San Francisco Giants

Back when the news broke about the Hall of Fame's vast repository of scouting reports, baseball nerds freaked out. What was Frank Robinson's scouting report like? What was Brooks Robinson's scouting report like? What was Jeff Robinson's scouting report like? I had the autograph of one of those Robinsons growing up. Go on. Guess. But all of that excitement was counterproductive, as the Hall of Fame's database was really just a retired, 73-year-old teacher using WebTV. You'd enter a query, and if Mildred was up, she would go to the kitchen, rummage through the boxes, find the scouting report for you, then manually type it in using a WebTV keyboard. If Mildred was up. And if Ice Road Truckers wasn't on. Turns out that wasn't very often, so the database was overtaxed and down a lot. It's better now! So we get more scouting reports. And one of my favorites that I've found so far is Barry Zito's: It's my favorite so far for a lot of reasons. First, and this has little to do with Zito, but I love that the "present/future" grades are also applied to "emotional maturity." Like, "This guy's a total dillweed right now (40), but eventually he'll learn the true meaning of Christmas when he volunteers at a soup kitchen in six years (65)." Scouting is weird. But more importantly, this one is great because it skips past the pitcher Zito became with the A's and lands right on the pitcher who came over to the Giants. Gun max: 87 Yup. On a really warm day, with a stiff breeze at his back. I've seen it. Phone number: (Blank) I don't have it, either. :( Control is in strike zone most of the time. For young LHP shows very good change of pace. Curve at times is good when he throws it hard The only thing that'll trip you up is the "young" part because the rest looks like it was written yesterday. 4 pitches - None which are pluses. No glaring weakness except his stuff is not there. All pitches below average This one rings a little less true, as Zito clearly developed a plus curve at some point. Considering that he backs it up with an 83-m.p.h. fastball, it's probably one of the better curveballs in the game. But the "no glaring weakness" line? That's gold. Zito is Zito is Zito. For his delivery + size, he should have better stuff. His father is thinking BIG money. For me he is a "A" draft -- 6th-8th round Well, say, Papa Zito, from your thoughts to Peter Magowan's checkbook. Big money, indeed. It's amazing how big that contract still looks, even seven years into it and a couple of years into the big-television-money era. Yet Zito is still effective. This scouting report was written as if it was a bad thing, but Barry Zito is still one of the 150 best starting pitchers in the world, and he belongs on a major-league roster. Zito has regressed to the way he was in college. He probably has a dog-eared copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in his backpack right now, the little scamp. But the funny thing is ... he's still an okay pitcher. I'll never understand this game. I'm just glad they don't make you take a test or get a license before you write about it.

I tuned in to KNBR on my way to work this morning expecting to hear Murph and Mac doing their show from Hawaii but instead I had to listen to someone named “Monty” who apparently has a *show*. At first I thought it was some syndicated thing acting as a plug- in for Murph and Mac who are probably on their way home. But then he interviewed Krukow so it’s obviously a local guy. Has anyone ever heard him? He can’t stop name dropping his show and he shouted out his twitter handle twice in a 15 minute span. He was very deliberately talking to the listeners about the 5th starter hole and he was doing it in a way that felt like he was educating us, like we haven’t ever thought about the possibilities of Voggy’s replacement. It was hilarious. I am a big Jim Kozimor fan and don’t understand why he doesn’t get a regular show on KNBR.  He’s witty, funny, seems to understand sports across the board….Maybe he’s in Hawaii with everyone else? The Monty Show needs to be hit high and deep to left…..outtttaaa hereeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

AAA Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Oklahoma City Redhawks 4-1:Juan Perez(3B)- 2 for 4, 2B, Sac, SB(10). BA= .307.Gary Brown(CF)- 2 for 4, HR(3), BB. BA= .204.Johnny Monell(1B)- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(7). BA= .250.Mike Kickham(LHP)- 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 9/2. ERA= 4.33.Heath Hembree(RHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(13). ERA= 2.57.Was this a tuneup for Kickham's first MLB start? AA Richmond Flying Squirrels out hit the Trenton Thunder 9-4:Joe Panik(SS)- 3 for 4, 2 BB, SB(5). BA= .298.Mark Minicozzi(2B)- 1 for 4, HR(3), 2 BB. BA= .315.Javier Herrera(LF)- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .288.Ryan Lollis(CF)- 3 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .268.Chris Gloor(LHP)- 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.89.Panik's OBP stands at .392. That is higher than his SLG%, though.High A San Jose Giants topped the High Desert Mavericks 2-1:Mac Williamson(RF)- 2 for 4, HR(5). BA= .259.Jeff Arnold(C)- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .276.Kelvin Marte(LHP)- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.55.Josh Osich(LHP)- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.77.Bryce Bandilla(LHP)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.54.Hunter Strickland(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(9). ERA= 0.86.What an impressive slash line for Arnold! .276/.391/.569.Low A Savannah Sand Gnats downed stung the Augusta Greenjackets 3-1:Joe Biagini(RHP)- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.50.

Man that feels good to write. They have won only 19 games; despite their 1-5 road trip, the Giants have won 26 games. There are only seven of the 30 MLB teams with less than 20 wins and the dodgers are on that list. So this season is a success in that way. Also -- my buddy the Mets fan sent me a link to this............

Thursday highlights from the Giants' farm: Mike Kickham allowed just 1 ER in 6.1 IP, Ryan Lollis reached base in all five appearances, and both Johnny Monell and Mac Williamson homered in multi-hit efforts.AAA: Fresno defeated Oklahoma City 4-1Fresno: CF Gary Brown: 1 for 4, HR, BB, 2 SOFresno: 1B Jonny Monell: 2 for 4, HR, 2BOklahoma City: 1B Brett Wallace: 2 for 2, 2 BBFresno: SP Mike Kickham: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 KFresno: RP Heath Hembree: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 KOklahoma City: SP Jarred Cosart: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K--1 HRThe Grizzlies got two big flies--Brown with his 3rd HR in the 5th inning and Monell with his 7th HR in the 8th inning. Wallace, the Marin native now with his the Astros, reached base in all four plate appearances.Kickham had 6.0 scoreless IP before allowing a run in the 7th inning. He improved his ERA to 4.33. Cosart, a top 100 prospect, allowed more than 1 ER for only the third time in nine starts. His ERA is 2.55. Hembree pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 13th save.AA: Richmond defeated Trenton 9-4(after trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the 6th inning)Richmond: SS Joe Panik: 3 for 4, 2 BB, SBRichmond: 2B Mark Minicozzi: 1 for 4, HR, 2 BB, 3 KRichmond: CF Ryan Lollis: 3 for 3, 2B, HBPRichmond: SP Chris Gloor: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K--1 HRPanik and Lollis both reached base five times, raising their OBPs to .392 and .343. Minicozzi went deep with his 3rd HR.Gloor had his third straight quality start. After a 6.62 ERA in four April starts, he has a 3.65 ERA in four May starts. Primarily, he has allowed a lot fewer baserunners, from a 1.75 WHIP in April to a 1.17 WHIP in May.A+: San Jose defeated High Desert 2-1San Jose: RF Mac Williamson: 2 for 4, HRSan Jose: C Jeff Arnold: 2 for 4, 2B, 2 SO, ESan Jose: SP Kelvin Marte: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 KWilliamson connected for his 5th HR. In May, he has had just 6 XBH among 84 AB. Arnold also had two hits. He has had 9 XBH in 57 AB this month.Marte did not allow a run through 5.2 IP but departed with the bases loaded and two outs in the 6th inning. In his third Cal League season, he now has 23 H, 4 BB and 22 K in 24.2 IP over eight appearances.A-: Augusta lost to Savannah 3-1Augusta: CF Jesus Galindo: 1 for 3, BB, SB, CSAugusta: Joe Biagini: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 KWith one of the GreenJackets' four hits and their only walk, Galindo was the lone GreenJacket to reach base twice. He has been an OBP machine this month with a .471 OBP in 21 games. His SB/CS line is now 26/5.Coming off perhaps his best start of the year (allowing just 1 H and 0 R), Biagini had his second straight start completing 7.0 IP. He improved his ERA to 4.50. With 4 K and 0 BB, he got his K/BB above 2.00.

Since your reading this blog, you're probably no stranger to the fact that Ryan Vogelsong, one of the Giants steadiest starters the last 2 seasons before his slow start to 2013, will be shelved for the next 6 weeks with a fracture on his throwing hand. The question now for a team who's pitching staff was already working it's way out of a funk before this injury, is what do they do know? Wouldn't you know it, Vogey had been the Giants worst starter heading into his start Monday night, but coincidentally was turning in his best effort to date with a 5 inning, 3-hit taming of the powerful Washington Nationals. He was starting to look like the pre-2013 Vogey, hitting his spot with his low-90's fastball and showing complete command with that curve and change. Who knows if this was the first step towards him regaining his form or not, but nevertheless, we'll have to wait until July to see what kind of pitcher he'll be after this surgery. For a pitcher to have a fracture like that in his throwing hand than come back in be successful within a month or so seems a little optimistic, but Vogey is one guy I'm not counting out. This does leave, however, the question as to what the Giants will do with Vogey's rotation spot until he is ready to return to the team. Chad Gaudin will be the immediate replacement, and the Giants may give him a few starts to see if he can hold that down, but he's done such a good job in the bullpen that they may have a hard time finding an adequate replacement for him there. Especially now with Santiago Casilla on the shelf as well.Not only is this injury causing a big hole in the starting rotation, but it could end up taking away arguably the Giants best reliever (not named Romo), to date. Now, the Giants have two upcoming off-days, including Thursday, and may not need a 5th starter for another couple of weeks, but eventually they're going to need someone to step in and take 5+ starts (assuming the timeline is correct). If they do decide to keep Gaudin in the pen, which is what I'm hoping will be the choice, the top couple names down in Fresno are hardly banging the door down to the big leagues. We talked a bit about Michael Kickham and Chris Heston as fall-backs a week ago after the Giants starters had that pitiful roadie in Toronto and Colorado, but again, those two just aren't pitching up to expectations in Fresno, so I have a hard time seeing either get brought up to San Francisco right this moment. Kickham, however, could have a leg up as he's gone 2-1 with a 1.66 ERA and 25 K's in 25 innings of work over his last 4 starts. The issue with him is that he's not on the 40-man and the Giants would have to make an ensuing move in order to make him ML-roster eligible. Again, they do have a few weeks to see how things shake out, but a decision will eventually need to be made, and my money would be on Kickham if his has another couple solid outings during that span.

“You always set high goals. That’s one thing I certainly do. I’m not getting ahead of myself by any means, but sure, it is something that you think about and dream about.” That was Michael Kickham‘s response during the 2012 NLCS when asked if he had mentally projected himself experiencing playoff baseball in the big leagues in 2013 or 2014. Given Ryan Vogelsong‘s injury and the possibility of a promotion from Triple-A Fresno, Kickham could find himself on the big league roster sooner than he thought… Kickham was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 6th round of the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft. His career at Missouri State was rather far from prolific with a 4-9 record and a 5.29 ERA in 15 games. However, scouts saw potential in Kickham’s plus stuff and big-bodied frame. Jason Parks, an authority on prospects for Baseball Prospectus, wrote the following about Kickham (courtesy of Jay Jaffeof, Sports Illustrated): The 24-year-old has good stuff from the left-side—including a plus fastball—with feel and utility for a deep secondary arsenal. Some scouts think Kickham would be a better fit in the bullpen, where his velocity could play up and his command issues could play down, but he has the body and the arsenal to develop into a back of the rotation workhorse. Either way, Kickham is a major-league arm and should see action in 2013. Kickham can get his fastball up to 94mph, and he complements that heater with a solid curveball, plus slider, and workable change up. During his initial stint at Single-A Augusta, he posted a 5-10 record with a 4.11 ERA in 21 games started. His K/9 ratio was a solid 8.30, but his BB/9 ratio (2.98) was concerning. Opponents hit .257 against him, but the rather high BABIP of .318 should put that into better context. A promotion to Double-A Richmond in 2012 saw Kickham emerge as a legitimate prospect. He managed to compile a 3.05 ERA across 27 games started, his 11-10 record betraying his effectiveness. His 75.5 LOB% (Left-On-Base Percentage) shows how proficient Kickham was at getting out of jams, which is something he largely did to himself when you consider his BB/9 rate jumped up to an alarming 4.48 even though opponents only hit .216 against him. Still, Kickham impressively struck out 137 batters across 150 innings with an above-average ground ball rate, earning a promotion to Triple-A Fresno for the 2013 season. He was also an Eastern League postseason All-Star. After a brutal start to this season in which Kickham allowed run totals of 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8 over his first 5 games, he’s since posted 4 consecutive quality starts in which he’s struck out 25 and walked 6 with only 5 runs charged to him in that span, totaling a 1.80 ERA. His BB/9 rate still sits at an eye-popping 4.72, but 13 of his 19 walks took place over those first 5 games in which Kickham simply couldn’t put it together. Since then, he has pitched well. Plus, he’s already got 50 strikeouts in 47.2 innings (9.4 SO/9), which ranks 2nd in the hitter-friendly PCL. Impressively, 32 of those 50 strikeouts the lefty has hand-tied have come against right-handed hitters. Baseball America ranked Kickham as the fifth-best prospect overall in the Giants’ farm system, and they graded his slider to be the best in the organization. He projects as a backend starter, and his solid pitcher’s frame suggests he can be a workhorse similar to Vogelsong. If he can continue to harness his command and keep his walk-rate down, Kickham’s low-90s average velocity combined with above-average off-speed repertoire should translate to swing-and-miss stuff that’s good enough to earn a spot on the Giants rotation, perhaps sooner rather than later given the uncertainty surrounding the returns of Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, and Vogelsong for 2014. ~Paul Ghiglieri ———-——–—-——-——––———————-—————————————————- You can follow SF Giants Rumors Facebook page for more Giants updates! Want an email alert wh

Pablo Sandoval is a gift. A jolly, jolly gift. His home run on Tuesday night was the longest home run by a Giant this year, and … aw, heck, let's watch that again: Your browser does not support iframes. That home run proves my long-held thesis of "Don't pitch Pablo Sandoval there." For example ... Don't pitch Pablo Sandoval there! That is a very bad place for a changeup against Pablo Sandoval. Of course, there isn't really a great place to pitch Pablo Sandoval. CSN Bay Area put together a side-by-side shot of two at-bats he had against the Padres last September, and it looked like this: The one on the left was a dinger. The right was a double. Neither one should have been hit well. So, smart guy, where should teams pitch him? The Internet has answers. And these answers provide me with the Five Greatest Things About Pablo Sandoval-Related Pitch Data. 1. The greatest heat map in the history of heat maps Courtesy of Baseball Prospectus, here is Pablo Sandoval's average against right-handed pitchers when the outcome of his at-bat is decided: I can't … It's just … that is so beautiful and hilarious. Again, that's batting-average against from the catcher's perspective, so picture a lefty-swinging Sandoval with his back to you over on the right side of your screen. The place you go in the strike zone is in on his hands but, for goodness sake, don't go too far in! If you miss outside the zone and come close to hitting him, he kind of rakes those pitches. Which doesn't make sense. But, hey, neither does Sandoval. This leads us to #2 … 2. That same chart, but by slugging percentage So Sandoval can't really catch up to the Benard-high fastball … but when he does, he hits them 400 feet. And look at the numbers by his ankles. That's an .838 slugging percentage just under the strike zone, and an .821 slugging on the shoe tops. This next one might be my favorite, though: 3. Those charts don't include the ones that are really outside The charts are "outside edges to scale," and if you futz with the drop-down menu, you get an option that reads "outside edges infinite." I asked BP's Ian Miller what that meant: To scale: outer edges are 1/3 the width of the plate/strike zone Infinite: those pitches PLUS the ones that would've hit the Durham Bull And if you adjust the chart to infinite … The average in the two bottom-left corner squares goes up. 4. Over the last two years, left-handed Pablo Sandoval swung at curveballs that bounced on the mound This is from the catcher's perspective again You can tell it's from the catcher's perspective because it reads "Catcher's perspective." Here, let me get a screen shot: Those blue dots must be umlauts or something. I think the guy who runs TexasLeaguers is from Slovakia. Yeah, that's it. Because there's no way those are swings. Now go back up to those heat maps and look where Pablo has most of his success. Low pitches. It makes absolutely no sense. 5. Pitchers still pitch Sandoval low One last chart. This one has the frequency of the different pitches Sandoval sees: You're supposed to get him to chase up, but the only pitches he'll get up are fastballs. And you can't throw Sandoval fastballs only, so you have to set those up with waste pitches in the dirt. Except Sandoval swings at those and hits them for a high average. So then you get him to chase up, but the only pitches you'll throw him up are fastballs. The circle of life! I've been playing around with this data all morning, and I feel like there's something even more ridiculous that I'm not seeing, right under my nose. Until I figure out what those things are, though, here are five ridiculous things about Pablo Sandoval. Turns out he's kind of a freak.

By the time Dave Righetti's active Major League playing career ended in 1995, closers usually pitched only a ballgame's final inning. But Righetti routinely was asked to do much more than that as the New York Yankees' bullpen ace from 1984-90. It was common for him to work as many as three innings, occasionally longer, in pursuit of a save.

Mock drafts in baseball just aren't the same as they are in other sports. "Say, here's a player you've never heard of. He plays a position your team may or may not need right now, but, whatever, that might not be the case when he's ready for the majors. Which might be never. And these mock drafts are rarely accurate because it's hard to predict what 30 scouting departments are really thinking. Enjoy." Still, I'm a sucker for them. And some new ones are out, so let's see what the Giants are expected to do when the Draft rolls around in a couple weeks. First, MLB.com and Jonathan Mayo: 25. San Francisco Giants: Hunter Harvey, RHP, Bandys HS (N.C.) The son of former big league pitcher Bryan Harvey has size and stuff, and it's clear he wants to enter pro ball. That could add up to him going before the Giants pick, but San Francisco knows how to develop young pitching. Sounds enticing. Some video: Your browser does not support iframes. By golly, that fresh face makes rookie Tim Lincecum look like Vicente Padilla. But almost every other mock draft I've seen has Harvey going just a little higher (with Sickels being the lone holdout), so this might be something of an unlikely pick. SI.com has a mock draft up, and it has the Giants taking Ole Miss righty Bobby Wahl. The defending World Series champions are built around pitching, and typically so are their drafts. A comfortable fit at this pick would be Wahl, a mature, a close-to-the-majors hurler with a drop-and-drive delivery and a wide range of pitch offerings. He has a 93 mph fastball but his out-pitch is a quality slider, which would fit right in in San Francisco. This sounds like a double-down on the Chris Stratton strategy of getting a mature slider-tosser from a big program. Your browser does not support iframes. The MLB.com video doesn't mention a slider, but you can see it around :30 of it. Looks good from here. Keith Law's mock draft (Insider subscription required) has the Giants going for Eric Jagielo, a third baseman from Notre Dame with projectable power and defense that shouldn't push him off the position. The ESPN summary says he's … … agile enough to stay at the position even though he's going to be among the bigger third basemen in pro ball. But not the biggest! Maybe the Giants can move Sandoval to short and put Crawford in right field when the time comes. Also "Jagielo" sounds like "Juggalo", and that's good enough for me. Wearing animal hats is so last year. Spraying Cotton Candy Faygo on your seatmates after a home run? Probably the new thing. Your browser does not support iframes. I'm a little wary of a left-handed power guy in the first round, though. When fourth- or fifth-rounders like, say, Brandon Belt come around, that's great. But a first-round pick is expected to make the majors, so you have to factor in the ballpark just a little. I'd rather go power arm and hope the Giants can mold him in the tradition of first-rounders past. While the odds are the Giants don't get a starter from the #25 pick, the odds are at least decent that one of these names will be a big deal in five years. Which one? That's the point. Good luck, Giants.