Some Minor League Thoughts

[sharksrog]

I don't always do it myself, but a great way to start the morning is to scan the daily summary (including box scores and brief write ups) of the Giants' minor league games. In five minutes or less, one can see how the top prospects fared on the day. And, yes, the Giants finally do have some top prospects. And, yes Randy, an important piece of that is that the Giants have forged a presence in the international marketplace.

Here are some thoughts:

. Jaylin Davis now is hitting over .400, getting on base nearly half the time, and has a slugging percentage close to four figures in his 18 games for the River Cats, including 10 home runs and six doubles. Many batters would settle for close to a hit per game. Davis has nearly an EXTRA BASE hit per game.

. Mauricio Dubon has two or more hits in five of his past six games and is now hitting .325 for the River Cats.

. Marco Luciano has missed his last game and part of his penultimate contest, but it's not considered serious.

. Heliot Ramos is up to .231 in AA after a very slow start.

. Alexander Canario is up to .304 at short-season Salem-Keizer after very slow start. (Any chance you can scout Canario, Luciano and Hunter Bishop for us at Everett, Boagie? Actually, there isn't. S-K played at Everett early in the season. But the Volcanoes play the next four days at Vancouver. How about breaking out your passport and making the three-hour drive? It appears there is also a chance the Volcanoes might play in Spokane in the playoffs in a week and a half.)

. Connor Menez went to 3-0 for the River Cats, but his ERA is 4.63.

[sharksrog]

To help put Marco Luciano in perspective, he's overcome a slow start at Salem-Keizer to hit within 12 points of the Giants' first round pick, Hunter Bishop, who also got off to a slow start. Bishop is 21, while Luciano is just 17.

Bishop has hit with more power, and he has walked a phenomenal 29 times in 85 at bats (with 28 strikeouts). Luciano has walked a nice five times in 33 at bats, and he' struck out just six times. That both Bishop and Luciano have virtually the same number of walks as strikeouts is impressive, particularly in the 17-year-old's case. To Bishop's credit, I can't recall any player aside from Barry Bonds who has walked more than once every three at bats at any level. If he can cut down on his strikeouts, he could become a force.