Ah yes, Spring Training. The sun basking the diamond and players are getting their reps in. It's always nice to see baseball back and for the Giants, another year to make the best fanbase on Twitter blurt out sarcastic to disappointing comments. A couple of Spring Training games in, and I think that it is time to put some things to context.
- Stating the obvious, Joey Bart is a beast. Hitting an opposite field home run with his front foot slipping just shows you how beast of a human being he is. Jesus Christ, I mean his torso while he was jogging around the bases just shows you that he is built for the rigors of catching. Buster Posey might be the best athlete that we have seen behind the plate in the past decade but Bart's body is stronger and won't break down more easily.
Now, there are plenty of noise in the "don't be a pussy, put Bart in the big leagues" train after one home run, but that is what you would get for overreacting on one swing. Bart should start in Sacramento barring any disastrous events in the backup catching situation. I hope that both Brantly and Heineman can lock down the backup catching job.
- Ryan Howard put a good swing into one, launching a laser home run also to the opposite way. Howard had a really down 2019 offensively and while the home run swing looks flat, the quality of contact looks good due to the direct path to the ball. I hope that the tweaks that he put in the offseason (going more two-handed among other things) can see his stock rise again.
- I like what Matt Carasiti's stuff in the early going, with his fastball-splitter combination looking nice in the early going. As someone with big league experience and looks like turning a corner as a pitcher, I see him as someone who will be in the final cuts for the bullpen at the end of Spring. The same can be said to Rico Garcia.
- Sean Hjelle looked good in his save. The fastball is up to 96 MPH but I am going to put some context on it. Hjelle as far as the eye can see looked the same in his frame compared to last year. Starters do usually tick up in velocity in one-inning bursts (starters turned relievers can attest to that) and what is happening is that for those who don't know it, Hjelle can reach 96 MPH in college in the very early going and will typically sit in the 90-94 MPH range with his fastball as he gets deeper. He's also done it in the pros last year, with stadium guns reading him at around 95 early then wane late.
We can definitely hope that Hjelle will sit 95 MPH after 100+ pitches but that one is unlikely. If Hjelle would've hit 98 MPH in his first game of 2020, I would be all eyes and ears about it and re-examine what he's done in the offseason to gain velocity. But until then, it is the usual for me. That doesn't mean that he won't be effective though as he's already shown in pro ball that he is quite a handful even with average velocity.
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- People are asking on Twitter where the hell is Heliot Ramos (and prospects in general) and there are articles from our trusty Giants beat writers that we could see Ramos get some Major League action this year with a vote of confidence from Bart.
Based on infos that I have received about Ramos, he is in the backfields in Arizona, getting his reps in, working with Blast Motion (as do all Giants prospects that are in the backfields) to help examine his swing in hopes of further refinement. There's this one swing where Heliot absolutely crushed a ball towards left center that travelled to the trees and he certainly looks ready to put on a good show for us Giants fans in 2020.
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Given that the Giants do lack quality starting pitching depth that can definitely be filled out with the treasure trove of picks in the 2020 draft, here are my notes on some of the pitchers that I have taken a look at in the early going.
- While it is still damn early into the season, Emerson Hancock and Asa Lacy looks like the frontrunners in a deep class and would go into the top 10. Hancock has a Brady Singer-like frame with ability to command his 4 distinct pitches for strikes but could get hit more than the usual.
Lacy would get plenty of AJ Puk comparisons due to their size and stuff but that's pretty much where the comparisons end. Lacy dominates hitters with his extreme downhill plane to his stuff generated by his front leg actually landing more open than usual that results to his arm finishing on top more often than usual. That kind of arm action would generate the necessary backspin for his fastball to play up in the zone and down where hitters would be forced to pound the earth whenever they swing. His slider and changeup also looks very good but he will struggle to locate his pitches for strikes at times. While his arm action is really deceptive, he struggles to repeat that arm slot consistently.
- Now that the big boys are now out of the picture and with JT Ginn and Garrett Crochet sidelined, here's my thoughts on the four pitchers that I really like for the Giants to get:
Reid Detmers looks very good in terms of pounding the zone with his pitches and loves to throw his fastball on the upper half of the plate with very good life. With him competing very well at the upper third of the zone with his fastball even though it has average velocity before finishing hitters off with a good-looking looping curveball, it would remind plenty of how Bumgarner attack hitters.
Max Meyer has become my draft crush. The diminutive right hander threw 100 MPH in his 2020 debut in the early going with plenty of life and has a vertical-breaking plus-plus slider that looks like something that you would see from Mets pitchers like Thor and deGrom to compliment it. Meyer does have a tendency to lose velocity and hover more on the 93-95 MPH range deep to his starts but he does have a very athletic frame coupled with his loose mechanics. He actually closed his front leg more when he lands compared to last year so he keeps on making changes for him to improve and that's encouraging. The changeup looks alright and even though he allowed 2 home runs and lasted only 5 innings in his latest start, he looks like a lock to be a mid-first round selection.
Carmen Mlodzinski (pronounced as muh-jin-ski kind of like Majin Buu from Dragon Ball Z) also showed that he can maintain his velocity deep to his starts, sitting in the mid-90s in the 7th innings and the fastball might be the best sinker of the draft class. His slider became more of a cutter-like pitch in the high-80s but still looks effective and one changeup looked pretty nice. Carmen can fill up the zone and command some pitches so let's see how will he transpire as the weather heats up.
CJ Van Eyk struggled with his overall control in his latest start and his velocity only creeped up to 94 MPH according to the broadcast and that's partially due to the mid-40s game temperature. Nonetheless, the break of his curveball, changeup and his new slider that he worked in the fall looked ridiculously good that if he can just locate his fastball better, it would make him a really juicy selection for the Giants.
- Some pitchers that have caught my attention from watching their film that could be players in the second to third round.
Chris McMahon looked pretty good to me with his fastball looking crisp, changeup looking good with its fading action and his curveball looking alright. The arm action reminds me of Corbin Martin and he looks like a relatively solid back-end type of arm for me.
Mitchell Parker has some Alex Wood or Ubaldo Jimenez-type of arm action where he really reaches back with his left arm then throw over the top. Love the shape of his curveball and he tunnels it well with his fastball that has life. Sneaky, sneaky candidate.
Jack Leftwich has a long arm action that reminds me of Jameson Taillon but the stuff is not as good as Taillon's where his offspeed pitches looks a bit raw to me though I like the breaking ball's potential. The arm speed and the velocity is something to build on as it can reach 96 MPH.
Jeff Criswell pitched great against Vandy even though he was wild at times. There's life in his fastball that reaches the mid-90s and the arm action is pretty funky and his power curveball (I suppose is on the knuckle-curve variety) flashed above-average as well as a solid changeup. Interesting pitcher.
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I hope you enjoy reading this one. Until next time!
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