Updates on Sandoval, Ishikawa, Bumgarner, Alderson and Noonan (who could skip San Jose)
As the Giants correspondent for Baseball America, I’d planned to make farm reports a regular feature of this blog. But somehow the implementation did not match the design. Apologies for that.
I hope this mother lode of minor league tidbits helps to make amends.
I quiz Dick Tidrow and Bobby Evans about key minor leaguers whenever possible, but the real gold mine is when I run into one of the roving instructors, or better yet, farm director Fred Stanley. These guys see the entire system with their own eyes.
So I was delighted to see Mr. Stanley hitting fungoes on the field at Minute Maid Park today. He lives in Texas and joined the team for a spell before heading back to the complex in Arizona.
I’ll paraphrase what he had to say about Pablo Sandoval, Travis Ishikawa, Clayton Tanner, Tim Alderson, Madison Bumgarner, Nick Noonan, Conor Gillaspie, Matt Downs and a few others:
SANDOVAL: He’s ready for the big leagues now. Crushing balls from both sides of the plate, though he’s obviously getting more at-bats from the left side. Energizing that whole Double-A club since his midseason promotion from San Jose. No longer taking ground balls at third base; that experiment is over. Very competent at first base, though, and has some skills behind the plate. A very strong arm, too. (There’s an anecdote about his ambidextrous throwing ability that you’ll see in tomorrow’s Giants notebook.)
Quote to note: “When you look at the careers of catchers, they usually get 200 to 300 games in the minor leagues. He’s in the 150-game range, but he’s playing so well that once there’s a need, he’ll be here.”
ISHIKAWA: Really turned it up a notch this season. Playing with more confidence and appears driven. The organization didn’t need to challenge him; he did it himself. He was indecisive last year and let pitches get too deep on him while trying to figure out if they were strikes. Thus, he whiffed or fouled off hittable pitches. This year, he’s driving them out of the park. Most of his shots are going to right-center, though he hit a ball out to left-center at Round Rock last week.
Quote to note: “Sometimes it takes players a little bit longer to get the whole picture. I’m not in those meetings, so I don’t know what their plans are for him. But he’s ready if they need him.”
NICK NOONAN: Sorry, I know this will crush some of you San Jose Giants season ticket holders, but Stanley said it’s conceivable that Noonan could head straight to Double-A next season and be within one full year of the big leagues. He already has the best strike zone discipline of any hitter in the system. They expected him to maybe hit .250 in his first pro season, considering that it’s sweltering in Augusta and they play in a pitcher’s park where the wind blows in. Noonan is doing much better than that, hitting .283. He also has 26 stolen bases in 29 attempts. It’s easy to steal bases in the minors, much harder to steal a bunch while posting a success rate of 89.6 percent.
Quote to note: “It’s a tough grind to play in Low A. So you can imagine what it’s like for a kid who’s never played pro baseball grinding it for 144 games. In another year or so, it’ll be nice. We’ll have some ammunition with guys like Noonan who can really help the club.”
CLAYTON TANNER: Had a shoulder issue but is back on the mound. He’s building up arm strength again. Got away from throwing strikes because he got hit hard in the Cal League. That’s typical because pitchers stress over results and those can be warped in some of those hitter-friendly Southern Division parks. (Trust me, the wind has never blown out of Wrigley Field like it does at Lancaster.)
Quote to note: “These kids just have to learn you’ve got to be a strike thrower to pitch in the big leagues.”
TIM ALDERSON: What a great debut season despite a challenging assignment at High-A San Jose. He works fast, hits spots and disrupts the hitter’s rhythm. He always seems to make quality pitches. Competing extremely well. (This is not from Stanley, but I’ve heard others say that Alderson really reminds of Derek Lowe. Throws a heavy, heavy ball with great command. If he adds a bit more velocity, and the Giants think he will, he could have Kevin Brown stuff.) He’ll finish the season in San Jose and probably take instructional league off.
MADISON BUMGARNER: I mentioned to Stanley that I expected Alderson to have a solid first full season, but I didn’t see Bumgarner’s dominating debut coming. “Whoo, I didn’t either,” Stanley said. “He’s a special kid.” Bumgarner is throwing strikes with his fastball, which sits at 94 mph and is known to come in a tick faster at times. He’s working on a changeup. He’s got a little deception where guys don’t pick the ball up on him, which makes it tough when he buries them with an inside fastball. His slider down and in on right-handers is very tough. Like Alderson, Bumgarner will complete his full season at Augusta and probably take instructional league off.
Quote to note: “They’ll get 150 innings, maybe a few more hopefully in the playoffs and we’ll let them relax. We’re very happy with their progress.”
CONOR GILLASPIE: Stanley is going to Arizona next to take a look at him. There was talk of moving him to second base when they drafted him. But obviously, the organizational depth chart is much thinner at third. They’ll let him get his feet on the ground before they make any heavy evaluations.
MATT DOWNS: Brian Sabean said earlier this summer that Downs reminds him of Shane Spencer – a guy who just bucks expectations and hits at every level. He’s hard-nosed and can play both corner outfield spots, as well as second and third. Even first base, in a pinch. Great enthusiasm and work ethic.
A few other notes: DANIEL ORTMEIER is back to switch hitting, as per his request. He just had trouble putting up numbers to get back the confidence he needed, so the organization relented. CHARLIE CULBERSON has a broken hand. He was just starting to turn around a tough season. The organization still has high hopes for him, though there’s no getting around the fact he had a tough debut at Augusta. He probably took some of his hitless at-bats into the field, where he made a lot of errors. I’d imagine he felt pressure, at least subconsciously, to keep pace with Noonan, too. EHIRE ADRIANZA is a name to keep in your back pocket. He turns 19 in a few weeks and he’s one of the Giants better young shortstop prospects. He broke a bone in his foot for the Arizona Rookie League team and is out for the rest of the season, or else he would have gone to Augusta to fill in for Culberson. Bad break for DAMON WRIGHT, the center fielder from Dartmouth the Giants took in the 25th round. He was hit with a ball (in batting practice, I think) at Salem-Keizer and has a broken cheekbone, fractured nose and some loose teeth. Another draftee, 33rd rounder RYNE PRICE out of U of Kansas, is being converted from outfielder to catcher.
One more note: I recently turned in a Baseball America organization report about Mike Loree, who was nearly perfect in consecutive starts earlier this season for Salem-Keizer. There’s an interesting story about how the Giants came to take him with their 50th (and final) pick in the 2007 draft. Stay tuned for that, and if you’re not a BA subscriber … well, what are you waiting for?
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