From The Golden Gate Bridge to the Gateway Arch...
...checking in with the Giants & Cardinals
Another busy day in the MLB off-season. The Jays making some noise in picking up Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea to the Giants and 80 Grade name Sean Murphy on the move to Atlanta as part of a 3-team trade. The Stove is cooking. Let’s get it going with a team that was just mentioned in the San Francisco Giants….
San Francisco Giants (81-81, 30GB, 3rd in NL West)
Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, 65-83, 5th in PCL West
Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels, 66-71, 5th overall in Eastern League Southwest
High-A Eugene Emeralds, 81-48, 1st overall in Northwest League
Single-A San Jose Giants, 74-58, 2nd overall in California League North
Top 5 Prospects (per Pipeline 12.12.2022)
Marco Luciano, SS, 227 AB, .817 OPS, 10.1 BB%, 22.6 K%
Kyle Harrison, LHP, 113 IP, 2.71 ERA, 1.13 WHIP
Luis Matos, OF, 401 AB, .657 OPS, 6.8 BB%, 15.8 K%
Grant McCray, OF, 488 AB, .897 OPS, 11.8 BB%, 29.9 K%
Aeverson Arteaga, SS, 503 AB, .776 OPS, 8.7 BB%, 27.4 K%
Personal Prospect Pick
This was a bit of a tough selection for me. When I think about the Giants prospects it begins and ends with Luciano for me. Which isn’t great for my general knowledge of the organization. So I decided to go about this a bit differently. Most of the other organizations reviewed to date, I have generally seen a bit of video on them. Whether it be in college or MILB, my eyes have had a little bit of a looksee. To battle this lack of looks, I went to Pipeline and checked out their Top 30 stats from the season gone by. Looking for something to jump off the page so to say. Give me something to watch for in 2023. An OPS of 1.060 over 267AB/458 PA did it. A quick primer on my personal prospect pick Vaun Brown is in order. Drafted in 2021 (Rd.10, Pick 296 overall) out of D2 Florida Southern. 2022 stats - .346/.437/.623, 10.3 BB%, 26.0 K%, 44 SB. Pipeline Scouting grades: Hit 45, Power 55, Run 70, Arm 50, Field 60, Overall 45. I’m interested in seeing Vaun play this season. Could be a big year for him especially as he’s 24, which evaluators have noted as a question relative to level.
Canadian Content 🍁
C Max Wright, Toronto ON, Eugene
St. Louis Cardinals (93-69, 1st in NL Central, L in NL WC 2-0 to PHI)
Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, 73-77, 6th in International League East
Double-A Springfield Cardinals, 68-70, 4th overall in Texas League North
High-A Peoria Chiefs, 56-76, 5th overall in Midwest League West
Single-A Palm Beach Cardinals, 67-61, 2nd in Florida State League East
Top 5 Prospects (per Baseball America 12.12.2022)
Jordan Walker, OF, 477 AB, .901 OPS, 11 BB%, 21.4 K%
Tink Hence, RHP, 53.1 IP, 1.35 ERA, 0.86 WHIP
Masyn Wynn, SS, 488 AB, .829 OPS, 11.8 BB%, 20.6 K%
Matthew Liberatore, LHP, 149.2 IP, 5.35 ERA, 1.46 WHIP
Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, 2022 MLB 1st round selection, 22nd pick overall from Oregon State University
Personal Prospect Pick
I seem to be in a similar predicament as above but for a different reason. Using the recently updated Top 10 rankings from BA, it has moved my original personal pick of Cooper Hjerpe into the Top 5 and out of consideration. I simply did not watch much STL MILB last year so using a similar “technique”, using that term very loosely here, as above to track down a name to watch for 2023 and my eyes were drawn to the following stat-line -
208 PA, 165 AB, .897 OPS, 15.9 BB%, 23.1 K% at the age of 17. This is the line for SS Johnathan Mejia. Cards signed him for $2 million out of the DR in January 2022. Baseball America Grades: Hitting 55, Power: 55, Run 45, Fielding 40, Arm 50. Likely will start in the FCL in 2023.
Canadian Content 🍁
OF Tyler O’Neill, Maple Ridge BC, St. Louis
RHP Mike Brettell, Fonthill ON, Springfield
3B Francisco Hernandez, Montreal QC, Peoria
RHP Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, Oakville ON, Peoria
3B Brandon Hernandez, Montreal QC, Palm Beach
We are getting near the team top 5’s/personal picks/CDN content with only 4 more teams to go. Once they’re complete it will give me a chance to work on a couple different style posts before we start to get ready for college baseball in the new year. We may also sneak in a preview of sorts for the World Baseball Classic in March as well. Very curious who Canada will bring to the WBC. Thank you for stopping by today and I’ll talk with ya soon. Until then, as always - Keep It 80 Grade