San Francisco Giants: Players in San Jose to Keep an Eye on in 2017

As spring training is coming to a close and opening day rapidly approaching us, the primary focus at this moment is undoubtedly what the major league roster for the San Francisco Giants will look like come April 2^nd. However, I feel it is also important to see how the rosters will play out in the lower levels and who are players that fans should keep an eye on for the 2017 season.

The San Francisco Giants are notorious for their production of home grown talent. The way the San Francisco Giants’ prospects are able to progress throughout the minors is a true testament to the organization and has been the foreground behind the team’s success.

Players like Brandon Belt, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik, and Buster Posey—players who have made all-star games, won an MVP award, and multiple World Series rings, have all ascended from the minor league teams of the San Francisco Giants.

While players like Bumgarner and Posey were expected to be outright stars to begin with, players like Belt, Crawford, and Panik were not as highly touted, but have exceeded expectations and have become significant parts of the Giants roster.

That is why I feel it is important to inform fans of the players within the organization who are not talked about often, but have a chance to be successful this upcoming season. And who knows, maybe in a few years, some of these players will play a prominent role in the major league roster for the Giants.

I will be highlighting five players who fans should watch for in 2017 down in Class-A San Jose. These are either returning prospects looking to hone their skills before ultimately rising through the ranks or newcomers, either from lower Class-A Augusta or Short Season Class-A Salem-Keizer.

1. Miguel Gomez C

The 24-year old switch hitter is listed as a catcher on the San Francisco Giants 40-man roster, despite not playing behind the dish in 2016. Gomez, who signed out of the Dominican Republic, has been an excellent hitter throughout his minor league career.

In his first three seasons from 2012-2014, Gomez played for the Giants’ Dominican Summer League team, where he hit a combined, .296 with 8 homeruns and 100 RBI and had an OBP of .356. Gomez made the jump from the rookie level to Short Season Class-A Salem-Keizer in 2015, where he hit .319 with 6 homeruns and 52 RBI. One noticeable difference with Gomez’s transition into Salem-Keizer was how few amount of walks he drew. In 2015 his OBP was only .331 despite having a batting average .319, due in large part to only drawing 5 walks in 276 at-bats.

2016 was a phenomenal year for Gomez across both Class-A Augusta, and higher Class-A San Jose. In 66 games for the Green Jackets, Gomez hit an incredible .371, had an OBP of .401, 26 doubles, 8 homeruns and 43 RBI. He was so impressive that he was called up to Class-A San Jose, and proceeded to hit .267 with an OBP of .302, 9 homeruns and 24 RBI.

Despite the drop off in average in San Jose, he impressed the organization enough to be placed on the 40-man roster. There is a possibility that even though Gomez has only amassed 43 games in San Jose, he may start the 2017 season in Double-A Richmond. Gomez is an extremely talented player with versatility defensively as evident by playing catcher, first base, and third base throughout his career thus far, and no matter what level he ultimately plays at in 2017, he is a prospect fans should keep an eye on.

1. Jalen Miller 2B/SS

Drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the third round of the 2015 draft out of high school. According to The Baseball Draft Report, Miller’s calling card is his defense, although he has made strides as a hitter.

After being drafted, Miller appeared in 44 games for the Giants in the Arizona Fall League. He struggled with the bat in rookie ball, only hitting .218 with an OBP of .292. He had no homeruns, 13 RBI, and had more strikeouts (42) than hits (38). However, he showed his speed and athleticism by stealing 11 bases, while only getting caught twice.

In 2016, Miller played his first full season of professional baseball for the Augusta Green Jackets. In 112 games, Miller struggled once again offensively. He hit .223, an improvement from the previous year, but only had an OBP of .271, which is quite the drop off. He also had more strikeouts than hits once again—striking out 107 times and accumulating 102 hits.

Some positives to take away from his first full professional season is he had 20 doubles, 6 triples, 5 homeruns and 44 RBI. He also stole 11 bases throughout the season. It is unclear at the moment if Miller will be ready for the transition to San Jose to begin the 2017 season, but it is a good possibility that he will sometime during the year. Although he has struggled offensively thus far in his career, it is evident the Giants still think highly of Miller. He is currently the #27^th ranked prospect in the organization according to Baseball America, and is often compared to Brandon Phillips, which gives fans an idea of what kind of skills he possesses.

1. Heath Quinn OF

Quinn is a right-handed hitting and throwing outfielder, drafted by the Giants in the 3^rd round of the 2016 draft. Since Quinn was drafted not so long ago, I believe it is important to talk about his stats as a player in college, as well as in the Cape Cod League, in addition to his rapid ascension through the minor leagues.

Quinn had a phenomenal college career, capped off by hitting .343 with 21 homeruns and 77 RBI, according to The Baseball Cube. In the Cape Cod league in 2015, Quinn hit .314 with an OBP of .384, 4 homeruns and 16 RBI in 39 games.

So far, Quinn’s professional career has been much of the same story. He has an excellent bat that can hit for both power and average, which is something the San Francisco Giants need in the future with the uncertainty surrounding their outfielders. Quinn had a busy 2016 season, playing at three different levels over the course of the season. In the Arizona Fall League, he went 3 for 5 in two games before moving up to Salem-Keizer. In Salem-Keizer he played in 54 games, accumulating a batting average of .337 while blasting 9 homeruns and tallying 34 RBI. In addition, he had 19 doubles, 1 triple, and an OBP of .423.

The 2016 season did not end there for Quinn, as he went on to finish the 2016 season in Class-A San Jose. He only appeared in four games, but hit .353 with one double and an OBP of .423. His ability to successfully hit at every level he has played in thus far is encouraging, and something to look forward to in 2017. He has rose through the ranks quickly since being drafted, and it will be intriguing to see if he will continue to do so.

1. Bryan Reynolds OF

Similar to Quinn, Reynolds is an outfielder who was drafted by the Giants in 2016. He was taken in the second round out of Vanderbilt, a college baseball powerhouse, and is a switch hitter. He has also played in multiple levels for the Giants organization since being drafted and has been widely successful so far.

MLB Daily Dish had Reynolds ranked the 29^th prospect in the 2016 draft, which suggests he had first round talent. Based on that assumption, it would appear that the Giants got a steal by drafting him 59^th overall. How he fell that far is a mystery to me, but I am thankful the Giants have him.

Reynolds played for the Orleans Firebirds from the Cape Cod League in 2015—hitting .346 with 4 doubles and 8 RBI in 21 games. The most impressive stat to me though was his ability to get on base. His OBP for the 21 games he played in was .470. In addition to his 28 hits, he drew 17 walks—almost one a game.

In 2016, Reynolds began his professional career in Short Season Salem-Keizer, where he hit .312 with an OBP of .368. He hit 5 homeruns and had 30 RBI in 40 games played. Reynolds finished the year in Class-A Augusta, where he hit .317 with an OBP of .348 in 16 games. He also had 1 homerun and 8 RBI. Reynolds seems to be on the right path to becoming the Giants centerfielder of the future. He has raw power and can hit for average from both sides of the plate. Reynolds is another player fans should pay close attention to in San Jose in 2017.