Giants Rumors

Tyler Beede Diagnosed With Flexor Strain, UCL Sprain

By Steve Adams | March 7, 2020 at 6:03pm CDT

MARCH 7: Beede will visit noted orthopedist Dr. Neal ElAttrache for his previously-anticipated second opinion Monday, per various reporters (including Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic).

MARCH 4: The Giants announced Wednesday that an MRI on right-hander Tyler Beede revealed a flexor strain and a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. No immediate treatment plan was provided, as the club will be seeking second opinions for the time being. Beede exited his most recent spring outing due to tightness in his elbow. Beede tells reporters that his UCL is 75 percent intact and that he’s not expecting surgery at this time (Twitter link via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle).

Beede, 26, was a leading candidate to break camp in the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation behind Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly. Now, however, his outlook is considerably cloudier, which could open the door for an alternative option to seize that role. Just last week, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi listed Beede, Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez and Logan Webb as potential rotation candidates. The Giants also have veterans Trevor Cahill and Tyson Ross in camp on non-roster invitees.

At the very least, it looks exceedingly likely that Beede will open the season on the injured list. Obviously, though, any UCL injury and/or flexor strain comes with the possibility of a serious operation. Even non-surgical treatments for those types of injuries tend to come with lengthy rehab stints.

It’s a tough blow for Beede, a two-time first-round pick (Blue Jays in 2011, Giants in 2014) who has yet to cement himself as a consistent starter at the big league level. The right-hander started 22 games for the Giants in ’19 and racked up 117 innings, but he also struggled to a 5.08 ERA (5.03 FIP). Despite the Giants’ cavernous home park, the long ball was an issue for Beede (1.7 HR/9). There was perhaps some hope that a correction in the ball’s composition could help Beede. After all, he averaged 94.3 mph on a fastball with above-average spin. Beede’s 8.7 K/9 rate and 11.2 percent swinigng-strike rate both checked in better than that of the league-average starting pitcher as well.

NL West Notes: Rockies, Arenado, Giants, Beede

By Connor Byrne | March 3, 2020 at 10:19pm CDT

Disgruntled Rockies franchise player Nolan Arenado and general manager Jeff Bridich still haven’t met this spring in an effort to repair their damaged relationship, but the third baseman suggested Tuesday that will change (via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). “We probably will (meet),” said Arenado, who went on to state: “People are putting a light on us, saying, ’Nolan and the GM aren’t talking.’ But the GM doesn’t come around a lot. It’s no different this year than how it’s been every other year. I think when we start trimming down the roster, then we can start having talks and see what we can do.” Those sound like somewhat optimistic comments from Arenado, but the expectation remains that the Rockies will wind up dealing him, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who observes that a trade is “inevitable.” Thanks to the whopper of an extension Arenado signed in February 2019, he could remain Rockies property for the next seven years. However, if he’s as fed up with the organization as he seems, he could choose to opt out of the deal after 2021. So, perhaps a trade will come together before then.

More on Colorado and one of its NL West foes…

Hard-throwing right-hander Tyler Beede is a strong candidate to grab the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation, but he’s now dealing with a potentially troubling injury situation. Beede exited his start against Texas after one inning Tuesday with tightness in his pitching elbow, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle relays. The severity won’t be known until Beede undergoes testing on the joint. For now, he remains in the race to earn a spot in San Francisco’s starting staff, with Logan Webb seemingly representing his stiffest competition.
Infielder Matt Duffy signed a minor league contract with the Rangers in January, but they weren’t the only team he talked to in free agency. Duffy told Schulman that the Giants were among the teams to “check in” on him in the offseason, but Schulman writes that it was only a “brief” conversation. Now 29 years old, Duffy got his start with the San Francisco organization. The Giants chose him in the 18th round of the 2012 draft and eventually saw him develop into a solid contributor. During the best season of his career, 2015, Duffy racked up 4.4 fWAR with the Giants.
The Rockies are optimistic that righty Jose Mujica, the lone major league free agent they signed during the offseason, could debut in their rotation “sometime in the near future,” according to Kyle Newman of the Denver Post. Mujica, formerly with the Rays, didn’t pitch professionally last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2018. The 23-year-old’s still working back from that procedure, but he did flash quite a bit of potential during his Triple-A debut two seasons ago. He tossed 36 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA/2.81 FIP ball with 8.35 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 at the minors’ highest level before going under the knife.

NL Health Notes: Watson, A. Miller, Freeman, Dodgers

By Connor Byrne | March 2, 2020 at 9:43pm CDT

Giants reliever Tony Watson has been dealing with shoulder tightness this spring, but the left-hander said Monday (via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle), “It’s nothing I’m concerned about.” Watson, who threw his second bullpen session in three days on Monday, expects he’ll be set to go for the beginning of the regular season. However, it’s unknown when he’ll be ready to appear in a spring training game. The 34-year-old’s the elder statesman in a bullpen that has undergone significant changes since last season, when the normally reliable Watson turned in a career-worst campaign. Watson wound up with a 4.17 ERA/4.81 FIP and 6.83 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 over 54 innings, but the Giants still brought him back on a reasonably priced guarantee ($3MM).

Let’s check in on a few more health situations from around the National League…

Cardinals southpaw Andrew Miller is having difficulty “getting a feel for the ball,” Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Nothing “physically hurts,” according to Miller, but Goold writes that he’ll undergo a “battery of exams” to determine what’s troubling him. That’s not the type of news he or the Cardinals wanted entering the second season of a two-year, $25MM contract. The 34-year-old didn’t deliver as hoped in Year 1, as he posted a 4.45 ERA/5.19 FIP with 11.52 K/9, 4.45 BB/9 and a 37.2 percent grounder rate in 54 2/3 innings. Miller pitched in 73 games, and with 37 more appearances this year (110 from 2019-20), his $12MM vesting option for 2021 will become guaranteed.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman has battled some discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow, but as expected, he appears to be fine. After sitting out of action last week, Freeman returned Monday, saying (per David O’Brien of The Athletic, via Instagram), “I feel great,” and added that he’s not facing any restrictions. That’s excellent for Atlanta, which will likely need yet another outstanding season from Freeman if it’s going to rule the National League East for the third year in a row.
The Dodgers have temporarily shut down infield prospect Omar Estevez as a result of soreness in his right (throwing) shoulder, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. Estevez has been in camp this spring as a non-roster invitee. It’s unclear how much time he’ll miss, but it’s the latest injury for a player who sat out roughly two months last season with a hamstring strain. When healthy in 2019, though, Estevez put up nice production in his Double-A debut, batting .291/.352/.431 in 336 plate appearances. He now ranks as Baseball America’s 16th-best Dodgers prospect.

West Notes: Astros, Giants, Ramos, A’s, Jefferies

By George Miller | March 1, 2020 at 4:58pm CDT

The Astros can’t rule out making an external addition to their starting rotation mix, writes Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. General manager James Click has a somewhat uncertain stable of starters upon whom he can rely, with his Astros losing a considerable chunk of innings via the departures of Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley. The rotation currently projects as Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers, and some combination of Jose Urquidy, Josh James, and Framber Valdez. However, given the potential limitations on McCullers’s workload and the unproven back-end options, Click may dip into the free-agent pool for insurance. That said, pickings are slim this time of year, with the likes of Marco Estrada, Clayton Richard, and Danny Salazar (to name just a few) representing the most experienced free agents. For what it’s worth, minor-leaguers Bryan Abreu and Cristian Javier have impressed Click thus far and could contribute to the rotation this year.

Here’s more from baseball’s West divisions…

Giants prospect Heliot Ramos is expected to be out of commission for at least a few weeks after suffering an oblique strain on Friday, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 20-year-old outfielder sustained the injury while making a throw home during the Giants’ matchup with the Rockies. Per Shea, Ramos will be re-evaluated this weekend, but is likely to be on the shelf for two weeks at minimum. Ramos is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the number 65 prospect in baseball, and the third-best in the San Francisco organization. He’s reached as high as Double-A and appeared in last year’s Arizona Fall League. He wasn’t invited to Major League camp this year, but has been brought up to participate in a couple of the Giants’ Cactus League games.
An MRI of Athletics prospect Daulton Jefferies showed no issues with the elbow, though the right-hander does have a strain in his upper bicep, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The Oakland organization had some fear that Jefferies may have sustained an elbow injury when he exited a February 24 game prematurely. Per Gallegos, we won’t know exactly when Jefferies will be able to throw again until he visits a specialist tomorrow. Jefferies, 24, is coming off a solid 2019 season in which he made it to Double-A, throwing 64 innings of 3.66-ERA baseball at that level.

Zaidi On Giants’ Rotation, Bullpen, Dubon, Backup Catcher

By Steve Adams | February 28, 2020 at 7:50am CDT

The Giants have a whopping 71 players in Major League Spring Training this season — a testament to an active offseason in terms of minor league free agency and also a reflection of the lack of certainty on a roster that is still being retooled by a new regime. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi appeared on KNBR’s Murph & Mac Show yesterday to discuss the state of the roster, echoing at multiple points that “competition is going to be the theme of this camp” (full audio of the 18-minute interview).

Not surprisingly, Zaidi dubbed both Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly, who each signed one-year Major League deals this winter, as likely members of the rotation. As for the fifth spot behind Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Gausman and Smyly, the Giants’ president named right-hander right-handers Tyler Beede, Logan Webb and Dereck Rodriguez as well as lefty Andrew Suarez as possible options to win the job.

While there’s really only one spot available on the starting staff, that’s far from the case with respect to San Francisco’s relief corps. “Our bullpen is going to be pretty wide open,” Zaidi acknowledged. “…We’ve had some guys really impress. Matt Carasiti, Rico Garcia were both really impressive a couple days ago.”

That open competition is partly by design and partly by circumstance. The club surely hoped that righty Reyes Moronta would anchor a high-leverage spot in 2020, but shoulder surgery late in the ’19 campaign will sideline him for most, if not all of the upcoming season. Will Smith departed via free agency, taking an early three-year deal with the Braves. Zaidi & Co. traded both Mark Melancon and Sam Dyson, each of whom was controlled through 2020, at last year’s deadline. What was arguably the Giants’ greatest strength entering the 2019 season quickly became a blank canvas for 2020.

So, who’s in the mix? Likely closer Tony Watson and out-of-options righty Trevor Gott are the only two relievers on the roster who threw even 30 innings out of the ’pen last season. It’s possible that any of the aforementioned quartet of fifth-starter candidates could transition to a relief role. Tyler Rogers, Sam Coonrod and Jandel Gustave all received auditions in the bullpen last year, with Rogers (the twin brother of Twins closer Taylor Rogers) looking particularly impressive. Elsewhere on the 40-man roster, waiver claim Jarlin Garcia is out of minor league options, and Rule 5 pick Dany Jimenez is in a similar make-the-team-or-get-the-boot scenario.

The Giants moved prospect Shaun Anderson to the bullpen last year, and his name was notably absent when Zaidi discussed potential fifth starters. That’s also true of veteran non-roster invitees Trevor Cahill and Tyson Ross. One shouldn’t necessarily read Zaidi’s omission of those names in an off-the-cuff setting as a clear statement that they’re being viewed as bullpen-only pieces, but both Cahill and Ross have worked as relievers in the past, and it’s clear the bullpen offers a broader avenue to making the team. Beyond Carasiti and Garcia, both named by Zaidi, the Giants have veterans Jerry Blevins, Nick Vincent and Andrew Triggs in camp on non-roster deals.

Zaidi spent less time discussing the battles on the position-player side of things, but he did offer some insight into the role of Mauricio Dubon. It’s been suggested that the Giants will get the former Red Sox/Brewers infield prospect — acquired in last summer’s Drew Pomeranz/Ray Black swap — some work in center field. Zaidi made the organization’s plans for Dubon rather clear.

“He’s really embraced that possibility of moving around,” Zaidi said of the 25-year-old Dubon. “He obviously he played shortstop the first day [of Cactus League play]. Hopefully we get him out there in center field pretty soon. … He knows the more spots he can play, the more options he’s going to give Gabe and the staff, and the more at-bats he’s going to get. He’s fully embraced that.”

Playing Dubon all over the diamond will allow the club to take a longer look at non-roster invitee Yolmer Sanchez for second base. The Giants also have veteran utilityman Donovan Solano and former Rays prospect Kean Wong (younger brother of the Cardinals’ Kolten Wong) to evaluate. And with an outfield mix that is, by Zaidi’s own admission, somewhat unsettled in its own right, a successful acclimation to outfield work by Dubon (even on a part-time basis) would help shore things up.

With such a wide level of options already competing for roster spots, one might assume the Giants are done adding, but that’s not necessarily the case. The Giants’ catching depth took a hit when presumptive backup Aramis Garcia suffered a hip injury that required surgical repair — possibly sidelining him for the whole season. Rob Brantly and Tyler Heineman had already been inked as depth options behind Garcia, but that duo is now battling for a spot on the Opening Day roster … unless the Giants acquire another option.

“[Brantly and Heineman] both have legitimate shots,” Zaidi said. “But we also told those guys, ’Hey, we may go out and get somebody else. Either somebody else who’s in the competition or maybe even jumps to the front of the line.’ So those guys are aware of that, and we’ll keep an eye out. We’ll keep looking for the best possible option.”

The catching market has been largely picked over, although Russell Martin stands out as a notable veteran option who still boasts quality on-base and defensive skills. Any number of veterans who signed minor league deals elsewhere could potentially opt out of said deals or be cut loose, replenishing some of the open-market options. The waiver wire, of course, always presents another avenue from which Zaidi has never shied away. The bulk of the Giants’ offseason work in terms of player acquisition is done, but Zaidi and his staff still have a landslide of decisions to make over the next four weeks.

NL Notes: Senzel, D-backs, Rockies, Giants

By Connor Byrne | February 28, 2020 at 12:58am CDT

Reds outfielder Nick Senzel could begin appearing in spring training games next week, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Senzel has been working back from the shoulder surgery he underwent last September, and though the Reds believe he’s versatile enough to handle all three outfield positions, they’re only going to play him in center until he’s fully healed, according to manager David Bell. “I know he could do it but allowing him to focus on one spot may be more important than any of our other outfielders just because they all have so much more experience out there than he does,” Bell said of Senzel, a former infield prospect who spent his rookie season in center. The 24-year-old’s one of several outfielders for the Reds, who also count Nick Castellanos, Jesse Winker, Shogo Akiyama and Aristides Aquino among their options in the grass.

West Notes: Shark, Lamb, Peacock

By Connor Byrne | February 26, 2020 at 11:23pm CDT

Let’s check in on a trio of teams from the game’s West divisions…

Giants right-hander Jeff Samardzija looks like a potential trade candidate for the club, considering they’re unlikely to contend in 2020 and he’s in the final year of his contract. Samardzija told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle that he hopes to remain with the Giants, though. “The way I look at it, you look to put yourself and the team in the best situation going forward,” he said. “Obviously, the best situation for us going forward would be in the playoff hunt, add talent at the (deadline) and make a run for it in the fall. That’s our No. 1 goal.” Shark added that he has “a lot of respect for this organization and what they’ve done for me, and I’ll give them everything I can as long as I’m here in their jersey.” Signed to a five-year, $90MM contract before the 2016 season, Samarzidja’s production has been up and down as a Giant. He prevented runs at a very good clip last year (3.52 ERA over 181 1/3 innings), but he also posted a career-worst 91.9 mph average fastball velocity and a below-average 4.59 FIP.
Diamondbacks corner infielder Jake Lamb hasn’t enjoyed a strong season since 2017, but the shoulder and quad injuries he dealt with from 2018-19 likely contributed to his woes. Lamb’s not giving himself a pass for his recent struggles, telling Zach Buchanan of The Athletic (subscription link): “The shoulder wasn’t why I was so bad last year. My swing was not good. I was steep, I was late.” However, Lamb admitted his shoulder tightness was on his mind in the past, and that’s no longer the case. He now may be in position to bounce back after turning in a .208/.315/.350 line in a combined 464 plate appearances during the previous two years. The Diamondbacks believe that’s the case, as Buchanan details; otherwise, they wouldn’t have tendered him for $5.515MM over the winter.
Astros righty Brad Peacock has been battling neck problems, but he believes he’ll be ready for the beginning of the season, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle relays. Peacock started throwing off flat ground this week, should move to the mound in early March and then anticipates appearing in “three or four” Grapefruit League games. Most of Peacock’s work last year came from the Astros’ rotation, but they’re set to use him out of their bullpen this season. The swingman did well in a full-time relief role back in 2018.

Camp Battles: Giants’ Second Base Candidates

By Connor Byrne | February 25, 2020 at 10:35pm CDT

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi hasn’t been all that aggressive since he grabbed the team’s reins in November 2018. Zaidi has instead taken a more reserved approach with his rebuilding club, seldom making a notable splash via free agency or on the trade market. That said, second base has been an area of consistent change since the Zaidi era began, and the Giants have a quite a few choices for the position as the new season draws closer.

The Giants tried several different options at the keystone last year, but they had a hard time finding a solution at the spot. Joe Panik garnered more starts at second than any other Giant, though he had such a poor season that the club released him during the first week of August. Trade deadline acquisition Scooter Gennett lasted less than a month in San Francisco after bombing in its uniform. Similarly, fellow veteran Yangervis Solarte – who began the season on the Giants’ roster – wasn’t long for their roster.

On the other hand, the Giants did receive decent numbers from Mauricio Dubon, whom they picked up from the Brewers in another deadline deal, as well as Donovan Solano. It was rather surprising that Solano logged a .330/.360/.456 line with 1.3 fWAR in 228 plate appearances, as he hadn’t been especially productive with the Marlins and Yankees from 2012-16, didn’t appear in the majors from 2017-18 and joined the Giants on a minor league deal. The 32-year-old’s a candidate to see time at second yet again this season, but at least some skepticism is warranted in regards to his 2019 output. It was buoyed by an impossible-to-sustain .409 batting average on balls in play, after all, and Solano’s BB/K ratio (0.20) was only about halfway to the league average (0.37).

Dubon had similar struggles in the BB/K department (0.25), but it was just his first season in the bigs. The 25-year-old hit .274/.306/.434 in 111 PA between Milwaukee and San Francisco. He has also been a nicely regarded prospect for a while, so it stands to reason the Giants are hopeful he’ll emerge as a useful piece somewhere on their roster. That could mean making him their everyday second baseman or a utility player who moves all over the diamond.

Aside from the holdovers, the Giants have a few new faces vying for reps at second. That includes Wilmer Flores, whom they signed to a two-year, $6MM guarantee a couple weeks back. The former Met and Diamondback is another jack-of-all-trades type, having lined up at various infield positions since his career began in 2013. Offensively, the righty-swinging Flores is known for holding his own against lefties, but he hasn’t been a slouch versus same-handed hurlers. In fact, Flores has shown himself to be a viable option against all pitchers; between that and the value of his contract, he’ll get a lot of playing time for the Giants, though that doesn’t mean he’ll be their main pick at second.

Flores wasn’t San Francisco’s only second base-capable pickup in the offseason. The team claimed Kean Wong, brother of the Cardinals’ Kolten Wong, in November, and signed ex-White Sox second baseman Yolmer Sanchez to a minor league contract a month ago.

Wong’s still just 24 and coming off a couple of respectable Triple-A seasons, but he has almost no major league track record to speak of, and with three options remaining, the Giants could send him down without consequence. They don’t have the same luxury with Sanchez, a rare reigning Gold Glove winner who had to settle for a non-roster invitation in the ensuing offseason. Problem is that the switch-hitting 27-year-old hasn’t enjoyed much success at the plate, where he owns a .244/.299/.357 in 2,438 career attempts. As a result, he’s facing an uphill climb to open 2020 in the majors.

Sanchez’s goal is to win a second straight Gold Glove, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote Tuesday, but he’ll have to make the team first. As someone who’s not on the Giants’ 40-man roster, he’ll have his work cut out for him over the next few weeks.

NL West Notes: Yolmer, Ray, MadBum, Saunders, Cordero

By Mark Polishuk | February 23, 2020 at 7:39pm CDT

Before signing a minor league deal with the Giants, Yolmer Sanchez turned down some MLB contract offers from other teams, the second baseman told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. His decision was partly for financial reasons — the other offers promised him guaranteed money but less than the $2.5MM Sanchez will make if he cracks the Giants’ roster — and partly for opportunity-based reasons, as other clubs wanted to use Sanchez in a utility role. As Schulman writes, Sanchez preferred to “bet on himself…for a chance to be an everyday second baseman” in San Francisco.

It remains to be seen if Sanchez can become a regular amidst the Giants’ youth movement, or against a veteran like second base candidate Wilmer Flores, who did sign a guaranteed Major League deal with the team. Aside from Flores, the Giants also have youngster Mauricio Dubon and utilityman Donovan Solano in the mix at the keystone, not to mention Kean Wong, Zach Green, and longtime Giants staple Pablo Sandoval in camp battling for infield jobs.

Prospect Notes: Carlson, Graterol, Dunning, Ramos

By Steve Adams | February 21, 2020 at 6:42am CDT

The Cardinals’ hole in left field has many fans focused on top prospect Dylan Carlson, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explores the 21-year-old’s potential timeline to the big leagues. The Cards, Goold notes, don’t have a history of service time manipulation — in part because they’re aggressive in trying to lock up key young players on long-term contracts that buy out the seventh year that would be gained by holding a prospect down in the minors. That said, Carlson has limited exposure in Triple-A and several competitors he’ll have to outplay in decisive fashion this spring in order to be considered for the Opening Day roster. Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, Justin Williams and waiver claim Austin Dean are all in the mix for at-bats in the outfield. Goold spoke with president of baseball ops John Mozeliak, manager Mike Schildt, teammate Jack Flaherty and Carlson himself about what it’d take to complete the former No. 33 overall pick’s ascent to the Majors. Mozeliak wouldn’t expressly rule out an Opening Day nod for Carlson, indicating that the club would use Spring Training “to figure out exactly what we have.” Barring injury, it’d be a surprise if Carlson didn’t play in the Majors at some point in 2020.

More notes on some of the game’s most promising young talent…

The Dodgers plan to utilize newly acquired flamethrower Brusdar Graterol as a reliever in 2020, writes Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. That’s the same plan that the Twins had for the highly touted righty, making it all the more perplexing that the Red Sox claim to have backed away from the three-team iteration of the Mookie Betts blockbuster upon deciding that Graterol was best suited for the ’pen in the short-term. Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts tells Castillo that his understanding of Graterol’s medical review is that he’s “asymptomatic,” and the right-hander has impressed officials with his new club right out of the gate in camp. “A guy with his stuff, it’s just a different look for our bullpen,” pitching coach Mark Prior says. “The ability to bring that kind of raw power, impact into the game is only a good thing for us.” The state of limbo in which Graterol found himself after the Red Sox backed off the initial trade iteration wasn’t easy on the righty, who felt like he “had a weight on top of” him while awaiting resolution.
White Sox righty Dane Dunning is slated to throw his first live batting practice of the spring next week, writes MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. That’ll be Dunning’s first time facing hitters since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019. Dunning, 25, was a consensus top 100 prospect heading into the 2019 season but didn’t throw a pitch during the season due to that surgery. Dunning, whom the White Sox acquired from the Nationals in the Adam Eaton trade, acknowledged that he’ll likely be on an innings limit in 2020. There’s no indication as to the organization’s target for him, but Dunning has never tossed more than the 144 frames he logged back in 2017 — be it in college or in pro ball.
A knee injury shortened the 2019 season for Giants outfield prospect Heliot Ramos, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi believes that the 2017 first-rounder can “absolutely” ascend to the Majors in 2020, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Ramos wasn’t invited to Major League Spring Training and has only played 25 games in Double-A, where he’ll likely open the 2020 campaign. But the Giants have a fairly wide-open outfield at the moment, with veteran Hunter Pence returning to join Steven Duggar and a pair of corner options with limited track records (Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson). Ramos, who hit .290/.369/.481 in 444 plate appearances between Class-A Advanced and Double-A when healthy in 2019, remains the organization’s top outfield prospect and won’t turn 21 until this September.

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