Scouting Reports for the 2016 Giants Part 3: Duggar, Hinojosa, Shaw + Something Extra

In the Part 2 of my scouting reports, I'll focus on the three of the San Jose Giants that was promoted to Richmond all at the same time; Steven Duggar, C.J. Hinojosa, and Chris Shaw. Three different hitters all in the same 2015 draft class: Duggar as an OBP specialist with great speed to defend the OF and steal bases, Hinojosa as an all-contact hitter with little speed but great feel to field, and Shaw as a tank-of-a-human-being power hitter that is not just all-power. All are very impressive in my eyes. Let's get into it.

Steven Duggar  AA  OF

6'2" 195 lbs.  L/R

Videos: Credits to Roger Munter, Wilson Karaman, Mike Ashmore and anewman14

Duggar, filled with amazing tools but haven't showed the type of success that people expected in college. However, the tools showed up very well in college and has helped him reach AA in a pretty short time. 

The physical tools are amazing. The lean and loose frame and the plus athleticism where I rank him just below Lucius Fox on the best athleticism in the system.

His bat has come a long way this season compared to last year. The stance is still the same from last year with the fairly wide base and relaxed feeling in the box that can be looked at as passive. His leg kick is fairly big but he stays balanced and rocks his weight to his left shoulder, loading his back shoulder and hands. He shifts then all that weight forward into his front side. His hands is still back at that moment the front leg drops which helps him adjust mid-swing. His hands are very quick to produce a plus bat speed. He incorporates his back leg more also but he drives pitches in his stiff front leg. There's some bat wrap in the swing but it's fine. He finishes his swing two-handed which helps him drive the ball more but the bat speed doesn't slow down which is a testament to his athleticism. 

His strike zone awareness and plate vision are plus but he has tendencies to chase bad or nasty pitches out of the zone. The refined swing allows him to translate his average raw power in games but the line-drive approach will produce doubles power with a max of 10 homers at the end of the day.

His best tool however is the speed. His raw speed is plus-plus. The raw speed allows him to stick in center long-term and will cover huge grounds there and has enough instincts to be an above-average defender in center. The raw speed also shows in his base running. His base stealing ability is still however far apart from his raw speed with him getting caught stealing fairly often this year. But, he has made strides into stealing bases this year according to an interview of him earlier this season so there's still a big chance that his great speed will translate in stolen bases too. His arm is a plus tool at center.

With significant improvements in his offensive side of the game, Duggar has helped his stock improve vastly and has proven doubters wrong. But what's even more exciting is that there's still a ceiling to tap on and the possibilities are endless for him in San Francisco. If he can improve on his breaking ball discipline and base running, we might have found the answer on the Giants' CF woes in him.

Grades (Current): Hit 40 | Power 40 | Speed 65 | Arm 60 | Glove 50 

Grades (Ceiling): Hit 50+ | Power 50 | Speed 70 | Arm 60 | Glove 55

Grades (Probable): Hit 45+ | Power 45 | Speed 70 | Arm 60 | Glove 50+

Ceiling: Above-average regular   Floor: 4th OF   ETA: Mid-2018

C.J. Hinojosa  AA  SS/2B

5'9" 180 lbs.

Videos: Credits to minorleagueball 1 and 2, and Quinn Barry

Defying expectations is just what Hinojosa has done this season after an awful college career.

Hinojosa's frame is pretty stocky and filled out, giving him some raw power. Limbs are proportional to his frame. There are limited athleticism but he manages to use every single bit of it as he got excellent feel for his body and for the game. The body looks like it needs a little bit of maintenance in the future but I don't see it as a concern.

At the batter's box, his knees are bent but his upper body stays tall while the hands are chest tall and the bat is fairly vertical. There are no nonchalant movements in the box from him except for a little bat wiggle for rhythm. He prefers a double toe tap to load himself up and after the second toe tap, his front foot rotates a bit to close out his front leg. His hands move to the back of his head pretty quickly and his back is turned back to his plate. His momentum moves forward and opens up shown by the turn of his front knee but the bat stays closed. He got average to a tick above bat speed and good wrists. He's been able to adjust his swing on the fly. He got a good bat path although the swing can get long at times. His eye-hand coordination and his ability to make contact is plus. He tends to fade towards his left while swinging but he compensates on that by moving his back foot for balance. I like his one-handed finish more as that allows him to get out of the box quickly. 

He got a very solid approach at the plate as he tends to hit only good pitches and doesn't walk a lot because he's putting the ball in play at a very high rate, a testament on his great hit tool. The swing is more of a line drive one even though the swing has some loft. As a result, he's more of a doubles-type of guy because of his hitting approach.

He doesn't have the greatest speed in the world and we should expect him to steal just a handful of bases in a full season. His speed doesn't help his defense at shortstop either but he squeezes all of his speed and he goes all out on plays. He does need to move to second base eventually because there are players that can defend shortstop better than him and his solid arm will fit nicely there.

Hinojosa reminds me of Christian Arroyo in terms of body size, hitting ability, not a lot of speed, some defensive questions but great intelligence and feel for the game. He's linked to Dustin Pedroia in terms of the height and the grind attitude and Hinojosa is good enough to reach the Majors.

Grades (Current): Hit 45 | Power 35 | Speed 35 | Arm 50 | Glove 40+

Grades (Ceiling): Hit 55 | Power 40 | Speed 35 | Arm 50 | Glove 45+

Grades (Probable): Hit 50+ | Power 35 | Speed 35 | Arm 50 | Glove 45

Ceiling: Everyday player   Floor: Bench player/AAAA-type player   ETA: 2018

Chris Shaw  AA  1B

6'4" 255 lbs.

Videos: Credits to Baseball America, Wilson Karaman and minorleagueball 1, 2 and 3

A power hitting first baseman's value is mainly based on his ability to mash and Chris Shaw can truly mash a baseball.

The guy is big. From his torso, his broad shoulders, his legs and thighs, everything is big. He is just oozing with raw power to all fields. His build is not all stocky or all buffed up. It's lean muscle and he is in great shape and he maintains that shape everyday.

The swing is pretty much textbook, one that you want your kids to have. He is pretty crouched in the box with his weight leaned towards his back side. He is closed at his upper body even though his lower half is slightly open. He is relaxed at the box with zero excess moving parts. His hands are pre-loaded before swinging. He uses a short and simple step foot forward or a short and slight leg lift as his load, closing his lower body up while the hands moves back a bit. The swing path has some uppercut which allows him to drive the ball out of the park. The swing itself is short and compact although it can get long at times. The wrists are strong but he just got average bat speed. He uses his back leg to rotate his hips and it looks like a golf swing. He employs a two-handed finish with some bat wrap. He got great balance at the box overall.

He is not a free-swinger unlike most power-hitting first baseman. He employs a mature approach where he works counts and draw a good amount of walks and hunts fastballs early in the count. The problems though is that he tends to be pretty overwhelmed at the box sometimes and will chase bad pitches. That said, he's translating his raw power in games very well even though the swing looks more into contact than power, producing hard contact often even though he doesn't square it up. He can also hit homers in his opposite side as well but the homers are mostly pull side. There's still a ceiling to be achieved in terms of his hitting and power if he improves his discipline at the box.

His speed is a 20 thanks to his massive size. His range at first is okay but his defense there is below average right now. He will stick there in first base long-term and I think that his defense at first will be enough for him to stay there. His arm is pretty strong but it's pretty useless at first base so the glove really needs to deliver. 

Shaw's value is tied to his offense mostly and his offense really needs to deliver in pro ball to stay there. I can understand the worries of some if he doesn't produce just like all first baseman prospects but I think Shaw's bat can handle the Major League pitching and will thrive there, even though there's a chance he'll be traded to an AL park to own the DH role.

Grades (Current): Hit 45 | Power 60 | Speed 20 | Arm 50+ | Glove 35

Grades (Ceiling): Hit 55 | Power 70 | Speed 20 | Arm 50+ | Glove 45

Grades (Probable): Hit 50+ | Power 50 | Speed 20 | Arm 50+ | Glove 45

Ceiling: Possible All-Star 1B   Floor: DH/Bench Bat   ETA: Late 2017/2018

Something Extra

In this edition of Something Extra, I'll cover up the top July 2 prospects that the Giants signed this year. With them being penalized, they are stuck at signing J2 prospects at $300,000 maximum. I will write the prospects up a little to give you a short sneak peek of the prospects. 

- First is Gordi Santos, a middle infielder. He looks like he'll add more in his frame but I expect him to still be lean but still retaining the great athleticism that he has. The swing needs work as he looks like he's more of a singles hitter with some bat speed. The approach is raw and needs a lot of work. His defense looks great with aggressive and athletic actions. He looks more of a glove-first shortstop for me but I like him.

- Next is Samuel Jorge or "Sammy George". He got a good frame already that looks pretty mature but I see him add more weight as he looks like a power hitting third baseman. The swing looks good but the bat speed is average to a tick above at best. I can see the good athleticism as well. Reports said that he got a good arm too.

- Third is Enoc Watts from Panama. I love his name and we have the same birthdays! Lean, smooth and fairly athletic, Watts got a good feel for fielding. A switch-hitter, I like his hitting in his left side more than his right. I am not very impressed with his speed to first base but looks like he got solid feel for hitting. Another guy I like. 

- Ismael Alcantara is an OF with a long and fairly slow swing and some swag in his bat flip. The body's lean and looking athletic though.

- Alexander Canario got some bat drag in his BP swing and looks like he's forcing the bat to hit the ball. It can be improved with coaching. He got slow transfer and tends to hesitate in his fielding drills. The swing reminds me of JJ Hardy.

- Luilly Pichardo looks like a pretty built player with some raw power with good BP bat speed.

- Yovanny Moronta nicknamed "El Tsunami" (boy, these nicknames gets better and better) got a nice delivery, his right arm ready to throw early and spun a nice curveball on one video. Looks pretty good.

There are other guys that GPT has mentioned on Twitter before but these are the only guys that I saw their vids on. My money is on Enoc Watts and Gordi Santos to perform well next year in their DSL stints. 

This is the end of my Scouting Reports on Duggar, Hinojosa and Shaw as well as Something Extra feat. the Giants J2 class of 2016. I hope you enjoy reading!

P.S. I noticed just now that this will be my 50th post in this blog! Thank you so much for the readers who have read from the first post and up to today. Thanks a lot! I'll probably going to change the name of my blog at the end of the season but I don't know yet. I realized I don't like sticking my name in the title of the blog so I'm going to find something cool.