Top 4 Giants Prospects To Pay Attention To
by Russell Preston, KHTK Sacramento
Playoff baseball is in the air, unfortunately for San Francisco Giants fans, they believe there is nothing to look forward to until Spring. That's where they're wrong!
While Giants games won't be played for months, prospects are playing Fall and Winter ball to help them develop into big league players. It may not be much, but if fans want to know who the next Matt Duffy or Joe Panik are, they will pay attention at times like these.
With the latest class of rookies seeing some playing time in the big leagues (i.e. Kelby Tomlinson, Jarrett Parker, Josh Osich, etc.), let's focus on guys who are at least a year away from the big leagues. Get your scorecard and binoculars ready, here are the top-4 Giants prospects to pay attention to:
4. Ray Black, P
Here's an easy pick to get any Giants fan excited. Drafted in the 7th round of the 2011 draft, Black has had a long road through the minors. Black is a little old for single-A baseball, but at 25 years old, there's plenty of room to grow. Heck, Chris Heston didn't make the big leagues until he was 27. Plus, Black has a pretty sweet advantage: he can throw 104 miles per hour.
He strikes plenty of people out and has been used as a shut down reliever, a closer and even a starter. In 57 appearances in the last two seasons, he owns a 3.28 ERA, 122 strikeouts (!!), 41 walks in just 60.1 innings. His ERA has decreased each year, so keep an eye on him if the trend continues. He will most likely be in double-A next season.
3. Kyle Crick, P
Another pitcher, another solid prospect with a bright future. Crick has been on the Giants radar since the drafted him in the first round of the 2011 draft. Much like Panik being Buster Posey's "mini-me," Crick is that to Matt Cain - a big right-hander who throws hard and has decent off-speed pitches such as his cutter.
Still needing to develop some better control, he is one of the closer prospects to making the big league roster next year. He pitched in double-A last year and should start the year in Sacramento, but don't be surprised if he ends up in the big league rotation by the end of the year.
2. Christian Arroyo, SS
Finally, a position player. Arroyo was the top pick for the Giants back in the 2013 draft, but he has quickly shown what kind of hitter he can be. In single-A, Arroyo hit .304 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs in just 90 games. He is expected to be a .300 hitter in the big leagues too.
He's rated as the Giants No. 2 prospect in the farm system and with Brandon Crawford being 28 years old, Arroyo could be the shortstop of the future in a few years. He will probably be in double-A to start next season.
1. Tyler Beede, P
Back to pitchers. Beede has been an intriguing prospect thus far. The Giants drafted him a little over a week before he won the College World Series with his team at Vanderbilt. He was dominant in his first half of the season in single-A. He had a 2.24 ERA over nine starts with a 37:9 strikeout-walk ratio, only to digress in double-A for the second half (5.23 ERA in 13 starts).
He has only really had one full year of professional baseball, so if he starts the year in Sacramento it will be because of a stellar spring training. Giants fans should keep an eye out for him the most, as he is in the hands of a Giants farm system no stranger to developing pitchers (see: Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner, Romo, Heston, etc.).