The Lunatic Fringe

Our Non-Ranking of the Top 10 Giants Prospect Rankings finishes up today, as we touch upon the best of the group.  That doesn’t mean that they are the Top 3 in our Non-Ranking Rankings…but yet, they are the best.  Get used to it, that’s how rankings work.

See Also: The Outfielders

See Also: The Pitchers

So here they are.

Chris Shaw – Oh, the power.  The power is so seductive.  And Shaw has it.  Different prospect hounds rate his power tool differently, from 60-80.  However, all of them also note a prodigious strikeout rate (25.9% in High-A, 23.7% in AA).  Shaw’s ability to get hits on top of power is questionable, but the power.  Oh, the power.

Shaw’s Richmond half-season was certainly filled with splits and streaks.  Shaw started hot, going 14-for-45 (.311) in his first 11 games, then 7-for-60 (.117) in the next 16.  He evened out to 35-for-127 (.276) the final month of the season.  He also had the anti-Arroyo split, batting just .210 on the road but .287 (with more than double the walks in the same amount of games) at home while in AA.  So there’s a lot of questions around Shaw.  But the power, oh, the power.

Let’s add one more question to Shaw: does he move up past Richmond, or stick in AA to at least start the 2017 season?  I’m going to bet the latter, although another midseason push might be in line for him.

Christian Arroyo – Arroyo has done little to show he isn’t still another good safe pick with a pretty sure Major League future.  He started the season with some uncertainty with where his future lay, with Matt Duffy, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik looking like they’d keep the infield pretty well settled for a while.  Then Duffy got trade, and Arroyo looked like a third baseman of the future.  Then the Giants began signing a bunch of infielders, especially Korean Jae-gyun Hwang, and now who knows.  All that and a down year in a tough park and league, and Arroyo wasn’t seeming like the surest thing.

Even so, Arroyo was rated in the top 2 prospects across the board, and everyone sees him as a good bet to be a solid hitter with doubles power and a solid strike zone awareness.  His home-road split was ridiculous in 2016, but he also was learning some tough lessons about his overly aggressive approach.  No one expects him to have any problems adjusting however.

Arroyo will get a chance in a friendlier park and league in Sacramento, and although he won’t be in the mix to start the 2017 season, he could be a midseason option if the Giants’ 7 other third base options don’t work out, and on the 2018 roster.

Tyler Beede – Tyler Beede got back into the swing of things in 2016 after a rough half-season at AA in 2015.  Unlike almost everyone else in the Giants’ system, Beede stayed at one level all year, posting a 2.81 ERA in 24 games.  He is learning that he can’t always be a power pitcher like he’d been in college.  Beede won’t overpower anyone, but now he’s got a good-pitch mix he can work with.

With a fastball that sits in the mid-90s (at least after last year), a plus curve for strikeouts, a good changeup, and both a cutter and a sinker he uses to keep pitchers off balance.  With all that, Beede also sat at the top of nearly every prospect ranking as well, and he’s pretty much projected as a mid-rotation starter.

Beede still has a likely date with Triple-A, although he could step up in the Spring if Matt Cain falters.  That said, with Cain’s contract expiring before 2018, Beede is pretty much expected to be the the heir apparent to take the role eventually.