SF Giants prospects position preview chat: Relief pitchers

Around the Foghorn contributor, Wrenzie Regodon and co-site expert Marc Delucchi are beginning the season with some discussions about the SF Giants’ minor-league depth at each position. They’ve discussed the organizations catching, middle infield, corner infield, and outfield already and now are looking at the team’s relief-pitching prospects.

SF Giants prospects position preview chat: Relievers (Part 1)

Marc Delucchi: SF Giants fans have gotten to see two of the best relievers in the system over the past week at the big-league level after Camilo Doval and Gregory Santos were promoted. I know you have a piece coming out later this week on what we saw in their debuts, but can you give a little sneak peek to readers about what you like about each of them?

Wrenzie Regodon: Yeah, I am going to write about the two that will be out in the middle of the week. It doesn’t take too much detail though, fans can see their stuff. Doval seemed destined to be a high-leverage reliever ever since popping up in the prospect ranks a couple of years ago. You can probably say the same thing about Santos in terms of stuff. Both have high-90s velocity with potential plus sliders.

MD: Yeah both are control more than command guys with premium stuff, and Giants fans saw that bite Santos in last night’s loss when Jesus Aguilar turned on a 97 mph fastball down the middle. Who else would you put in that top-tier reliever prospect with Santos and Doval?

WR: Definitely. Both never really showed fine command in the minors, especially Doval, but it takes a special pitcher to combine strong command with that kind of arsenal.

Another one that looks promising is Kervin Castro. He’s shown flashes of command when he was a starter in Salem-Keizer, the velocity ticked up when he moved to the bullpen, and is now also flashing a plus curveball while retaining that command. Like Doval and Santos, he does not have a lot of minor-league experience but he’s potentially a late-inning guy. I do wonder though why the Giants start to turn these guys to bullpen pieces so early in their careers.

M: Completely agree. Frankly, it’s a lot of service time manipulation prompted by Rule 5 draft eligibility. With fewer years before minor-league free agency, teams are incentivized to move international prospects to the bullpen before domestic players, which obviously has really negative consequences.

W: It really sucks to see that happen to be honest. I really wanted to see Castro continue as a starter because he is built for it. Even though Santos has a starter’s repertoire, I really did envision him as a power closer eventually. However, it’s a killer for them to not rack up the innings and experience.

M: To be honest, I thought we were going to see Castro get a big-league call before Santos because of his better feel for location. We’re pretty much in the same place on this it looks like since Santos, Castro, and Doval were in a tier of their own before the Melvin Adon, Tyler Cyr, and Patrick Ruotolo-type tier for me.

I was REALLY high on Santos’ prospects as a starter. Before I heard he was moved to the bullpen, he was going to rank in my top ten prospects in the organization (Castro would have ranked in the top 15). Instead, they ranked towards the back of the top 31.

SF Giants prospects position preview chat: Relievers (Part 2)

W: I was strict in terms of grading relievers (I do not really put anything higher than 40 FV unless it’s a really elite reliever that should be starting in a rotation instead), but you have them that low it’s interesting.

I think we are pretty much in the same tier as well, although I do have some names to bring up after those three that are in that next tier for me. R.J. Dabovich and Carson Ragsdale are kind of eerily similar in terms of stuff and circumstances. Both are fourth-round picks from last year with a pick separating the two and their M.O. on the mound. Both have a mid to high-90s fastball at the top of the zone paired with a hammer curveball that the Giants love for their relievers it seems like.

M: Ragsdale is in that group of starters, like Trevor McDonald and Sam Long, who it seems like a lot of scouts project them to the bullpen, but it looks like the Giants are giving them a chance to prove they can start, something I’m a fan of. Dabovich is definitely the biggest wild-card to me just because we don’t have a long track record of great control (9 walks in 11.2 innings pitched at Arizona State last season), but he could easily rank alongside Castro, Santos, and Doval given the caliber of stuff he’s shown.

An even lesser-known prospect, Cole Waites, has premium velocity and a good-looking breaking ball of his own too. Who are some of your favorite sleeper relievers in the system?

W: I think it’s a good thing that Ragsdale will be in the rotation early on for him to rack up the innings but that high release point and north-south approach suits him well to become a strong bullpen guy in a couple of years. I agree that Dabovich does not really have the track record, but he’s surely getting good reps and I think he’s a poor man’s Blake Rivera in terms of stuff and deception with their high release point.

It was really interesting though that the Giants envision Long as a starter. I think he could definitely help the MLB squad right now as a 25-year-old with a dazzling fastball-curveball combination from the left side. The changeups that he threw in Spring Training were firm and not exactly big-league caliber at the moment, and that’s why I think it’s a questionable decision for him to be a starter.

Waites has big-league potential because of the improvements he’s made during the quarantine. There are some sleepers in the system but I am going to bring up names that are rather unknown at the moment. Frank Rubio and Ryan Walker might not be your household names in terms of relief prospects but both have deception in their deliveries with sidearm release points, especially Walker with his funky, whirlwind-like mechanics. The stuff is not really mind-blowing but there’s a chance for Walker to be a big leaguer that relies heavily on deception, with Rubio a good step behind.

On the left side, I think there’s a chance that Luis Amaya is going to break out this year. In the organization that’s really light on lefty relief prospects, Amaya’s got the best stuff and the best potential. It’s low-90s from the left side with both sink and cut that can run up to 95 MPH, a solid slider, and a changeup that flashes above-average. He is a strike-thrower and with the current three-batter rule, Amaya’s well-rounded repertoire and control just scream future big leaguer to me. He’s similar to current SF Giants reliever Wandy Peralta.