There R Giants #34: Carson Ragsdale
Photo Credit: Raul Ebio | Santa Cruz Sentinel
Welcome to a new year, everybody! Let’s all make it the best one ever, shall we? Here’s hoping that will be true for you and yours anyway and maybe all those around you as well.
We’re into the There R Giants Top 50. Over the next few months, I’ll write a post on each of the fifty players in my rankings, leading us back to spring. So far, we’ve covered:
Man. Tough crowd! A guy finishes second in the entire minor leagues in strikeouts and I can’t even find a way to fit him into my Top 30? I feel a little guilty about this, honestly! But maybe I can explain.
Carson Ragsdale fills a strange little corner of the Giants’ prospect world — a player they didn’t draft, but one who’s never played for any other organization. A quasi-Giant, in a way. As a result, Giants fans probably know a little less about him, have a little fuzzier understanding of where he is in his development, and aren’t entirely sure how to assess his strikingly successful pro debut.
Never fear reader, I’m here to help! Ragsdale really does bring an intriguing backstory to the organization. Though he’s a college veteran, in many ways he’s still just beginning his development as a pitcher. He also peers down at hitters from one of the system’s most unique release points and approach angles, falling just short of Sean Hjelle’s vertigo-inducing slant. Those elements, in addition to his eye-popping statistical success in his first hack at pro ball, could have Ragsdale primed for a big step up in his development next year. There’s plenty of work to be done here, but, all things considered, Ragsdale occupies his own little realm in the Giants’ organization: the high variance pitching prospect.
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