Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Prospect Reports for the 2017 Giants: Ramos, Gonzalez, Corry, G. Williams

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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