Scouting Report and Review on the Giants Day 1 Picks

      The first day 2015 MLB Draft has ended and surprisingly, the top 10 picks of the draft went as most of baseball fans expected as well as the draft gurus. There are surprising picks like Miami's Josh Naylor and such. The San Francisco Giants have the #18, #31 and #61 pick as you all know and I'll give you my thoughts on the guys that the front office has drafted for us. 

      You can find the stats of the draftees at Cove Chatter's compilation of stats and other reliable websites like BA.

#18. Phil Bickford RHP, CC of Southern Nevada

        6'4" 205 lbs.  R/R  Video: Full credits to Eric Longenhagen

         Bickford is previously drafted by the Blue Jays but didn't sign then he went to Cal State Fullerton but transferred to College of Southern Nevada to make himself eligible to this year's draft. He is a tall, lanky guy with room to add 10-20 lbs more. He stands on the mound on the first base side of the rubber and he starts his delivery with a step simple step on the side to start his rhythm then and his leg kick is pretty wide but it is okay which makes him pretty balanced on the mound. The problem that I see is that on the height of his leg kick, his left foot is facing south which can contribute to control problems sometimes. He got a drop-and-drive delivery with above-average to plus extension at the plate (in which I'll guess to be at 6'8") thanks to his really long legs which causes his pitches to seem to arrive a bit faster (perceived velocity) than the regular velocity. There are a few noticeable changes on his delivery. First is that his elbow placement when he's still pitching in HS or in Fullerton is pretty high, similar to Masahiro Tanaka (image here.) which is pretty dangerous but when he's pitching in CSN, his elbow is now considerably lower and doesn't show anymore the inverted V which is good. Second is that his arm slot is now more of a true 3/4 release than his sidewinder release point in HS and in Fullerton. He lands closed and he finishes his delivery in a north-south path which is good but he finishes his delivery in a pretty bad fielding position due to the energy generated by his delivery but for me, it's not much of a concern. 

         His delivery helps his plus fastball to have tremendous sink and arm side run than most pitchers while having a low to mid-90s (up to 98 MPH when pitching in relief) with great command on it. He can spot it pretty much wherever he wants to. The problem that I see about him is that when he throws his plus fastball high as you'll see on the 3:01 of the video, the run is there but there's no downward plane in it due to his release point which the hitters can see well and can result to more flyballs. His slider also is a potential plus pitch as you can see him throw that pitch on the 1:10 of the video. It got a sharp late break and with similar arm speed as his fastball that the hitter managed to foul the pitch off. It got a chance to be a great putaway pitch. I've seen him throw a changeup in other videos and it is an average pitch with the same arm speed as his fastball plus a good fade on it but I expect him to have a better feel on it in the future since he's been mostly a sinker-slider guy in college. He got a good feel with his body and he got tremendous pitchability. There are velocity issues about him, reliever possibilities, and the marijuana issue but his velocity is up to 93-97 MPH recently, his past reports indicate that he got a good makeup and I believe that he's a mid-rotation starter material and I am confident that the Giants will tap on that ceiling (a bit of polish on his delivery, improvement of changeup, possible addition of a cutter) and join MadBum and pretty soon Beede in the Giants rotation. 

My Grades: FB 65 | SL 60+ | CH 50 | CMD 55

Ceiling: #2-3 Starter   Floor: High-end reliever

#31 Chris Shaw 1B/OF, Boston College

       6'3" 248 lbs.  L/R  VIdeo: Credits to ACC Digital Network

      The Giants surprised a lot of their fans when they decided to pass on the plethora of HS talent and went to one of the best power hitters in the draft in Chris Shaw. First thing that I saw from him is that he's a big dude, built like a defensive tackle. He got a textbook lefty swing with a good balance in the box, slightly open stance and as he begins to swing, he closes his swing with a simple toe turn, allowing himself to be in a good position to use his plus power to all fields. His bat is not the fastest swing in the world unlike Javier Baez but he utilizes his powerful body to drive the ball with relative ease. MLB.com noted that he tends to become overaggressive at times which means he needs to have a better plate discipline and a better approach at the box in the minors. His body will make him planted to 1B in the future and he will never be a good runner but he'll be an average fielder with an okay arm in the future. His calling card is his plus power and his hammate injury might sap him some power as he's recovering but the Giants believe he'll come back strong and he got a chance to be the signature power hitter of us in the future or he'll be like Adam Duvall if he doesn't pan out.

My Grades: Hit 50 | Power 65 | Run 30+ | Field 45 | Arm 50

Ceiling: Borderline All-Star player    Floor: Pinch hitter/DH

#61 Andrew Suarez  LHP, Miami

      6'2" 205 lbs.  L/L  Video: Credits to Fangraphs

      At the second round, the Giants again passed on a number of highly regarded prospects and instead picked Andrew Suarez, ace lefty of Miami. He got little or no more room to fill out in his body which is okay. He stands on the first base side of the rubber similar to Cliff Lee. As he begins to begins to deliver the pitch, his leg kick is a close resemblance to Tyler Beede's leg kick this year with Suarez having a more quiet one creating a good balance. I think one of the selling cards of Suarez is deception in his delivery as he hides his left hand really well in his body, similar on how Dallas Keuchel hides the ball well, causing his fastball to jump on to hitters as you can see on the 0:40 part of the video where it made the hitter pop up the bunt attempt. He throws his pitches with a good arm path and a standard 3/4 release and ends up in a good fielding position. He thows his fastball in the low to mid-90s with a bit of movement. His changeup flashes above average at times in videos though he tends to slow down his motion and his slider flashes above average too, but the curve's an average pitch. He's shown to have great feel for pitching and with a good knowledge about the strike zone and sequencing. His injury issues are not mechanics-related in my opinion but it's his body that's failing him. If he can get healthy throughout the minors, I expect him to be a useful starter in future.

My Grades: FB 55+ | SL 50+ | CH 50+ | CB 50 | CMD 55

Ceiling: #4-5 Starter    Floor: Long-man

      Overall, I will grade the Giants' day 1 draft as a B+ with potential high value picks in Bickford and Shaw as well as a safe pick in Suarez. A lot of people expected the Giants to become unexpected at this years draft and as you have seen with who most of the draft gurus mocked for this year. It maybe one of the down drafts that I have ever researched from but the Giants got good values and never punted their picks. I hope you find my first true blog post to be informative. Cheers!

P.S. The grades are my own grades about the players when they reach their true ceilings. All similarities on the grades of other websites are coincidental but I researched a lot from several draft sites and videos together with my own hunches to build my own scouting report. I hope you enjoyed it.