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

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:

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.

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.