What do you make of Kyle Harrison's season and what do you think his future holds? The overall results this season seem relatively positive for a 23-year-old in his first full season. But we also know at this point the pitch models are not enamored by his arsenal, giving him an average fastball grade and a below average grade on his slurve and changeup. His fastball velocity is also down a full tick this season. Do you think the fastball velocity can return to where it was after his body gets more accustomed to the rigors of a full major league season? Everything I've read about Harrison is that he struggles to pronate and that his motor preference is more toward supination. Given that, I'm surprised that he's increased the usage of his changeup and reduced the usage of his slider this year. The changeup has been his worst pitch by stuff+ and run value. What changes can he work on this offseason to sharpen his existing off-speed pitches? Is there a pitch he can add to his arsenal that will make him less reliant on his fastball?
What would your plan be for the offseason if you were the FO.. Have to imagine that Fitzy Bailey JHL Ramos and hopefully Chapman will be back next year.. Need more than one bat and an arm or two. What say you?
How do you approach weighing someone's stock when drafted/ signed vs. how they look at the beginning of their pro career when evaluating a younger prospect? How long into someone's pro career until you'd say your evaluation is entirely based on how they have played in pro ball? It seems like, in general, people tend to move lower initial prospects that are playing well in a pro ball up rankings faster than they drop top signed prospects that aren't performing.
Thank you (and Baggs and Pavs) for speaking up in clear language that you don’t see a plan with the top young hitters on the 40-man roster and haven’t seen one for some time. Fans need to know and I appreciate the media not dancing around the issue. It’s really discouraging and frustrating for the org to be in this position. My question is WHY do you think this has happened? It sure seems like the brain trust (ownership and front office) should know how critical it is to develop home-grown hitters. So, how did they arrive at such a haphazard approach with Ramos, Luciano and others? A “win now” mentality doesn’t explain all of it.
Penny for your thoughts on John Michael Bertrand's ceiling? I love the innings pitched, the limited walks, and you've mentioned his defense is gold glove worthy. At the same time, he's 26 and his stuff isn't going to pop off the page. He seems like a pitcher that would have been valued a lot more in a bygone era.
do you think Grant McRae could develop into a big league right fielder? I love the idea of having McRae Lee and Ramos in the same outfield from athleticism and defense standpoint. Do you think Grant McRae and his bat specifically can eventually develop into a big league corner bat?
Rog will have a great take on this, I am sure, but i was VERY encouraged by Grant's work Sunday in Seattle. I was at the game and he hit it hard for an out his first time up, hit a hard single next, then hit by far the hardest hit ball of the game off the facade in right field for an HR, an absolute laser! And maybe just as impressive, with two outs and a RISP in the ninth, he got behind 1 and 2 to a closer who throws 100 and has a nasty slider. He worked a walk, spoiling a pitch or two and taking tough sliders breaking below the zone. Small sample size for sure, and he definitely has struck out a lot in his big league time, but he looked calm at the plate and had the best at bats of anyone on either team that day.
(building off your comment about the Dodgers' PD reputation might have outstripped their accomplishment) Which MLB orgs do you think are the best in 1) drafting 2) player development? And what area are the ones that you think would be the "easiest" for the Giants to catch up (it's of course not easy exactly, so in relative terms)?
If I remember right, you mentioned the Giants basically saying Vaun Brown needed to learn how to work his swing with his body. Could this be an issue of over weight training? When I saw him in
A Ball a couple years ago (haven’t seen him since)he already had a major league body from serious weight training in just a couple years but if he stepped up the training and got too big maybe he needs back off the weights?
What have you heard about any specific plans to upgrade Sutter Health Park to accommodate major leaguers? I would think almost everything could use improvement - clubhouses, batting cages, weight rooms, press box. I’m assuming the Athletics are paying for it all - or have the Giants agreed to fund a portion?
Thanks for letting me know Michael. I did fix it on the original but just to avoid people having tried and giving up, I sent out a second one that definitely had “everyone” selected for comments
Roger, do you feel the Giants are making the right decisions regarding Walker Martin’s development late in his first year? Is it beneficial for him to struggle this much against Low-A pitching or would he be better served to work with the development guys at Papago? And on defense, if shortstop was challenging for Martin in the ACL, it must be even tougher in the Cal League. I get why they wouldn’t add another position to the mix at this point in the season, but maybe semi-regular DH days for Martin would help enable improvements on offense.
What do you make of Kyle Harrison's season and what do you think his future holds? The overall results this season seem relatively positive for a 23-year-old in his first full season. But we also know at this point the pitch models are not enamored by his arsenal, giving him an average fastball grade and a below average grade on his slurve and changeup. His fastball velocity is also down a full tick this season. Do you think the fastball velocity can return to where it was after his body gets more accustomed to the rigors of a full major league season? Everything I've read about Harrison is that he struggles to pronate and that his motor preference is more toward supination. Given that, I'm surprised that he's increased the usage of his changeup and reduced the usage of his slider this year. The changeup has been his worst pitch by stuff+ and run value. What changes can he work on this offseason to sharpen his existing off-speed pitches? Is there a pitch he can add to his arsenal that will make him less reliant on his fastball?
What would your plan be for the offseason if you were the FO.. Have to imagine that Fitzy Bailey JHL Ramos and hopefully Chapman will be back next year.. Need more than one bat and an arm or two. What say you?
How do you approach weighing someone's stock when drafted/ signed vs. how they look at the beginning of their pro career when evaluating a younger prospect? How long into someone's pro career until you'd say your evaluation is entirely based on how they have played in pro ball? It seems like, in general, people tend to move lower initial prospects that are playing well in a pro ball up rankings faster than they drop top signed prospects that aren't performing.
Sounds like Walker Martin's music.
Thank you (and Baggs and Pavs) for speaking up in clear language that you don’t see a plan with the top young hitters on the 40-man roster and haven’t seen one for some time. Fans need to know and I appreciate the media not dancing around the issue. It’s really discouraging and frustrating for the org to be in this position. My question is WHY do you think this has happened? It sure seems like the brain trust (ownership and front office) should know how critical it is to develop home-grown hitters. So, how did they arrive at such a haphazard approach with Ramos, Luciano and others? A “win now” mentality doesn’t explain all of it.
Penny for your thoughts on John Michael Bertrand's ceiling? I love the innings pitched, the limited walks, and you've mentioned his defense is gold glove worthy. At the same time, he's 26 and his stuff isn't going to pop off the page. He seems like a pitcher that would have been valued a lot more in a bygone era.
do you think Grant McRae could develop into a big league right fielder? I love the idea of having McRae Lee and Ramos in the same outfield from athleticism and defense standpoint. Do you think Grant McRae and his bat specifically can eventually develop into a big league corner bat?
Rog will have a great take on this, I am sure, but i was VERY encouraged by Grant's work Sunday in Seattle. I was at the game and he hit it hard for an out his first time up, hit a hard single next, then hit by far the hardest hit ball of the game off the facade in right field for an HR, an absolute laser! And maybe just as impressive, with two outs and a RISP in the ninth, he got behind 1 and 2 to a closer who throws 100 and has a nasty slider. He worked a walk, spoiling a pitch or two and taking tough sliders breaking below the zone. Small sample size for sure, and he definitely has struck out a lot in his big league time, but he looked calm at the plate and had the best at bats of anyone on either team that day.
(building off your comment about the Dodgers' PD reputation might have outstripped their accomplishment) Which MLB orgs do you think are the best in 1) drafting 2) player development? And what area are the ones that you think would be the "easiest" for the Giants to catch up (it's of course not easy exactly, so in relative terms)?
If I remember right, you mentioned the Giants basically saying Vaun Brown needed to learn how to work his swing with his body. Could this be an issue of over weight training? When I saw him in
A Ball a couple years ago (haven’t seen him since)he already had a major league body from serious weight training in just a couple years but if he stepped up the training and got too big maybe he needs back off the weights?
What have you heard about any specific plans to upgrade Sutter Health Park to accommodate major leaguers? I would think almost everything could use improvement - clubhouses, batting cages, weight rooms, press box. I’m assuming the Athletics are paying for it all - or have the Giants agreed to fund a portion?
Hi Roger—Just checking. Is it only subscribers who can ask questions for the latest mailbag? I can't seem to comment.
Sorry Michael. I must have messed up settings this week. I’ll see if I can change it
Thanks for letting me know Michael. I did fix it on the original but just to avoid people having tried and giving up, I sent out a second one that definitely had “everyone” selected for comments
Roger, do you feel the Giants are making the right decisions regarding Walker Martin’s development late in his first year? Is it beneficial for him to struggle this much against Low-A pitching or would he be better served to work with the development guys at Papago? And on defense, if shortstop was challenging for Martin in the ACL, it must be even tougher in the Cal League. I get why they wouldn’t add another position to the mix at this point in the season, but maybe semi-regular DH days for Martin would help enable improvements on offense.