Welcome to another edition of the Minor League Mailbag! We had some great submissions this week and the questions really challenged me. Remember to submit your questions for next week’s mailbag. You can comment on this post, email me (chelmrtz at gmail dot com), or find me on Twitter (@chelmrtz). Roger Munter (@rog61 on Twitter) asked: What are your projections… Read more →
(Preemptive warning: This post is long.) With the 2012 First Year Player draft completed, I thought it would be a good time to revisit our 2012 Prospect List to see who is rising, and who is falling. — 15. LHP, Mike Kickham Level: AA Richmond; 2012 statistics: 51.2 IP, 8.19 K/9, 5.23 BB/9, 0.35 HR/9, 3.31 ERA, 3.63 FIP Why… Read more →
From Andrew Baggarly: He went for an MRI exam on his left elbow and is awaiting results. Surkamp didn’t bounce back after throwing 90 pitches on Wednesday; he couldn’t even loosen up enough to play catch the previous two days. “I tried and I just couldn’t do it,” the 24-year-old left-hander said. “I’ve had normal stuff, soreness and fatigue, when… Read more →
Recently, in a blog post on the SweetSpot Blog, David Schoenfield ranked the five best rotations in baseball. The Giants did not make the cut, even though Dave did acknowledge that the rotation is talented. Dave had this to say on the rotation: Yes, the Giants had the second-best rotation ERA in the majors last season, but I’m not sure… Read more →
Here’s the final rankings, 5 to 1, of our Top 15 Prospect List. At the end of the post, I’ve also included each writer’s individual list. Spoiler: Brett Bill is not the #1 Giants prospect. — 5. Heath Hembree, RP 23 years old in 2012 Chris Quick: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but I’m a tough… Read more →
… aaaaaand shall we agree to never speak of Jeff Keppinger, again? I think so. Right now, all of Bay City Ball’s authors are preparing to hash out the prospect list for 2012. I’m very excited about this, especially as we now have a writer who actually watches a lot of minor league games. That should lead to an interesting… Read more →
Assertion #1: Jonathan Sanchez can be frustrating to watch pitch. Assertion #2: Jonathan Sanchez has poor control. Assertion #3: Jonathan Sanchez has an above-average pitching skill. Assertion #4: Jonathan Sanchez can still be a useful starting pitcher. Assertion #5: People probably freak out way too much over Jonathan Sanchez. — Discussing Jonathan Sanchez’s career sometimes feels like banging your head… Read more →
Today the Giants will face the Colorado Rockies for the last game of the 2011 regular season. Here is a brief list of things I’d like to see happen in game 162. * A strong start from Eric Surkamp. The Giants have decided to sit Matt Cain and start Eric Surkamp instead. I’m a big fan of Surkamp, but his… Read more →
We were all looking forward to Eric Surkamp’s debut. It was the first time I’ve ever seen him pitch, and it’s always nice to see line of stats come to life. Though to be honest, I didn’t learn a whole lot tonight that I didn’t already know. A quick summary: Eric Surkamp’s off-speed stuff is good enough to miss bats… Read more →
No official statement yet, but a few people have speculated (and heard through second hand sources) that LHP Eric Surkamp is on his way to the majors and slated to start on Saturday. The Giants will have to make a 40-man move to place Surkamp on the team and as of now, I’m not sure what they are planning on… Read more →