San Francisco Giants 2011 Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review

by John Sickels on Jul 22, 2011 12:01 PM EDT

Brandon Crawford of the San Francisco Giants gets his throw off to complete a double play while avoiding the slide of Juan Rivera of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning during an MLB baseball game at AT&T Park July 18, 2011 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

San Francisco Giants Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review

It is time to review our PRE-SEASON list of Top 20 prospects for 2011 for each organization, beginning today with the San Francisco Giants. This list was originally published November 14, 2010.

This is a review of the 2011 Pre-Season Top 20 list. IT IS NOT A NEW LIST. The 2012 list and new grades won't be ready until the season is over and I start writing the book.

1) Brandon Belt, 1B, Grade A-: Earned first base job out of spring training but didn't hold it, also missed some time with a wrist injury. Hit .215/.320/.338 in 21 major league games, .335/.475/.548 in 47 Triple-A games. Still an elite talent, just needs more time.

2) Gary Brown, OF, Grade B: Hitting .313/.382/.469 with 39 steals for High-A San Jose, drawing raves for speed and defense. Has a few rough edges but overall I'm impressed, and pre-season concerns I had about his bat have been eased.

3) Zack Wheeler, RHP, Grade B: 3.70 ERA with 95/46 K/BB in 83 innings for San Jose, 64 hits, 1.29 GO/AO. K/IP and H/IP remain excellent, reflect plus stuff, still needs to sharpen command.

4) Francisco Peguero, OF, Grade B-: Late start due to knee injury, hit .324/.387/.441 in 16 games for San Jose, .276/.291/.439 win 25 games for Double-A Richmond. Speed/power potential remains impressive, still raw with the strike zone.

5) Thomas Neal, OF, Grade B-: .295/.351/.409 with two homers, 13 walks, 50 strikeouts in 220 at-bats for Triple-A Fresno. Disappearance of his power is disappointing. Stock has dropped some.

6) Jose Casilla, RHP, Grade B-: 9.49 ERA with a 4/6 K/BB in 12 innings, 17 hits for San Jose, before going on the disabled list in May.

7) Jarrett Parker, OF, Grade B-: Hitting .270/.382/.430 with nine homers, 57 walks, 16 steals for San Jose in 337 at-bats, also 87 strikeouts. Intriguing across-the-board tools/skills, Double-A transition will be interesting.

8) Ehire Adrianza, SS, Grade C+: .231/.315/.378 in 38 games for Low-A Augusta, .284/.361/.405 in 18 games for San Jose. Still rates as great glove/questionable bat type.

9) Jorge Bucardo, RHP, Grade C+: Injured all year.

10) Charlie Culberson, 2B, Grade C+: .274/.311/.404 in 379 at-bats for Richmond, 17 walks, 91 strikeouts, 12 steals. Has some gap power and speed but poor plate discipline..

11) Brandon Crawford, SS, Grade C+: .199/.289/.277 in 141 major league at-bats. Given lack of Triple-A experience and his past minor league track record, such struggles are not unexpected. Has played well on defense.

12) Eric Surkamp, LHP, Grade C+: 2.05 ERA, 118/32 K/BB in 101 innings for Richmond, 84 hits. Excellent season in all respects, transition to Double-A very successful.

13) Kendry Flores, RHP, Grade C+: 5.13 ERA with 26/10 K/BB in 26 innings for short-season Salem-Keizer. Sample too small to mean much at this point, just 19 years old.

14) Michael Main, RHP, Grade C+: 3.81 ERA with 24/14 K/BB in 28 innings for San Jose, 30 hits, missed two months with injury. Ratios aren't impressive but sample is small.

15) Mike Kickham, LHP, Grade C+: 4.71 ERA with 69/25 K/BB in 65 innings for Augusta, 67 hits. College performance was erratic and the same has been true in pro ball, though components are better than the ERA.

16) Tommy Joseph, C, Grade C+: .249/.291/.416 with 11 homers, 18 walks, 74 strikeouts in 361 at-bats for San Jose, has thrown out 37% of runners, passed ball and error rates have improved. Looks like progress on defense, bat remains sketchy, good power but poor discipline.

17) Heath Hembree, RHP, Grade C+: 0.7 ERA with 44/12 K/BB in 25 innings for San Jose, 21 saves. 3.00 ERA with 14/5 K/BB in nine innings for Richmond, seven saves. A very fine season thus far.

18) Jake Dunning, RHP, Grade C+; borderline C: 5.09 ERA with 54/21 K/BB in 58 innings for San Jose, 70 hits. Not a lot to get excited about here.

19) Chris Dominguez, 3B, Grade C, borderline C+. .291/.337/.465 with 11 homers, 18 walks, 73 strikeouts in 258 at-bats for San Jose, .291/.320/.487 with five walks, 30 strikeouts in 117 at-bats for Richmond. Very impressive power, but strike zone judgment remains poor. It's interesting that his production held up despite better competition, but I still have doubts.

20) Roger Kieschnick, OF, Grade C, borderline C+: .267/.317/.434 with 11 homers, 25 walks, 87 strikeouts in 348 at-bats for Richmond. Another guy with power but plate discipline issues.

Feel free in the comments section to ask about guys who weren't on the Pre-Season Top 20 but who are doing well this year. There was a lot of C+ pre-season and as I noted at the time, spots nine through 19 could have been ranked any number of ways with justifiable logic.

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I really appreciate these reviews

Thank you!

by Ryno1984 on Jul 22, 2011 12:10 PM EDT reply actions

Awesome, cant wait to see all of these lists reviewed

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by mathisrocks5 on Jul 22, 2011 12:58 PM EDT reply actions

I still really like Belt

His bat reminds me some of Joe Mauer, a line drive hitter with 20 hr power

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by mathisrocks5 on Jul 22, 2011 1:02 PM EDT reply actions

well, also Belt got hurt this year

and adjusting to the Majors, he will be fine next year I am sure

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by feslenraster on Jul 23, 2011 8:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Like Brandon Belt too

An ‘elite’ talent though (as suggested in the original post)? I like his approach very much but I’m not about to go there.

by Matt0330 on Jul 23, 2011 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Hector Sanchez

Obviously, the main guy missing here is Hector Sanchez. I also didn’t have him in my preseason top 20 prospects for the Giants, but several guys had him in the 10-15 range. John did a prospect review of him just recently so there’s no need to add anything here, other than to note that he made huge strides in A+ ball in April and May (both at the plate and in the field) to earn a promotion all the way up to AAA in June. He’s been holding his own in the PCL and has played himself well into the top 10 of all Giants prospects.

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by Fla-Giant on Jul 22, 2011 1:47 PM EDT reply actions

I gave him a C+ coming into the year (11th overall)

Based primarily off of Mike Newman’s report on him. Point being, Mike Newman is awesome.

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by Jeff Reese on Jul 22, 2011 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Much appreciated Jeff

Thanks to you and the Bullpen Banter crew for the support over the past year or two.

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by ScoutingTheSally on Jul 23, 2011 8:53 AM EDT up reply actions

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/7/18/2279905/prospect-of-the-day-hector-sanchez-c-san-francisco-giants

Please don't cut Ishikawa! 2009 Tops All-Star Rookie and World Champ 2010!

by kennv on Jul 23, 2011 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Ehire Adrianza

He sat out about he first 8 weeks of the season with a serious injury to his throwing hand that required surgery, so we’ll have to give him a bit of a pass on his lack of progress at the plate and within the system. He was scheduled to start the season in AA Richmond prior to sustaining the injury late in spring training, so he can still be considered to be on a quasi-rehab assingnment in the Cal League right now.

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.

by Fla-Giant on Jul 22, 2011 1:52 PM EDT reply actions

Adam Duvall

This 11th round 2010 draftee out of Louisville is the other big surprise mover in the system (after Hector Sanchez). He’s a bit old for the league (22.10 years) and his arm at 3B is suspect, but he’s been among the league leaders in HRs all season long and is putting up great stats in the pitcher-friendly low-A Sally:
.201/.391/.547/.938 in 351 ABs, with HR=20, 2B=24, 3B=3, BB-rate=11.8%, K-rate=18.3%

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.

by Fla-Giant on Jul 22, 2011 2:06 PM EDT reply actions

Oops

That shoud read:
.291/.391/.547/.938

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

Keep an eye on my son, Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning. From SS to the mound - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.

by Fla-Giant on Jul 22, 2011 2:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Duvall

I haven’t seen anything out there about what his potential is.

by mattp31 on Jul 23, 2011 4:59 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

was Joe Panik a consideration

for this list, or not enough pro data yet?

by noelman31 on Jul 22, 2011 3:07 PM EDT reply actions

2011 draftee

So was not available when John made the original list.

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by siddfynch on Jul 22, 2011 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Brown

Likely to be promoted this year?

I’d like to see the hitting numbers once he’s out of the Cal league.

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by siddfynch on Jul 22, 2011 3:13 PM EDT reply actions

Really

A lot of players in the system ought to be promoted. There’s been almost zero movement despite good years from several guys (Surkamp, Brown, Parker). Dominguez and Hembree have been the only real movements with Adrianza probably ticketed for SJ at the beginning of the season and the Augusta trip just to bring him back from injury.

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by quincy0191 on Jul 22, 2011 8:50 PM EDT up reply actions

I wonder what grade Surkamp would get now

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by OremLK on Jul 22, 2011 4:31 PM EDT reply actions

B- or B

by John Sickels on Jul 22, 2011 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting. Thanks!

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by OremLK on Jul 22, 2011 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Neal

He started the season on the DL with a shoulder injury, so I’m hoping that the decline in power is injury related and will return over time when the shoulder is stronger.

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Congratulations, Hector!

by tedfordfan on Jul 22, 2011 4:39 PM EDT reply actions

Wasn’t it a shoulder injury that sapped his power before and put him at first for a season?

I’m not sure if that’s encouraging that he’s had the power disappear and come back before or that he got hurt again.

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by WalrusMan on Jul 23, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m not sure, but I think this recent injury was to the other shoulder and much less serious – something like a strain of some kind.

by tedfordfan on Jul 23, 2011 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Neal had shoulder surgery in January, 2007. Not sure which shoulder then, or now. His power did eventually come back, so maybe next year…..

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by Lyle on Jul 23, 2011 9:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Ryan Verdugo

The Giants transitioned him to starter after spending his entire professional career in the bullpen and he’s performed very well: 96.1 IP ; 100/42 K/BB ratio ; 86 H ; 3.83 ERA as a 24 year old in AA.

He has a good arm (FB in the low 90’s) and decent secondary offerings and is a lefty. I think he’s probably a top 10-15 level talent in the system right now. What’s your take, John?

by tedfordfan on Jul 22, 2011 4:43 PM EDT reply actions

This.

as far as preseason surprises go, I’m curious what John thinks of Duvall and Verdugo.

by Nivra on Jul 25, 2011 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions

As a Mets fan, I have to wonder if the Giants would really give up Belt for what is probably 2 months of Beltran. I think he gets traded to the Giants in a package headlined by Gary Brown.

by mytoemytoe on Jul 22, 2011 6:34 PM EDT reply actions

I'm not a Giants fan,

but that would be insane, even if Mets covered all of Beltran’s payroll. They have a good enough lead to just give Belt a shot vs big league pitching, in my opinion. Dude can rake.

by mkries on Jul 22, 2011 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm a Mets fan

And I’d almost be angry at Sabean if he was dumb enough to make that deal.

by Fanon on Jul 22, 2011 9:20 PM EDT up reply actions

I'ma Giant's fan

It is funny how different the tenor of prospect-for-rentals-trades discussions are on prospect web sites is from other media.

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by kennv on Jul 23, 2011 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions

That only happens if the Mets cover all of Beltran's payroll (the Brown trade).

And even then many Giants fans, myself included, would be disappointed by the trade.

by dregarx on Jul 22, 2011 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Of course a large part of that is because the Giants have the money to cover Beltran.

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by El Person on Jul 23, 2011 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Belt is going nowhere

Brown very likely isn’t either. I think if that’s the price the Giants pass; they’d be willing to give up a couple B-/C+ guys but no first-round picks when Beltran is a rental who can’t be offered arbitration. Plus, there are more concerns in the middle infield and C than in the OF.

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by quincy0191 on Jul 22, 2011 8:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Random hypothetical

Would people trade Belt for Reyes if he was actually available?

by nixa37 on Jul 22, 2011 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions

no

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by jponry on Jul 22, 2011 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it would be interesting

Reyes would significantly help the Giants chances of winning it all this year and you’d at least get draft pick compensation for him. Guess it’d be really tough to part with 6 years of Belt, but as a Braves fan I’d strongly consider dealing Teheran for Reyes if the deal was on the table

by nixa37 on Jul 22, 2011 10:35 PM EDT up reply actions

No on Belt, yes on others

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by marcello on Jul 23, 2011 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions

No, on second thought...No !

As good as Reyes is, Belt is too much to give up in talent, team control, and potential. I’m with Marcello on this one. Let’s talk about someone other than Belt, Wheeler, and Brown.

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by nvsfg on Jul 23, 2011 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Freeman/Belt/Rizzo

Rank’em

by Jay212033 on Jul 22, 2011 8:19 PM EDT reply actions

in that order

by noelman31 on Jul 22, 2011 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Belt Freeman Rizzo

by cookiedabookie on Jul 22, 2011 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Why Belt over Freeman?

Just curious, not looking to start another long discussion

by nixa37 on Jul 22, 2011 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Just believe that Belt will have more power long term

I like Freeman, but like Belt just a bit more.

by cookiedabookie on Jul 22, 2011 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not sure what to make of Belt's power

Looked amazing last year, been pretty disappointing so far this year

by nixa37 on Jul 22, 2011 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions

S S S

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by EricW on Jul 23, 2011 1:51 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

40% of the sample size of last season

Not like Brandon Belt had some long track record of dominating either

by nixa37 on Jul 23, 2011 8:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Basing future power production off of even one season

Is still SSS

Don't think he can cut it in the bigs? Brock Bond will be the bigger man and walk walk walk away.

by baetown415 on Jul 23, 2011 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Which is why, you know, I said I'm not sure what to make of his power

by nixa37 on Jul 24, 2011 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Belt Rizzo FF

because FF will never develop power

by Braves24 on Jul 22, 2011 9:31 PM EDT up reply actions

LOL

Love itJ

by Jay212033 on Jul 22, 2011 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions

it!

by Jay212033 on Jul 22, 2011 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions

You got it right the first time

by Matt0330 on Jul 23, 2011 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I had such high hopes for Matt Graham coming into this season and he’s let me down. He’s walking alot of batters.

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by tj.hendricks on Jul 23, 2011 2:29 AM EDT reply actions

Adalberto Mejia, LHP

he just turned 18 and is dominating the DSL with a 58/5 K/BB in 60.1 ip (0.90 ERA). The Giants gave him a good sized signing bonus and scouting reports on him were good. Numbers ffom that league are usually suspect, but it’s difficult to ignore what he’s done so far. Not sure if he’ll be a top 10 guy for 2012, but almost certainly will be a top-15 guy if he keeps up his current dominance.

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by nostocksjustbonds on Jul 23, 2011 4:49 PM EDT reply actions

There's a whole host of draftees who would slot in here somewhere

Panik, Crick, Susac, Oropesa should all be signed soon. Osich may sign. Along with Mejia, that’s 6 new draftees who all have a reasonable chance of being included in the top20.

But this list was about preseason prospects.

by Nivra on Jul 24, 2011 12:50 AM EDT up reply actions