San Francisco Giants: Checking in on the Arizona Fall League participants

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SCOTTSDALE, AZ – MARCH 11: A San Francisco Giants hat sits in a bucket of baseballs during a Cactus League game between the Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers at Scottsdale Stadium on March 11, 2015 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) /

Each year, all 30 Major League Baseball teams send some of their top prospects to the Arizona Fall League (AFL). Let’s check in on the San Francisco Giants contingent.

Top prospects Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos were among the players the San Francisco Giants sent to the AFL this season. Both missed time this season due to injuries, so they were sent with the goal of making up for lost time.

The AFL features some of the best prospects in baseball, which means a trip to the AFL can provide invaluable experience on the developmental path.

Teams will often send players set to become eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 draft. A decision will need to be on whether to add those players to the 40-man roster, and AFL experience can be used as another source of evaluation.

Once a player reaches a certain threshold in terms of minor league experience, he becomes eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft. Adding a player to the 40-man roster protects him from being selected by other teams.

With all of that being said, the San Francisco Giants sent a talented group of position player prospects to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions, as well as some intriguing arms:

#SFGiants prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League

-Joey Bart
-Heliot Ramos
-Tristan Beck
-Frank Rubio
-Bryce Tucker
-Jalen Miller
-Jacob Heyward
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) August 28, 2019

Bart and Ramos headline this contingent. However, Jalen Miller has been known around prospect circles for a few years now.

On the pitching side, Tristan Beck made a nice debut with the Giants after being acquired from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Mark Melancon at the trade deadline. Not mentioned in the above group is reliever Tyler Schimpf, but he received an invite as well.

The AFL season has been underway for about a month, so let’s check in on how the Giants representatives are doing.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – FEBRUARY 21: Joey Bart #67 of the San Francisco Giants poses during the Giants Photo Day on February 21, 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images) /

C Joey Bart (No. 1 SF prospect/No. 19 MLB prospect, per MLB.com)

Bart sustained a fractured hand after being hit by a pitch in early April, so he was sent to the AFL to recoup some lost playing time.

The 22-year-old was probably disappointed when the minor league season ended after finishing the year on a high note. In his last ten games with Double-A Richmond, Bart batted .472 with two home runs and seven RBI across 36 at-bats.

The good news is that Bart’s strong finish to the minor league season carried over to the AFL.

In 30 at-bats over his first 10 games, Bart batted .333 with a 1.290 OPS while launching four home runs and collecting 10 RBI. To add to this already impressive stat line, he also coaxed nine walks.

However, all good things must come to an end and Bart saw his AFL stint cut abruptly short by another hand injury:

Giants say Joey Bart has a non-displaced fracture in thumb. Doesn’t need surgery and will be fully recovered in 4-6 weeks. Ends a very strong first full season.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) October 10, 2019

Nevertheless, Bart showed off the exciting upside that made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft. It would not be surprising to see him don the orange and black at some point in 2020.

OF Heliot Ramos (No. 2 SF prospect/No. 50 MLB prospect)

Similar to Bart, Heliot Ramos sustained an injury that knocked him out for a chunk of the minor league season, missing about a month with a knee injury.

The 20-year-old enjoyed a nice season with High-A San Jose, batting .305 with an .885 OPS while collecting 13 home runs. That earned him a late-season promotion to Double-A Richmond. His skill set and talent are impressive for any minor league prospect, but his 2019 was especially impressive considering that he just turned 20 in September.

As a result, an invite to the AFL is a welcomed challenged for the young outfielder. Unfortunately, he has not enjoyed the same level of success as Bart, hitting just .190 with a .526 OPS in 59 at-bats.

Ramos has played a lot of baseball in the last calendar year including a full minor league season, an AFL season, and he spent time in the Puerto Rico Winter League last year. It is possible that fatigue has finally kicked in, which is not uncommon for prospects when they reach the AFL.

Regardless, this can be a positive experience as he learns to play through adversity. If Ramos takes similar strides in 2020, he could join Bart at Oracle Park at some point in 2020.

2B Jalen Miller (Unranked)

Jalen Miller has been in the San Francisco Giants long enough that he will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December. He did not miss substantial time this season, so the Giants likely sent him to the AFL to gauge where he is at in his development.

Miller was a third-round pick in the 2015 draft out of Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs, Georgia. His ascent through the San Francisco system has been a deliberate process, as he has often been challenged by being one of the younger players at each level.

With that being said, the AFL pitching has proven to be a difficult assignment for the 22-year-old second baseman. In 25 at-bats, Miller is batting only .200 with a .560 OPS, which includes ten strikeouts.

These numbers are similar to the .216 batting average and .619 OPS that Miller posted at Double-A Richmond. However, the Eastern League tends to be a difficult environment for hitters. Given his age and the fact that he played in 135 minor league games this past season, it is fair to question if fatigue is a factor in Miller’s case as well.

While he will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft if not added to the 40-man roster, it seems unlikely Miller would be selected.

OF Jacob Heyward (Unranked)

The younger brother of Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward, Jacob is also eligible for the Rule 5 draft this offseason.

The younger Heyward is known for his strong strike zone awareness, which is a skill that team president Farhan Zaidi covets. Across 1,522 minor league plate appearances, Heyward has posted a robust 14 percent walk rate against an acceptable 26 percent strikeout rate.

Sometimes, his knowledge of the strike zone gets him into trouble:

https://twitter.com/NBCSGiants/status/1184622789644275712

Heyward’s AFL campaign has had its ups and downs. In 34 at-bats, the 24-year-old has recorded a .205/.325/.471 line, including one home run and four RBI. The batting average is not great, but he’s still proving to be a tough out by reaching base in nearly one-third of his plate appearances.

On the negative side, Heyward has struck out 14 times, so he is raising some concerns with his ability to make contact.

Despite being Rule 5 eligible, Heyward will likely not get plucked away if the Giants decide against adding him to the 40-man roster.

C Ricardo Genoves (No. 22 SF prospect)

C Ricardo Genoves (20.5Y) has replaced C Joey Bart on the Scottsdale AFL roster.

Genoves had a good ‘19:
S-K: 146PA .252/.322/.481, 16K% 8BB%, 126wRC+
Augusta: 72PA .292/.361/.446, 24K% 8BB%, 137wRC+.

+power, +arm, +”catcher intangibles”, might be too big to be at C long-term
— GPT (@giantsprospects) October 17, 2019

Genoves was a late entrant to the AFL this season. As a result, he has only accumulated seven hitless at-bats. The 20-year-old has a lot of upside and is the best catcher in the San Francisco Giants system not named Joey Bart.

SP Tristan Beck (No. 18 SF prospect)

In a surprise deadline trade, the San Francisco Giants acquired Tristan Beck from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Mark Melancon. The minor surprise was that the Giants traded Melancon away, but the even bigger surprise was that they acquired prospect capital while the Braves assumed the remainder of his contract.

Following the trade, Beck was assigned to Single-A San Jose where he looked right at home after spending his college days at Stanford prior to being drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. He made six starts with San Jose, posting a 2.27 ERA across 35.2 frames with 37 strikeouts.

Beck’s success at San Jose has carried over to the AFL. In five starts, he has only yielded six earned runs in 18.1 innings. That included a recent gem:

#SFGiants prospect Tristan Beck picked up seven strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings of work in the @MLBazFallLeague tonight, keeping batters guessing en route to his first win of the season. pic.twitter.com/dOkITOi23q
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 16, 2019

The right-hander should begin next season as one of the more intriguing arms in the system, and an aggressive assignment to Double-A is not out of the question.

RP Bryce Tucker (Unranked)

Bryce Tucker made his professional debut in 2019 after being selected in the 14th round of the 2018 draft. The southpaw split time across two affiliates, which included stops at Low-A Salem-Keizer and Single-A Augusta.

He proved to be a notch above the competition at the lower levels. In only 21 innings, the 22-year-old posted a 1.29 ERA with 33 strikeouts.

He has not missed a beat in the AFL with only one earned run allowed in 7.1 frames. The good news is he has struck out 10 batters, but he has allowed five free passes so his command remains a question mark.

RP Frank Rubio (Unranked)

Frank Rubio, not to be confused with an astronaut of the same name (thanks, Google), was drafted in the 29th round of the 2017 draft. He began the year at Single-A San Jose where he recorded a 1.89 ERA in 47.2 innings, but he struggled to the tune of a 7.11 ERA in a small sample after receiving a late-season promotion to Double-A Richmond.

With the Scottsdale Scorpions, the right-hander has been nearly as impressive as Tucker. In 10 innings of work, the University of Florida product has yielded only two earned runs while posting a 1.80 ERA. In that sample, he has struck out nine opposing batters without allowing a walk.

RP Tyler Schimpf (Unranked)

The AFL has been much less kind to Tyler Schimpf, who was drafted in the 13th round of the 2017 draft out of the University of Texas.

In his professional career, Schimpf has posted a 5.24 ERA across 122 frames. That includes an 11.2 K/9 rate, so he knows how to get opposing hitters to swing-and-miss. The coaching and development process at the minor league levels will be critical under Farhan Zaidi, and he likely sees Schimpf as being one or two mechanical adjustments away from becoming a quality reliever.

That said, the 24-year-old has a 5.63 ERA across eight innings in the AFL with five free passes. Command is an issue for Schimpf, and advanced hitters seem to be taking advantage of it. On a different note, Schimpf has yielded nine runs in total with only five of those runs being earned. That suggests the defense has not done much to help out when he takes the mound.

Next. Three free-agent pitchers the Giants should avoid

The San Francisco Giants prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League this year have enjoyed varying levels of success, but it’s a valuable experience for each of them.

Home / SF Giants Prospects