Adam Foster of Project Prospect recently scouted the Giants’ top pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler:
Wheeler’s 72-78 MPH curveball has elite, two-plane break and is a no-doubt swing-and-miss offering…
…the pitch is already above-average and it’s close to surfacing as a true plus offering. As impressive as Wheeler’s fastball was, I think his curveball is his best offering.
I wrote about Eric Surkamp a few days ago, and how he’s the Giants’ starting pitching prospect that is most likely to make the majors first. That said, Wheels is the only guy in their system with No. 1 or No. 2 starter potential. I recently mentioned on Twitter that, if I were Sabean, I’d at least consider losing Wheeler for Jose Reyes, a free agent to be, with no certainty of re-signing him long term. I did admit that it’d be painful, but might be worth exploring if it gives the Giants a shot at repeating. I’ll still stick with that, for the most part — I loved the Brewers’ move this off-season to acquire Zack Greinke and clean out their farm, though it hasn’t been the most successful move thus far — but after reading Adam’s scouting report (and watching his awesome GIFs and YouTube video), that potential pain is a bit more at arms reach, so to speak.
It’d be a bold move, but I’m not encouraged by the media’s fabricated resurgence of Miguel Tejada. Ken Rosenthal:
Don’t look now, but Giants third baseman Miguel Tejada is starting to hit, going 10-for-28 in his last seven games to raise his batting average from .195 to .224. Shortstop Mike Fontenot, meanwhile, is in a 5-for-34 rut.
Tejada could move back to short once Pablo Sandoval returns, or at least share time with Fontenot at the position. The Giants knew Tejada would be limited defensively at short, but figured he would at least hit.
Would the Mets’ Jose Reyes be an upgrade? Of course. But the Giants are not about to quit on Tejada, a $6 million investment, only two months into the season.
He has certainly heated up some, but that’s mostly because he was cruising along at absolute zero previously. Tejada is hitting .357 over that period, which happens to be just the tiny sample of seven games, but he has zero walks and one extra-base hit (a double) for a line of .357/.345/.393 (average/on-base percentage/slugging) for an OPS of .738. It also comes with an average on balls in play (BABiP) of .400, which is hugely unsustainable. Has he looked better? Sure. But let’s not start saying he’s anywhere near adequate because of a few singles over a week, especially when he’s not currently even playing the position he was signed to play, and one which he’s clearly proven incapable of playing adequately.
There’s only one thing I’m sure of, Sabean has a really tough decision on this one, assuming the Mets would be interested. I think it’s safe to say Frank Wilpon would be willing.
—
Enjoy tonight’s game. Here’s the lineup via our favorite, Andy Baggarly.
—
Update: Now with more poll!


