SF Giants Farm Report: Ryan Howard, the heir to Brandon Crawford’s throne?

The SF Giants have had a history of drafting legit shortstops in their recent drafts, despite the immovable cog in the lineup, roster that is Brandon Crawford. One of those is starting to stake his claim has “heir to the throne.”

The San Jose Giants are loaded when it comes to hitting prospects. The SF Giants went heavy on bats in the last few drafts, and in return, their Single-A team is definitely loaded with more hitting talent than pitching talent.

Some of these names are familiar to those who pay close attention. Bryan Reynolds has been a beast, and so has Heath Quinn since he got back from a hand injury early in the season. But neither of those two lead the San Jose squad in total bases.

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All eyes turn to 2016 fifth round draft pick, Ryan Howard. He’s not the behemoth of a man that mashes home-runs in Citizens Bank Park. He’s still a big dude at 6’2″. But he brings a much more balanced hitting approach.

Howard, a Missouri native attended the University of Missouri, and had a successful three seasons for the Tigers. The fifth round draft pick signed with the Giants pretty quickly. He’s a balanced, contact hitter.

The Giants thought they would get something like this from C.J. Hinojosa, who has come back around as a prospect this season. Howard though is starting to knock on the door of a Double-A call up. Especially when/if someone like Miguel Gomez either stays in MLB, or get’s moved to AAA, Howard will be on the move.

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Howard currently is hitting .325/.358/.412/.770 in San Jose, with only 17 XBH, yet still leads the team (albeit by one or two) in total bases. He does have a relatively high K-Rate, similar to Hinojosa’s issues in San Jose. Hinojosa was able to cut his K-Rate in half in the next season, so if Howard can do so himself in year two, we could be looking at a viable short stop prospect within the organization.  You can catch Howard, and plenty of other Giants prospects in San Jose, with the San Jose Giants.