Barely in time for the weekend! Let me k ow what’s on your minds and I’ll do my best to answer on Tuesday.There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
At the risk of getting over-excited is Hunter Bishop putting himself into Rule 5 contention? Do you know who will be eligible this year other than Giants draft picks?
A bit of silliness for the week… I have noticed a lot of arm tattoos on pitchers, but it always seems to be limited to the non-throwing arm. Is that a thing? Don’t mess with the tool in any way?
Appreciate he is not exactly pulling up any trees (or a prospect anymore) but are you surprised that the Giants haven't called up David Villar during this injury crisis? Does it put the writing firmly on the wall for his 40-man status?
What's your take on Drew Cavanaugh? Saw a highlight clip on Twitter of him throwing out someone with a pop time 1.77 and he seems to be on a hot start with the bat in AAA. With the Giant's catching depth put in question in what it seemed like a blink of an eye, could Drew be a name we see called up at some point this year or next?
What’s going on with Mason Black’s velocity? Is it almost more encouraging that he’s able to compete and get outs in the bigs with velocity a little lower than he’s had in the past?
Wow, it’s great to see your excitement about Landen Roupp. That time machine comment on Friday jumped off the screen—save that for potential bragging rights, Roger! Do you think the Giants are building Roupp up to be a potential MLB starter (or bulk-innings piggy-backer) later this season if the need arises? Any idea why they didn’t do that in spring training? We heard rave reviews of him from MLB vets, baseball personnel and media from the outset in Scottsdale—more than of any other prospect. And clearly the team needed options for starters (especially before the late Blake Snell signing). Mason Black was built up for extended outings, but Roupp wasn’t despite his starter pedigree. Did the Giants then think Roupp could help them the most as a shorter-inning reliever—and if so, has that perspective changed and why?
How close are we to seeing some mid-season promotions among the group of college players from the 2023 class? Jonah Cox, Quinn McDaniel, and Cole Foster seem to be performing well.
I see Birdsong threw 86 pitches the other day. Is that a one off? Or are the Giants loosening their minor league pitch limits a bit? Pretty sure no minor leaguer threw over 80 pitches in any game last year.
Luis Matos reached the majors with the reputation of a strong defensive center fielder. One fantastic catch aside, his reads/routes/jump have looked genuinely awful and he’s not fast enough to make up for it. So….where did this reputation come from? Did he get worse? Why did so many people seem so wrong?
Your comment last week about A.J. Preller hit on something I’ve bemoaned for years. How is it that the Giants lag far behind the Padres (the Padres!!) in acquiring and replenishing top young talent? And wouldn’t SF benefit from adopting more of Preller’s MO? San Diego puts an extraordinary emphasis on acquiring teenage talent. They’ve drafted a HS player with at least their first two picks every year since 2017 (including when their first-rounders were in the mid-teens and mid/late twenties), and sometimes signed their top pick for far under slot value. And they signed the top international prospect the last two years. Then, as you noted, Preller often trades his prospects for proven MLB talent while their value is high. No question, San Diego has acquired many more young players that other teams are excited about than the Giants over the last several years. So, should the Giants draft more prep players in the early rounds (more of the Eldridge- and Martin-style picks)? How about going really big on an IFA guy at least every 2-3 years—it’s not like Farhan’s mid-tier $2-3M strategy has yielded any fruit to date. And why not roll the dice by trading a top-100 prospect when they have high value—the stock of Bart, Ramos, Luciano and Matos dipped and, as of now, we have almost no MLB benefit from them. It sure seems like the Preller playbook would give the Giants a much better shot at either developing or trading for the elusive impact bat. Big sigh.
At the risk of getting over-excited is Hunter Bishop putting himself into Rule 5 contention? Do you know who will be eligible this year other than Giants draft picks?
A bit of silliness for the week… I have noticed a lot of arm tattoos on pitchers, but it always seems to be limited to the non-throwing arm. Is that a thing? Don’t mess with the tool in any way?
Appreciate he is not exactly pulling up any trees (or a prospect anymore) but are you surprised that the Giants haven't called up David Villar during this injury crisis? Does it put the writing firmly on the wall for his 40-man status?
What's your take on Drew Cavanaugh? Saw a highlight clip on Twitter of him throwing out someone with a pop time 1.77 and he seems to be on a hot start with the bat in AAA. With the Giant's catching depth put in question in what it seemed like a blink of an eye, could Drew be a name we see called up at some point this year or next?
What’s going on with Mason Black’s velocity? Is it almost more encouraging that he’s able to compete and get outs in the bigs with velocity a little lower than he’s had in the past?
Wow, it’s great to see your excitement about Landen Roupp. That time machine comment on Friday jumped off the screen—save that for potential bragging rights, Roger! Do you think the Giants are building Roupp up to be a potential MLB starter (or bulk-innings piggy-backer) later this season if the need arises? Any idea why they didn’t do that in spring training? We heard rave reviews of him from MLB vets, baseball personnel and media from the outset in Scottsdale—more than of any other prospect. And clearly the team needed options for starters (especially before the late Blake Snell signing). Mason Black was built up for extended outings, but Roupp wasn’t despite his starter pedigree. Did the Giants then think Roupp could help them the most as a shorter-inning reliever—and if so, has that perspective changed and why?
Hi Roger, do you have any thoughts on the outlook for Randy Rodriguez? His outing against the Dodgers really opened my eyes
How close are we to seeing some mid-season promotions among the group of college players from the 2023 class? Jonah Cox, Quinn McDaniel, and Cole Foster seem to be performing well.
Additional question on a related topic... Was Cole Foster injured on Saturday? He got pulled and didn't play Sunday.
Are Kai-Wei Teng's days as a starting pitching prospect over?
I see Birdsong threw 86 pitches the other day. Is that a one off? Or are the Giants loosening their minor league pitch limits a bit? Pretty sure no minor leaguer threw over 80 pitches in any game last year.
Luis Matos reached the majors with the reputation of a strong defensive center fielder. One fantastic catch aside, his reads/routes/jump have looked genuinely awful and he’s not fast enough to make up for it. So….where did this reputation come from? Did he get worse? Why did so many people seem so wrong?
He’s made me look like a bit of an asshole since I posted this but I think his greater body of work has still been discouraging.
Your comment last week about A.J. Preller hit on something I’ve bemoaned for years. How is it that the Giants lag far behind the Padres (the Padres!!) in acquiring and replenishing top young talent? And wouldn’t SF benefit from adopting more of Preller’s MO? San Diego puts an extraordinary emphasis on acquiring teenage talent. They’ve drafted a HS player with at least their first two picks every year since 2017 (including when their first-rounders were in the mid-teens and mid/late twenties), and sometimes signed their top pick for far under slot value. And they signed the top international prospect the last two years. Then, as you noted, Preller often trades his prospects for proven MLB talent while their value is high. No question, San Diego has acquired many more young players that other teams are excited about than the Giants over the last several years. So, should the Giants draft more prep players in the early rounds (more of the Eldridge- and Martin-style picks)? How about going really big on an IFA guy at least every 2-3 years—it’s not like Farhan’s mid-tier $2-3M strategy has yielded any fruit to date. And why not roll the dice by trading a top-100 prospect when they have high value—the stock of Bart, Ramos, Luciano and Matos dipped and, as of now, we have almost no MLB benefit from them. It sure seems like the Preller playbook would give the Giants a much better shot at either developing or trading for the elusive impact bat. Big sigh.
What were your impressions of Eliam Sandoval? And how would you judge the defensive abilities of Reynoso and Peralta on the infield?