Draft history, pt. 1

The Giants had the 19th pick in the 2017 draft and they selected 17-year old high-schooler Heliot Ramos. Only two players from that first-round group have 10+ career bWAR and they are Hunter Greene (#2) and Drew Rasmussen (#31). Both were college pitchers.

The Giants had the #2 pick in 2018 and they grabbed Joey Bart. Nico Hoerner (#24), Brice Turang (#21), Logan Gilbert (#14), Brady Singer (#18) and Shane McLanahan (#31) are the 10+ WAR leaders of the group. Hoerner was a SS at Stanford and Turang was a HS SS. The others were college pitchers.

In 2019 the Giants took ASU OF Hunter Bishop with the 10th pick. The 10+ WAR list from this group is Bobby Witt, Jr. (#2), Corbin Carroll (#16), Adley Rutschman (#1), CJ Abrams (#6), and Riley Greene (#5). All were HS picks except for Rutschman.

In 2020 the Giants took Patrick Bailey with the 13th pick. Garret Crochet (#11, college pitcher) and Peter-Crow Armstrong (#19, HS) are the only two to reach 10 WAR.

 

The only members of the 40-man roster drafted earlier than Ramos are Logan Webb (4th round, 2014) and Matt Gage (10th round, 2014). That's why I started with Heliot. Currently Kyle Haines (Farm Director) and Michael Holmes (Scouting Director) run the draft. John Barr, former Scouting Director (2008-2018), is still with the club as an advisor. He was there for Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner. Before him it was Matt Nerland (1999-2007). That's when they nabbed Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Dick Tidrow was the Farm Director until 2005 and he was replaced by Bobby Evans (2006-2008) and then Fred Stanley (2009-2013). Haines came in 2014.

I'll look at the 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 first-round drafts in another post.

--M.C.

The Giants have the #4 pick in the draft

When we talk about "the draft" we mean the First-year Amateur Player Draft or, in MLB jargon, the Rule 4 Draft. It is usually held in the middle of the season and we often call it the "June" draft. This year it is in July (11th to 13th). This stuff started in 1965. There used to be three drafts, for different types of amateurs, but those were all consolidated by 1986.

The Giants have never had the #1 pick. The best they've done is the #2 pick and they drafted Will Clark in 1985 and Joey Bart in 2018. They had the #3 pick in 1986 and took Matt Williams. They had a #4 pick in 1997 and that landed Jason Grilli. They had the #5 pick in 2008 and grabbed Buster Posey. Johnnie LeMaster was the #6 pick in 1973 as was Zack Wheeler in 2009.

Jesse Reid (1980), Calvin Murray (1992), and Matt White (1996) were all #7 picks. Ted Barnicle was the #8 pick in 1975. Alan Cockrell (1994) was their only #9 pick. The #10 spot has been good to San Francisco: Craig Landis (1977), Mark Grant (1981), Tim Lincecum (2006), Madison Bumgarner (2007), and Hunter Bishop (2019). (Two outta five ain't bad.)

I should note that Matt Cain was a first-rounder but not until pick #25. The Buster Era started with last year's draft and the Giants took Gavin Kilen with the #13 pick.

Anytime you have a top ten pick you have a chance to get an impact player. Usually there are a half dozen so-called "can't miss" prospects in the first round. The #4 pick is a great opportunity for Buster & Co. to grab one. Obviously there are no sure things but this is about as close as you can get in MLB.

At this point the draft is the most exciting thing about this season.

--M.C.

Adiós, amigo

One day at Candlestick Park some forty-plus years ago I introduced myself to a fellow fan. We became fast friends and shared many events and adventures together over the ensuing decades.

Last week I lost my friend. Ron Blaj died unexpectedly at age 68. An engineer by training, Ron kept the most meticulous scorecards you have ever seen (he scored most games he attended). They were marvels of economy and precision. Ron was an early contributor to this blog but he was not suited to on-line forums. You had to know the flesh-and-blood man to appreciate his humor, warmth, and generous spirit. Not to mention his deeply weird goofiness.

As a fan he loved the unsung guys. Stars and big names did not appeal to him. He rooted for the backups. The subs and the scrubs. The guys just barely hanging on to a roster spot. He loved to say some youngster, after a good showing, was "serving notice" that he should be a starter. He'd burst out with Yiddish in the middle of a tense moment, exclaiming "I've got shpilkes" to the bewildered folks around him. I learned it meant 'pins-and-needles' or 'ants-in-your-pants' which suited him as he was always full of energy and enthusiasm.

Ron discovered yoga some years back and was so taken with it he became an instructor. He was a dedicated birdwatcher. He played and coached softball. He was really smart and had a prodigious memory. He could explain all the world's major sports to you as well as some of the obscure ones, like rowing. He spoke three languages. He'd lived in or been to more places than most people could name. He loved David Letterman, the Grateful Dead, Scrabble, smoothies, and pistachios.

He was a construction manager for UCSF and his coworkers gave him the perfect farewell:

 

Ron was a son, a brother, a husband, and a father. He was a friend to many. I was lucky to be one of those friends.

I'm sure as hell going to miss him.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

The Giants are The Worst Baserunning Team on The Planet

AZ 3  SF 2 

Prove me wrong.

--M.C.

3rd inning: 8-10

1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 8-10

3rd inning: 8-10

It doesn't take much to be a good team. If you go 10-8 over 18 games instead of 8-10 you will be a good team. Alas, the Giants are not a good team. They showed that with tonight's 6-2 loss. At 22-32 they are not in last place (that's Colorado's domain) but they are hardly making any noise at all with a .407 win clip. That's 4th-worst in MLB.

It is one-third of the way through the season. This first game of this home Arizona series (Giants are 0-4 vs. Snakes so far) is Game 54 and that's three seasonal innings. 54 games is 1/3 of 162. If you figure the baseball season is six months long then we've burned through two already.

I've decided that the most exciting thing about 2026 is the upcoming draft (July 11-13). The Giants have the #4 pick, which is a big deal. They also have a supplemental pick, #29. That's not a big deal, but it's not nothin'. They have a chance to get another top talent.

I have a few thoughts on the draft and will post about it in the next few days.

--M.C.

 

p.s. FanGraphs now projects the Giants to finish 76-86, which would mean playing .500 the rest of the way. Hmmm, whaddya think?

Slammin' Giants take series

SF 8  CHW 5

The Giants got another grand slam, this one from Rafael Devers, and they held on to beat the White Sox. Robbie Ray walked seven of the 21 guys he faced. That's not going to work! Fortunately the home squad got the bats going and scored two in the 1st, two in the 3rd, and four in the 5th. Casey Schmitt hit his 11th homer. The team had 11 hits overall.

Keaton Winn was stalwart in relief of Ray with two scoreless frames. Matt Gage gave up a run in his inning but both Erik Miller and Caleb Killian shut 'em down 1-2-3. Killian whiffed all three guys for his third save.

Arizona comes to town for a Memorial Day late afternoon (2:05 Pacific) contest. Landen Roupp should be next to start. The D-backs stay for two more, Tuesday night (6:45) and the getaway game Wednesday (12:45). Off-day Thursday, road trip to Colorado Friday.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Bader Bops Big One, pt. 2

SF 10  CHW 3

The Giants broke their losing streak with a big burst of offense. Harrison Bader hit a grand slam last Sunday in Sacramento and he hit a grand slam today in San Francisco. We'll just forget about the games in between, okay?

Adrian Houser could not get out of the 5th but the bullpen (Matt Gage, Sam Hentges, Joel Peguero) got the job done. Luis Arraez had two more hits and Casey Schmitt got his tenth homer. Bryce Eldridge chipped in two hits and a walk and Matt Chapman had two hits and two runs scored. It was a feel-good day for the 40,000+ at the yard.

Robbie Ray tomorrow afternoon (1:05 PT)

Go Giants!

--M.C.