SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/8 - 5/14)

Make sure to revisit our weekly SF Giants prospect rundowns to keep up with each of the organization’s minor-league affiliates.

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/8 - 5/14)

If you do not feel well acclimated to the prospects throughout the farm system, you might want to revisit this year's Prospect Week article (specifically the SF Giants 2022 prospects depth chart) or purchase the 2022 SF Giants Prospects Primer filled with scouting reports of 150 San Francisco Giants prospects from the best of the best to the unheard-of prospects. If you’re just interested in the biggest names, then the monthly updated 2022 Top 30 Prospects is just what you need.

River Cats Hitting Prospects

David Villar: 5 G, 20 PA, .471 AVG, 1.844 OPS, 2 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Kevin Padlo: 4 G, 18 PA, .375 AVG, 1.132 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 SB
Heliot Ramos: 5 G, 19 PA, .105 AVG, .210 OPS, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 7 K,

David Villar is an unstoppable force. It is another one of those weeks once again for the third baseman and let's take a look at where Villar is in the PCL:

Batting average: ninth
OBP: fifth
SLG: first
OPS: first
Homers: first

Yeah. He is that kind of dude. The only way that could ever make us worry about Villar is the fear of him turning to Jaylin Davis when he gets to the big leagues and that could very well happen. But for now, let's enjoy the season that Villar is having because it is ridiculous.

It is another week of good stuff from Kevin Padlo as he continues to be a pretty solid addition for the Giants. Unlike Mike Ford who the Giants traded back to the Mariners, Padlo has looked good after a fresh start in the Giants organization early on with a 1.150 OPS for the River Cats squad. He's been called to action last week when the Giants needed bodies in the big league level but it looks like Padlo will be a mainstay in the River Cats lineup because of the return of several veterans to the big leagues. Both Padlo and Villar will likely struggle to find playing time but Farhan Zaidi once mentioned that they need to see a prospect dominate their level before calling them up and that's what both Villar and Padlo have to do in order to get the call.

That Zaidi quote of "dominating the level" refers to Heliot Ramos being sent back to Sacramento after he had a good first taste of the big league level this season. However, Ramos has done anything but dominate upon his return to the Triple-A level. In 23 games since his big league stint, Ramos has a .187 batting average, .515 OPS, and just one home run. He's doing well in terms of generating walks (11.4% in his return) but the strikeouts have crept up (23.8% strikeout rate in his return) and the power is basically non-existent so far. His .246 BABIP does not help, either but it shows that there is more to come for Ramos once he gets his groove back. My stance with Ramos has not changed much even after this rough patch but it will move if it extends up to the middle of June.

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/8 - 5/14)

Emeralds Hitting Prospects

Casey Schmitt: 4 G, 15 PA, .455 AVG, 1.327 OPS, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 1 K
Carter Aldrete: 4 G, 14 PA, .462 AVG, 1.346 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Hunter Bishop: 4 G, 17 PA, .400 AVG, 1.004 OPS, 2* 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 SB

With the constantly changing weather resulting in postponements or outright cancellations of games, those who keep finding the hits and putting on good at-bats amidst the weather are the ones who get my attention.

Casey Schmitt has not let up in terms of production with another standout week. It was interesting to note that Schmitt is currently tinkering with his swing with him having a straighter top hand in his follow-through in what could be an effort for his bat to travel better through the zone. He implemented that swing tweak cleanly by continuing to produce at a very high level. How high you might ask? He leads the Northwest League in both OPS (.994) and batting average (.325) and tied for first in homers (six) while having 30% fewer plate appearances. As I have mentioned last week, the whiffs have crept up on Schmitt in the recent weeks but he's shed down his strikeout rate this week. Oh, he's also played at shortstop once again this week too. And he's got the best slide to home plate this season as well. Is there anything that this guy can't do?

Like Schmitt, Carter Aldrete has kept on swinging a hot bat this month with a .308 batting average, 1.034 OPS, a couple of doubles and a couple of bombs this month. What's been amazing though is that he's dramatically improved his peripherals with double the walks compared to his strikeouts this month (four walks versus two strikeouts). His performance increased his OPS by 300 points to .745 and his batting average by 77 points to .231. He's been doing well in his second taste of the High-A and he's been doing well on defense to boot. He should be in line for a mid-season promotion if he keeps this up.

You might have noticed that I have an asterisk on Hunter Bishop's double because one of it was ruled a double but it was clearly a home run as it clearly hit the scaffolding above the yellow line in center field. Don't believe me? You be the judge!

Bishop finally has put on a strong week after scuffling hard over the first four weeks of the season. My biggest issue for him is his 37.8% strikeout rate. If I could compare his game at the moment, it would be like a team in football who had a couple of splash plays on offense sandwiched between plays for negative yards. I am not a fan of Bishop's all-or-nothing approach but if that's his way towards the big leagues then he will live and die by the three-true-outcomes.

SF Giants hitting prospects rundown (5/8 - 5/14)

SJ Giants Hitting Prospects

Grant McCray: 6 G, 29 PA, .435 AVG, 1.422 OPS, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 8 K, 2 SB
Vaun Brown: 6 G, 25 PA, .455 AVG, 1.747 OPS, 1 3B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K, 3 SB
Aeverson Arteaga: 6 G, 25 PA, .227 AVG, .729 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
Adrian Sugastey: 5 G, 23 PA, .182 AVG, .490 OPS, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K

Last week we talked about Grant McCray having an electric week. Now, it maybe is time to talk about how high McCray will be ranked on the June update after an insane two weeks. His stats so far this month are bonkers: .471 AVG, 1.452 OPS, five doubles, a triple, five bombs, eight walks, 12 strikeouts, and five stolen bases. McCray employs a more upright stance early in the counts and takes time to load up then shifts to a more crouched set-up with less load in two-strike counts. McCray has shown some youthful errors in the batter's box like being over-eager to make an impact resulting in impatience at times and has been vulnerable against lefty pitching (.222 batting average versus lefties compared to .355 batting average versus righties). But if you are seeing the ball like a beach ball like McCray is, does it really matter? Okay, maybe it does but he's been flashing all of the tools that we know from him (plus-plus home to first times, at least average power, stellar defense in center field) and we are seeing a breakout season with him ranking second in the California League in OPS and fourth in batting average.

That seemed like a lot of words of praise for McCray but man, I will not mince my words for Vaun Brown as well. If we are talking about late bloomer, this guy might be it. The dude might be turning 24 next month but he is looking like a man amongst boys, especially this month with him having hit eight home runs already in just 11 games played this month. That resulted to a 1.548 OPS and he has also shown flashed savvy wheels at the bases having already stolen ten bases but only being caught once. He has not shown any platoon vulnerability (1.328 OPS versus lefties, .938 OPS versus righties) and his physicality is obvious. The arm strength might only be average but his range and physicality plays at center field. Like I know he should be dominating the league because he is almost three years older than the average competition but man, he has raw tools and the type of physicality that you want to see.

There are actually a lot of good hitting across the San Jose squad this month but there are two top prospects who are surprisingly cold amidst the sizzling bats, and they are a couple of hitters from the 2019 international FA cycle. The first is Aeverson Arteaga. His performance so far has been consistent when comparing this month to last month (.721 OPS in April, .708 OPS in May). I have mentioned before that the things that Arteaga need to work on like improving his breaking ball recognition and his internal clock on defense are not overnight fixes and that's what we've been getting from him so far this month. There have been hard-hit balls but the plate approach is akin to a player his age and his .365 BABIP suggests that his performance could become even worse as the figure goes to average. I am honestly unsure of what to think of Arteaga right now and I need to mull a lot on what to do in terms of updating his tool grades and ranking.

The final hitter whose been continuing to struggle to get going is Adrian Sugastey. Sugastey won the ACL batting title last season but has not carried that level of performance so far this season with a .590 OPS. Like Arteaga, Sugastey still has struggled to find a groove at the plate which is particularly hard for a catcher but we know that he has the bat-to-ball ability to do so. However, I am particularly worried about the explosiveness in his swing as he reminds me of Ricardo Genoves in terms of athleticism at the batter's box for a catcher. He's been focusing on putting the ball in the air more often and he's done so (40% flyball rate this season compared to 25% last season) but if the exit velocity is just barely scraping triple-digits often, it's as good as a groundball out. I have been impressed though with Sugastey's relatively clean play behind the dish (only one error so far) but there are things that I am not fond of like picking balls in the dirt instead of corralling it and his 24.3% caught stealing rate is proof that his arm strength is more solid-average than a plus. I am leaning on keeping Sugastey's ranking if he continues to swing a cold bat.