SF Giants minor league notes: Jakob Christian, Turner Hill, and Braxton Roxby

The SF Giants have had plenty of standout performances this week. We are going to focus on Jakob Christian, Turner Hill, and Braxton Roxby.

SF Giants minor league notes: Jakob Christian, Turner Hill, and Braxton Roxby

Jakob Christian power surge

The San Jose Giants might be the best affiliate in the organization with a 30-20 record. The roster features a lot of college arms and bats from the 2024 draft class, including Jakob Christian. Christian was selected in the fifth round out of the University of San Diego.

Since then, the right-handed bat has hit in the middle of the order for San Jose, posting an .850 OPS in 239 plate appearances across two seasons. That is a good enough sample for a college bat, where a promotion does make sense.

Until then, Christian offers some of the best combination of raw power and game power in the Giants' system. He not only generates plenty of bat speed and routinely has exit velocity readings of over 100 MPH, but he has a swing path designed to lift and pull. He has pulled the ball in 48.4 percent of batted ball events, and does a nice job of keeping the ball in the air. This has resulted in 20 of his 49 hits going for extra bases.

Christian's primary position is first base, but he mixes in some time in the corners as well. He has the power to stick at those positions, and he will need to make enough contact as he progresses to allow that to play.

Turner Hill's return to Richmond

Turner Hill returned to the Richmond Flying Squirrels after a rehab assignment with the Arizona Complex League Giants. He tallied three hits in four at-bats in his second game back with Richmond, helping them secure a 4-1 win.

The Giants signed Hill as an undrafted free agent out of Marietta College in Ohio in 2023. He has hit at every level since then. On the year, the left-handed bat is slashing .294/.333/.353 (103 wRC+) in 18 plate appearances with Richmond.

Hill is a fun player to watch, as he is a quality hitter with above-average contact skills. In fact, he has more walks (95) than strikeouts (90) as a pro. He knows what to do in the batter's box.

There is not much power upside in his swing, and his bat path does not lend itself to that. The left-handed bat has a level swing path that generates a lot of line drives while using the entire field. Hill can put pressure on the defense with above-average speed, and he has been a high-volume base stealer.

Braxton Roxby homer-less streak

The Giants swung a trade late in the offseason that sent Taylor Rogers to the Cincinnati Reds. In return, they received some cash savings and a bullpen prospect in Braxton Roxby.

Roxby has the profile of a reliever in that he has a good fastball-slider combination that gets a lot of strikeouts and walks. In my brief views of him this season, the below-average control is as advertised, but it does look like he would rather miss out of the zone than in the middle of the plate, leading to a lot of misses around the edges.

The right-handed hurler is having a nice season with Richmond, posting a 1.53 ERA with 28 strikeouts and seven walks in 17.2 innings. Plus, he has not allowed a home run yet, which has become more of a trend in the past two seasons. Since the start of 2024, Roxby has allowed just two home runs across 66 frames.

On the mound, Roxby flashes a mid-90's fastball with a sweeper and occasional cutter. He generates a healthy number of ground balls with the fastball it thanks to a low three-quarters release point. Roxby relies heavily on a sweeper to get outs, and he has shown a good feel for it in the zone.