like it would be an issue. Watching guys struggle with hitting at the level and then watching them succeed (Bailey and Matos come to mind even though Luis was dealing with injury.). Does this give more context to somewhat “disappointing” performances of current prospects at Eugene?
I never see anything about Yosneiker Rivas. Is he playing in the DSL?