Hello! I know it's still very early in the season but I feel it's time to whip out my full prospect reports for the Giants prospects because I feel I'm going to run out of time while I'm doing my thesis. I have put hundreds of hours watching tons of videos of prospects from various sources, recording MiLB broadcasts from the start of the 2017 season and rewatching it, looking at the finer details, comparing past to current videos. I hope you like reading my reports that I made for you kind reader even though I'm not a real scout. I wish I can do an audio file for a better way to say what I want to say on every prospect but I don't know how to upload one here on this site.
In my first set of reports, I'm going to start with the top 2017 draftees Heliot Ramos, Jacob Gonzalez, and Seth Corry and the breakout prospect for this season, lefty pitcher Garrett Williams.
FanGraphs profiles will open upon clicking the prospect names.
Heliot Ramos OF ROK
6'2" 185 lbs. R/R
Videos: Credits to Matt Pullman and Baseball Census
Ramos has five tool-potential across the
board all packed in a very athletic body. His frame is more on the muscular
side with broad shoulders and slightly long legs, making me think that he’s
slightly heavier than his listed 185 lbs. That said, there’s still projection
in play in his frame to tack on 10-20 more pounds.
Ramos' swing is more on the bottom hand-side but he got very strong wrists that allows him to generate 65-grade bat speed and the bat travels the zone extremely well. He has a fairly easy load and his torso stays in the middle of his center of gravity, allowing him to produce consistent hard contact at anything he hits. Ramos has a stable head to allow him to see balls well with elements of good eye-hand coordination and pitch recognition but the approach needs work. The over-aggressiveness has to be toned down by better pitch selection as he's more of a free-swinger in tens of at-bats that I watched. That said, his plus raw power shows up very well in games as he has no trouble driving balls all over the field. Once he has a better approach, that will result to plenty more of extra base hits.
Ramos’ raw speed is better than plus and
his smooth, almost effortless running especially his acceleration after he
swings allows him to extend singles and he’s also a smart base stealer for his
age. I think he’ll lose a step once he further matures in his frame. The speed
also fits at center very well, with plus arm strength and improving defensive
instincts. I see minimal reason for him to move to a corner outfield spot,
possibly at right, because I think he can be a solid to above-average defender
up the middle.
Ramos has star potential with potential
four-plus tools across the board. He’s torching the ball in Rookie Ball that is
a testament on his physical tools, competitiveness, and work ethic but for him
to elevate to be a star prospect, the ability to hit needs to improve and
cutting down the strikeouts.
Grades (Current): Hit 30 | Power 50 | Speed
65 | Arm 60 | Glove 45
Grades (Ceiling): Hit 50+ | Power 60+ |
Speed 65 | Arm 60 | Glove 55
Grades (Probable): Hit 50 | Power 60 |
Speed 60 | Arm 60 | Glove 55
Jacob Gonzalez 3B/1B/OF ROK
6'3" 190 lbs. R/R
Videos: Credits to Baseball Census and Sports360AZ
First thing you’ll notice about Jacob is
that he got a frame of a future power hitter. I think he’s more on the 210 lbs.
in terms of weight with plenty of muscle in his broad frame to easily see plus
or better raw power. I think he can add a bit more weight as he matures without
hurting his solid athleticism.
During games however, Gonzalez doesn’t sell
out his power too much and that’s a great thing. Jacob’s loose on the batter’s
box with an upright stance and a leg kick early in the count but spreads out
more and uses more of a heel lift in two-strike counts. I can see he’s using his
top hand more in his swing with slight stiffness and the swing itself resembles
like Jayson Werth. The swing produces plenty of backspin but I think the swing
itself needs some polish in terms of driving the ball better because he has
some tendency to have a scooping motion in his swing path and that can affect
the bat path. What impressed me the most is his plate discipline, taking
pitches that he can’t handle and punishing the pitches that he can hit. He can
also recognize breaking balls well and looks very mature in the box with good eye-hand coordination and overall feel for the barrel.
Jacob isn’t a fast runner and he might slow
down even more as he gets older but I can see that he’s not a clogger on the
bases. Defensively, I think he’s worked really hard to improve in his actions
at third and makes good plays from it but it’s pretty easy for me to see him
move to first base with his fringy range and just average arm strength. The arm
action isn’t as problematic as plenty says but I do agree it needs some
cleanup. I think he's a capable defender in the outfield, where his limited speed and arm strength makes him suited in left field and at first where his body size at maturity fits well.
Gonzalez might not stay in the hot corner
as he gets older when better defensive options will eventually supplant him but
his offensive potential is immense, with plus or better raw power, very good
feel for hitting, and an advanced approach and eye at the plate and the
intelligence and maturity that only his baseball background can deliver.
Grades (Current): Hit 35 | Power 50 | Speed
45 | Arm 50 | Glove 40
Grades (Ceiling): Hit 55 | Power 60+ |
Speed 45 | Arm 50 | Glove 45
Grades (Probable): Hit 55 | Power 60 |
Speed 40 | Arm 50 | Glove 45
Garrett Williams LHP A+
6'1" 205 lbs. L/L
Videos: Credits to Giant Potential and Roger Munter
Williams has a strong build with broad
shoulders, thick torso and legs. The
body can sustain starter quality load without compromising on velocity as the
season progresses.
The most crucial thing for Williams in his
first full season is improving his control and command of his pitches.
Examining his current mechanics to his college mechanics, I see is that the
coaches streamlined it. It’s not a big change but it is obvious in his front
leg when he drives towards the plate. In college, he has a slight pause, very
slight, when transitioning from his leg kick to his drive. In pro ball, the
front leg drives straight down after his leg kick. It might not be much but
that might have been crucial in terms of harnessing his mechanics to improve his
control and command.
Incorporating a two-seamer and a cutter
also helped him a lot since he’s been primarily a fastball-curveball pitcher.
The fastball can still hit 95 MPH in starts but he’s opting to use a two-seamer
with not much sinking action but the movement’s late and causes hitters bats to
be on top of the ball. I like his cutter more with hard cutting action that he
loves to throw inside to righties. His low ¾ arm slot really helps get that
horizontal movement on his cutter and gives hitters especially lefties a very
tough angle to look for the ball. All that helps his power curveball with
crisp, late snap to shine as a true out pitch although I'm still not sure about the grip if it's a knuckle curve grip. The curveball can flatten out at
times and is thrown in a higher slot than his fastball but he’s able to locate
it on both sides of the plate. He throws his changeup sparingly at around
mid-80s with good fade but lacks hard movement.
There will be times where Williams will
throw more balls than strikes but he’s around the zone much better and he can
spot pitches where the catcher wants especially his curveball. His two
seamer-cutter-curveball combo can work in starts but he needs to trust his
changeup more in order to be a starter in the Majors. If he can’t find his
changeup or his command recede, his stuff is good enough to be a high-leverage
reliever.
Grades (Current): FB 55 | CUT 55 | CB 55 |
CH 35 | CMD 40+
Grades (Ceiling): FB 60 | CUT 60 | CB 60 |
CH 45 | CMD 50
Grades (Probable): FB 60 | CUT 55 | CB 60 |
CH 40 | CMD 45
Seth Corry LHP ROK
6'2" 195 lbs. L/L
Videos: Credits to Baseball Census and Sande Charles
Corry’s very athletic on the mound, with a
nice broad frame built for innings. He has thick thighs and good muscle on legs
but the torso’s still capable of adding muscle as he matures.
His mechanics’ is high maintenance and
needs plenty of ironing. He has good foundation for a repeatable mechanics with
a loose and clean arm action but he has a tendency to be off balanced because
he disengage his back foot on the rubber almost at the start of his leg drive. He
tends to get rotational when releasing his pitches that can result to being
late and not in line with the plate. He also has a bent front leg in his
finishing that results to some violence and effort. I think the violence cannot be fully
removed but it can be toned down.
In terms of stuff, Corry has plenty of
potential. His fastball even though it’s in the low-90s and he throws it over
the top has plenty of sinking action that’s rare for a guy with an over the top
release point. I think I have also seen him throw a cutter before with good
movement. Both of his fastballs often induce weak contact even if the velocity lacks sometimes. His curveball is a dandy when he throws it right with huge and late
1-7 break with a potential to be plus or better. His changeup also has promise
with tremendous sinking action and velocity separation and sells it very well
with his arm speed. He has his wild moments where he throws his fastball all
over the place that can result to his breaking ball and changeup to lose some
of its effectiveness.
Corry’s key to success is really improving
and streamlining his mechanics in order to get more consistent with his fastball
command and that will unlock his success as he goes up the pro ranks. Even
though he’s an excellent athlete, the mechanics he has is pretty hard to get
fixed but the coaches will find a way.
Grades (Current): FB 45 | CB 50 | CH 45 |
CMD 30
Grades (Ceiling): FB 55 | CB 60 | CH 55 |
CMD 45
Grades (Probable): FB 55 | CB 55 | CH 55 |
CMD 40+
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