Here’s another feature I will provide on the blog: scouting reports for the minor league games I attend.

I went to the San Jose Giants v. Bakersfield Blaze game Monday night. I stayed for six innings as I had to get up early for my day job the next day.

Barry Zito made a rehab start for the Giants and looked very hittable at times. However, his curveball was a thing of beauty, breaking like it did in the days of his past glory.

I wasn’t there to watch Zito. I noticed a few troubling things on this Giants team.

Let’s start with the obvious: their 23-22 second half record sucks, compared to their near record-breaking 51-19 mark in the first half. They did that last year, blazing through the first half then finishing a few games above .500 in the second half. Though they repeated as league champs, so we’ll see if that happens this time around.

Tommy Joseph has quickly become one of my favorite players to watch. He’s young and has good instincts as a hitter and behind the plate. So when I saw him screwing up defensively on Monday night, it really troubled me.

He had bad throws to second on a pair of steals in the game, throwing way outside of the bag on one and throwing late on another. Both plays weren’t even close before he started his throw. I can’t recall Joseph’s defense being poor. There was also a weird play in the fifth inning that I missed, but it was called catcher’s interference and it allowed Bakersfield’s Ryan LaMarre to take first base. Joseph was charged with an error. It didn’t lead to a run, but that kind of play is a stupid mistake that shouldn’t be happening.

Gary Brown made a throw from deep center in the sixth inning. The throw itself was strong, but the route was poor. He threw wide of the four hole, almost halfway in between first and second. I couldn’t tell you where he was aiming. Brown has impressed me all year defensively so that was another poor showing that left me shaking my head.

Ehire Adrianza…oh where do I begin? I wasn’t high on him to begin with, and this season isn’t helping me change my mind. Yes, he is an above-average shortstop in terms of arm, range, and glove, but that’s it. I’ve seen zero aggressiveness from him at the plate this year. To make bad matters worse, he made a really half-assed effort on a grounder to his right in the game. He broke a few steps for it, then gave up. I’ve never seen him just plain bail out on a ball like that.

(I can say ass on the blog here, right?)

I’ll be the first to admit that I am optimistic about prospects almost to a fault. I like to see the sunny side of things. But Adrianza isn’t showing me anything good these days.

All six innings I was there, I saw an overall blah attitude from the Giants players at the plate. Bakersfield right-hander Tim Crabbe was on the mound that night as the starter. He’s having an okay year but isn’t a major prospect and has never been. If the Giants are the supposed powerhouse of the Cal League, they sure took a dump on the field Monday night.

(Can I make allusions to poo?)

The Giants are 3-6 since August 1 and were swept at home by the Blaze. Yuck.

I was also cheated out of seeing Steven Harrold pitch. I’ve wanted to check up on him since he’s having a good year, plus I’m doing research for an updated prospect list for BCB here. Harrold went the final 1 1/3 innings of the Giants loss and allowed a run. Oh well. Here’s hoping he gets into the next game I attend.

Speaking of, I’m not sure how many games I will get in by the time I leave for the Dominican Republic. But rest assured that all games I attend will come with scouting reports like this one.

If there’s a San Jose Giants player you’d like a report on, leave me a comment here, drop me an email, or send me a Tweet (twit?) on Twitter.