On this week’s episode of There R Giants podcast, I have two short interviews I did with Giants’ prospects Patrick Bailey and Ismael Munguia. I spoke to both at media day just before the new season began (with a little BP noise going on in the background). Bailey begins what is sure to be an important season for him as he climbs to the upper minors for the first time, and hopes to show a better all around offensive game to go with his Gold Glove-winning defense. Munguia, with the help of coach Lipso Nava’s translating, talks about staying strong through a season lost to injury and where his high energy game comes from.

If you’re not a There R Giants’ subscriber, now is a great time to join as the new season gets underway. You can try a free 7-day trial to get going and after that, pay just $6.99 per month.

Patrick Bailey Interview (1:46)Ismael Munguia Interviw (12:42)

Intro/Outro: “Hoola” by Archie Bronson Outfit

I’m joined this week by my friend Wrenzie Regodon, Giants prospect writer for Giant Baseball Insider, a FanNation site. Wrenzie and I go through the opening day rosters for all four affiliate, talking surprises, guys we’re excited to see, under the radar dudes we have our eyes on and much more for each level. It’s a super stuffed edition of the pod to get you ready for the season.

Surprises (who was pushed higher than expected, who was kept back) (2:30)Who were you most bummed to see start in XST? (10:15)Sacramento Roster (16:15)Richmond Roster (25:45)Eugene Roster (37:45)San Jose Roster (46::30)

Intro/Outro: “Disconnect the Dots” by Of Montreal

This week’s guest is Chris Langin, the Director of Pitching for Driveline Baseball, a driving force in many of the revolutionary changes that have taken place in baseball player development over the last decade. Chris joins me to talk about the kinds of improvements that pitchers can make with Driveline’s biomechanics technology and data-driven approach that would have seemed miraculous to generations of pitchers over the last two centuries.

It’s a fascinating conversation that gives a glimpse into how pitching development is changing for the better in today’s baseball.

Intro/Outro: “Pressure Point” by The Zutons

I’m joined this week by the great Jim Callis, lead prospect writer for MLB, to talk about MLB’s brand new prospect rankings list for the Giants’ system. Jim has been handling the Giants’ system for years, and his knowledge of their player development system is as extensive as anybody in the industry! Plus, he’s a great guest and always fun to talk to.

You can find MLB’s Giants’ rankings on the MLB Pipeline website as well as Jim’s overview of the system, leapers and fallers, best tools, and more. You can follow Jim’s work on twitter @jimcallisMLB. And you can follow my work @rog61.

And, of course, if you want more There R Giants’ content, become a subscriber and you’ll get daily reports from the farm system starting in just over a week! I’ll be out at Papago Park for the final two weeks of spring camp bringing you player interviews, video, and plenty of scouting observations. So now’s a great time to become a There R Giants’ subscriber.

* System Overview (1:10)

* Harrison and Luciano at top (10:00)

* The Second Tier: McCray, Schmitt, Brown, Arteaga (14:10)

* Luis Matos (22:10)

* Mason Black (25:10)

* Patrick Bailey (28:30)

* Rayner Arias hit tool (33:50)

* Favorite Sleepers (35:15)

* Trevor McDonald (37:20)

Intro/Outro: “Temperature” by Kaiser Chiefs

The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly joins me from Scottsdale on this week’s edition of the There R Giants podcast. We talk about the Giants’ tumultuous off-season, their hopes for the upcoming season, their continual reliance on Brandon Crawford’s good health (knock on wood!), and, of course, we talk about a lot of young players bringing excitement to the Giants’ camp (and hopefully their future).

If you’re not already a There R Giants’ subscriber, now’s a perfect time to become one. I’m just finishing up the Top 50 and will soon be reporting from Papago Park minor league camp myself.

Intro/Outro: “TKO” by Le Tigre

I’m so excited to have camps open and baseball back that I can’t wait until Thursday for this week’s podcast. Alex Pavlovic, the Giants’ beat reporter for NBC Sports Bay Area, joins me from Scottsdale to talk about some of the young guys who are generating excitement in the early days. There’s a lot of Kyle Harrison talk, of course, but also some David Villar, R.J. Dabovich, Casey Schmitt, and even Joey Bart talk in the course of the show.

Make sure you follow all of Alex’ content coming out of camp, on both Twitter and Instagram @PavlovicNBCS (and I can’t recommend Alex’ Instagram feed enough!). And of course, follow me on Twitter @rog61 — and once I get out to minor league camp in March, I promise to get a little Instagram action going myself @rmunter. Or just become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all of my Giants’ prospect content.

Intro/Outro: “Here It Comes” by The Doves

The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard returns to the There R Giants’ pod to discuss her ranking of the Giants’ farm system and the Giants’ player development progress. We take some time to enjoy the progress of David Villar, discuss how Kyle Harrison might be transitioned into a big league role, how quickly Casey Schmitt might move, and who the best bounce back candidates in the system are.

Intro/Outro: “Emerge” by Fischerspooner

My guest in this week’s podcast is There R Giants’ #16 prospect in the Giants’ system: Landen Roupp. He explains what he calls his outstanding breaking ball and how he’s developed the pitch over time, how he separated himself from the pack in 2022, and what he’s working on for the year to come.

Roupp has been in Scottsdale getting ready for the 2023 season, and There R Giants will be out there to see him soon! Which makes now a great time to become a subscriber to get all There R Giants posts direct to your Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “I Wanna Destroy You” by The Soft Boys

Giants’ RHP Keaton Winn is one of the Giants’ most recent 40-man members and he’s got a good chance to help the big league club in 2023. Winn joins the podcast this week to talk about the long-journey back from Tommy John surgery and one amazing month of November!

Stay up to date on the entire Giants’ farm system by becoming a There R Giants’ subscriber today!

Intro/Outro: “I Want You Back” by Hoodoo Gurus

This week’s guest is the MVP of the 2022 Richmond Flying Squirrels and one of my favorite players to talk to, infielder Tyler Fitzgerald. Tyler talks about moving to Scottsdale full-time, off-season life at Papago Park, and how he’s working to improve his game heading into the season.

Intro/Outro: “Nowhere Train” by Carlene Carter

Giants’ Senior Director of International Scouting graciously spent some time talking with me about the latest class of international free agent signings, a class headlined by power hitting Rayner Arias. Salermo discusses Arias, as well as the organization’s first amateur signing out of Taiwan in pitcher Chen-Hsun Lee. We also talk about the progress from last year’s class and look forward to the coming year.

If you’re not already a There R Giants subscriber, now’s a great time to become one as I’m just starting to roll out this year’s Top 50 rankings for the organization.

Intro/Outro: “Você Fica Melhor Assim” by Lô Borges

Trevor Hooth of Prospects Live and Bless You Boys is my guest on this week’s There R Giants pod. We dig into the pitching part of the Giants’ farm system, looking at some of the arms the Prospects Live gang is high on in their rankings and which pitches are really making them pop. You can follow Trevor on Twitter (where he’s always breaking down pitcher deliveries) at @HoothTrevor. And you can always find my work by following me on Twitter @rog61 or by becoming a subscriber at There R Giants. The Top 50 starts rolling out next week so now’s a great time to subscribe or get a subscription for the Giants fan in your life.

IntroEvaluating Pitchers (1:00)Kyle Harrison (6:50)Mason Black (10:40)Carson Seymour and Landen Roupp (16:05)R.J. Dabovich (20:20)Sleepers (26:40)Eric Silva (29:00)Grading guys coming off disappointing years (32:10)Who might pop this year (34:10)

Intro/Outro: “Detroit Breakdown” by J. Geils Band

It’s an extra TRG pod this week! Prospects Live is publishing its ranking of the Giants’ Top 30 today, and to accompany the roll-out, Jake Kerns spends some time talking with me about the hitters in the system. We talk about the importance of contact, hard contact, and good swing decisions, and which players in the system exceed at all three. We also look for a few sleepers further down the list who may be heading for better days soon.

This episode was recorded on Monday, so a few of the rankings may end up moving around before publication — but you should definitely check out the full list and scouting reports at Prospect Live.

This will be the final show of 2022 for There R Giants. We’ll be back in January to talk more Giants’ prospects and get ready for spring. Thanks for following along everybody!

Intro/Outro: “2000 Miles” by The Pretenders

The great beat writer, Susan Slusser, joins me to talk Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, Carlos Rodón and much much more! Naturally, the A’s managed to trade Sean Murphy while we were recording, but it was still a good idea! How the Giants achieve their “big winter” as options fall off the board on today’s edition of There R Giants!

To get all of my Giants prospects material, become a full time subscriber to There R Giants for regular posts delivered, ad-free, straight to your Inbox or App!

I’ll have one more bonus podcast up this week and then shut it down until January. So look for the last pod of the year on Thursday!

Intro/Outro: “Going Underground” by The Jam

It’s December. And you know what season that ushers in. That’s right! Prospect Rankings season! And I’ve happy to be joined this week by Eli Walsh who led Baseball Prospectus’ coverage of for BPro’s 2023 Giants’ rankings.

Eli and I talk about whether Marco Luciano or Kyle Harrison is the more “untouchable” prospect. How Luis Matos and Grant McCray compare to each other? Who’s breaking out of the 2021 draft of pitchers? And what the heck we can make of 2022 1st rounder Reggie Crawford? Plus there’s a curious amount of Austin Slater talk. Weird!

SCHEDULING NOTE — I’ve decided to flip the order of things this week. Instead of a Wednesday post, I’m putting out the podcast a day early to wait for the Rule 5 draft tonight. I’ll put out a post on the draft — and any other Giants’ news — in a post tomorrow, before launching into an in-depth assessment of the org position by position starting Friday.

State of the system (0:50)Luciano vs Harrison (2:45)Where does Luciano play? (5:40)Casey Schmitt’s offensive potential (6:55)Luis Matos and swing decisions (9:35)Matos, Grant McCray, and Vaun Brown (13:50)Heliot Ramos’ swing (22:10)All Those San Jose Pitchers! (25:30)Bednar and Mikulski (29:45)What do Giants have in Carson Seymour? (32:10)Do We Know Anything About Reggie Crawford’s potential? (33:40)Favorite Sleepers (36:35)

Intro/Outro: “I Wish You a Merry Christmas” by Little Eva and Big Dee Irwin

Trey Wilson, the Voice of the Richmond Flying Squirrels — as well as Director of Communications for the fabulously successful front office — joins me this week to talk over Richmond’s first playoff season in eight years. Together, we revisit a group of great guys, good players, and memorable nights. We talk Kyle Harrison’s growth, Casey Schmitt’s defense, and rapid development of Cole Waites, among many other topics.

You can follow Trey’s many travels (and concerts reviews!) on twitter @treywilson757. And, of course, you can follow me on twitter @rog61 to see all of my thoughts and work, or just become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all my work, advertisement-free, delivered straight to your Inbox!

Intro/Outro: “Trudy (Live at Healing Appalachia 2022)” by Tyler Childers

Steven Risotto is, among other things, way more enterprising than I was as a college student! He covers the Giants for SFBay and is also the creator and host of the wonderful RizzoCast. Together we talk Giants’ needs in this big off-season, how the Giants view their player development processes, how they make room for Kyle Harrison, whether Joey Bart is the catcher of the future, and we talk some obscure old Giants’ prospects. Please excuse my scratchy voice — picked up a bug on some recent travels!

You can follow Steven’s work on twitter (including finding the latest edition of the RizzoCast) @StevenRissotto or check out his own Substack newsletter:

And, of course, you can follow me on twitter @rog61 or just become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all of my Giants’ prospect work delivered straight to your Inbox or via Substack app.

Intro/Outro: “Something Big” by Tom Petter

Jeff Young, editor of SF Giants content at Around the Foghorn, joins me to make sense of a big day of transactions on Rule 5 protection day. We sift through what it all means and talk about a big winter ahead.

You can follow Jeff on twitter @BaseballJeff1 to get all of his Giants-related thoughts and content at ATF. And of course you can follow me on twitter @Rog61 or simply become a subscriber at There R Giants to have all of my Giants-prospect writings delivered straight to your Inbox, via email or the Substack app.

Intro/Outro: “Here is the News” by ELO

The Athletic’s Eno Sarris is my guest this week. We talk Stuff+ numbers for various members of the Sacramento pitching staff, why changes in pitch mixes have become so dynamic lately, and how exit velocity correlates to raw power. Along the way we talk Sean Hjelle, Tristan Beck, R.J. Dabovich, Michael Stryffeler, David Villar, Heliot Ramos and more.

You can follow Eno on twitter @enosarris (he’s about to head down to the AFL so it’s a good time to follow him if you don’t already!). And of course you can follow all of my work by following me on twitter @rog61, or just become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all of my work delivered direct to your Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “Tomorrow is Already Here” by Stereolab

My guest this week is Giants’ broadcaster Dave Flemming. We talk about the unique position the broadcast team occupies in the world of Giants’ baseball, the state of Giants’ player development processes, and the path forward for the organization. And yes, “the guy who hits in the Bronx” does come up!

IntroDifference between announcing in up years and down (1:44) How do Giants feel about their Player Development? (9:05)Joey Bart’s Season (12:55)Big Off Season ahead (15:40)How Heliot Ramos fits in plans (19:10)Aaron Judge talk! (21:05)Transitioning Kyle Harrison into rotation (26:50)

Intro/Outro: “Crash Years” by New Pornographers

Franklin Labour, who was in the Giants’ system for eight seasons and spent most of 2022 with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, joins me on this week’s There R Giants podcast to talk about efforts to unionize the minors. Labour talks about the importance of taking care of athletes to help them become the best version of themselves and the excitement that has surrounded the talks for forming a union.

You can get much more There R Giants’ content by becoming a subscriber to the site.

Intro/Outro: “Jique” by the Brazilian Girls

The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard stops by to discuss the year that was on the Giants’ farm. We talk surprises, the long tail of the COVID year in disrupting player development, and the amazing season turned in by Kyle Harrison, among many other topics.

Melissa does a great job covering the Giants’ (and A’s!) farm for The Athletic, so make sure to follow her on twitter @melissalockard to catch all of her work.

And, of course, you can follow me on twitter @rog61 to find all my work or just subscribe to There R Giants to get all of my Giants prospect work delivered straight to your Inbox. We’re into season wrap up season, and after that I’ll take a look at all of the major Rule 5 candidates that the Giants face a roster choice on this winter before moving on to the new Top 50. So now’s a great time to join!

Intro/Outro: “All Summer Long” by the Beach Boys

My guest on this week’s edition of the There R Giants podcast is Eugene Manager Carlos Valderrama, who helped pilot the team to a second consecutive league title. Valderrama has spent more than 20 seasons as a part of the Giants’ organization — either as a player or coach — and the 2022 season was his 14th year as part of the Player Development staff. He won the DSL Coach of the Year in 2015 for leading the DSL Giants to a league title. Eugene’s triumph gives Valderrama his second ring as a championship manager. Carlos and I discuss many of the top prospects who passed through his and his staff’s tutelage this year and reflect on the important of winning in helping develop players. Enjoy!

If you like my Giants’ related content, now’s a great time to become a There R Giants’ subscriber as I’m just starting to roll out a host of season wrap ups and roll into Prospect Ranking season, culminating with a brand new Top 50. And, until October 1, you can take advantage of my Welcome to the Offseason Sale — you can get 30% off an annual subscription.

Intro/Outro: “Dreamer in My Dreams” by Wilco

San Jose (and sometimes San Francisco) Giants’ broadcaster Joe Ritzo joins me for this week’s There R Giants podcast, reflecting on the 2022. A lot of talent moved through the Giants’ Low A affiliate this season, including some of the biggest breakout stories of the organization. Joe and I reflect on all the prospects who played a big part in this season, which ended with another post-season appearance.

Follow Joe on twitter @JoeRitzo. And, of course, follow me on Twitter @rog61, or become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all of my posts sent, ad free, straight to your Inbox.

* Favorite Memories from this Season (1:45)

* Best Pitchers from the early Piggy-Back rotation (6:30)

* Vaun Brown (10:40)

* Grant McCray (16:00)

* Aeverson Arteaga (20:00)

* Guys who quietly got better (22:35)

* Preview of Next Year’s Roster (29:00)

* Low A Rivalry with talented Rockies’ affiliates (32:00)

Intro/Outro: “Paper Rings” by Taylor Swift

This week’s pod is a little media re-utilization. For those of you subscribers who watched the video posts I’ve put up the last two weeks, you’ve already heard from Richmond infielder Tyler Fitzgerald and reliever Nick Avila. But for those of you who don’t subscribe to the site — or prefer to ingest your player interviews through audio only — this is new for you! So enjoy listening to two guys who have really developed their games throughout this season! And, of course, if you’d like to become a subscriber so that you, too, can gain access to my video interviews and other pieces, I’m always happy to have you!

Tyler Fitzgerald (1:48)Nick Avila (11:35)

Intro/Outro: “Something Good (is Going to Happen to You)” by Carla Thomas

My guest this week is Eric Flemming, formerly Assistant Farm Director for the SF Giants. Eric digs into the bombshell news that the MLBPA is working to help form a union for minor league players. We talk benefits, costs, complications, and degree of hopefulness on a true Labor Day edition of the There R Giants podcast.

To read Eric’s blog posts, follow him on twitter @EricFlemming or just go straight to mlbinsidepitch.com. And you can keep up all of my work by following me on twitter @rog61 or simply becoming a subscriber to There R Giants to get daily, ad-free content on Giants’ prospects delivered straight to your Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “There is Power in a Union” by Billy Bragg

The Athletic’s Andy Baggarly joins me to talk about his recent trips to Eugene and Sacramento to check in on Giants’ prospects. We talk some of the success stories and struggles on the farm, and, by popular demand, a whole lot of Vaun Brown content!

You can (and should!) follow Andy on twitter @extrabaggs to catch all of his great work on the Giants’ organization. And, of course, follow me @rog61 or become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all of my Giants’ prospect related work direct to your Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “Wall of Death” by R.E.M.

My guest this week is the great Jim Callis from MLB Pipeline who stops by to talk about the Giants’ draft class and the latest MLB.com Top 30 ranking of the Giants’ system. As Jim says, it’s been a pretty volatile year on the Giants’ farm with a lot of big risers and big fallers, making for a pretty fascinating snapshot in time.

You can (and should) follow all of Jim’s work on Twitter @jimcallisMLB and of course you can keep up with all of my work by following me on Twitter @rog61 or by becoming a subscriber to There R Giants.

IntroDraft Class Overview: Crawford and Whisenhunt (1:30)Favorite “Other” Arm from Draft (10:18)Newest Top 30: Big Risers (12:00)Luciano and Harrison at Top (17:20)Luis Matos’ Season (19:25)Great Defenders at Top of List: McCray, Matos, Arteaga, Schmitt (22:00)Bottom Half: Wilson and Beck (26:30)Jim’s Favorite Guy from Back Half (32:30)

Intro/Outro: “Who’ll Be the Next In Line” by The Kinks

This week’s podcast contains a couple player interviews I was able to do on my recent west coast trip. I sat down with Vaun Brown in Eugene and then while I was in San Jose was able to speak with Grant McCray by telephone. Both of them discuss their terrific breakout years and the work that lay behind that success.

Look for more player profile stories coming over the next week or so at There R Giants.com.

Grant Brisbee of The Athletic stops by to talk about the Giants trade deadline, a disappointing 2022 and the path forward on the latest edition of There R Giants podcast.

You can (and should!) follow the wit and wisdom of Grant on twitter @GrantBrisbee and read his work at The Athletic. And, of course, you can follow all of my work on twitter @rog61 and read all of my Giants’ prospect-related writing by becoming a subscriber to There R Giants for daily updates of all the action around the farm.

Intro/Outro: “Stay Out Of It” by Michigander

Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes joins me this week to talk about pitchers in the Giants’ draft class, the uniqueness of Kyle Harrison, and the best single pitches in the Giants’ organization.

You can keep up with all of Geoff’s great work at BA by following him on twitter @GeoffPontesBA. He’s putting a ton of video from the Cape Cod League up there right now, which makes this a great time to follow him — like this footage he took of Giants’ 12th round pick Tyler Vogel:

You can follow my work on twitter @rog61 or simply become a subscriber at There R Giants to get it all delivered straight to your inbox:

Intro/Outro: “Walking on a Wire” by Richard and Linda Thompson

I’m joined this week by my friend Brian Recca who provides draft coverage for Prospects Live. Brian and I talk over the Giants’ 2022 draft literally from the top to the bottom. We talk surprises, risks, trends, pitch data, and much more.

Follow Brian on Twitter @brian_recca to keep up with all of his draft work (he’s already following the 2023 draft class!), and, of course, you can follow me @rog61 to find all of my Giants’ prospect work — or just become a There R Giants subscriber to get it all delivered to your Inbox ad-free!

You can also download the Substack App to follow all of your Substack subscriptions in one place.

Intro/Outro: “Howling for You” by The Black Keys

I don’t like to play favorites — but this week’s There R Giants pod may be the best ever! My guest, Eric Flemming, spent 15 seasons as a member of the SF Giants organization, most of that time as a part of the Player Development staff. After spending several seasons as a Minor League Operations Assistant, he was made Coordinator of Minor League Operations in 2012 and later was named the Assistant Director of Player Development.

Eric has a lot of stories to tell and much insight to share about the way player development works. You can follow Eric on twitter @EricFlemming, or read his occasional blog posts at MLB Inside Pitch — if you make it to the end of the show, Eric gives a sneak peak at his next post which sounds like a must read for any Giants’ fan!

You can keep up with all of my Giants’ prospect-related work by following me on twitter @rog61, or simply by becoming a There R Giants’ subscriber.

Intro/Outro: “Inside” by Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers

Richmond Flying Squirrels multi-position veteran Shane Matheny is my guest on this week’s podcast. In his second year with Richmond, Shane has been among the league leaders in several offensive categories, while hitting .297/.429/.530 with a 162 wRC+. According to manager Dennis Pelfrey, Matheny has been a leader for the Squirrels team, both on the field and in the clubhouse. Shane and I talk about the dramatic conclusion to the first half, celebrating their entry to the playoffs, and his progress through the Giants’ system and developing his game, offensively and defensively.

If you want more There R Giants content, why not become a subscriber and get daily newsletters delivered, ad free, right to your Inbox?

Or you can read There R Giants or any Substack newsletters in the new Substack App;

Intro/Outro: “Working Man’s Blues” by Merle Haggard

The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard is my guest on this week’s There R Giants podcast. We discuss some health-related issues with various players in the system and then dig in to observations on the first half of the season. Melissa does a great job covering the Giants’ and A’s farm system for The Athletic and is a must follow on Twitter @melissalockard.

And, of course, you can follow all of my work on Twitter @rog61 and get all of my work on the Giants’ farm system by subscribing to There R Giants for daily recaps and much more!

Injury Updates (1:20)Marco Luciano timeline (4:00)Weather effect on Eugene (5:30)Luis Matos’ season (7:45)Hunter Bishop (11:00)Patrick Bailey (13:40)Casey Schmitt (15:45)Carter Aldrete (17:50)Will Wilson (20:20)Looming 40-man crunch (22:00)Kyle Harrison (26:45)Randy Rodriguez (29:15)

Intro/Outro: “Summer Mood” by Best Coast

EDITOR’S NOTE: I mistakenly put “Restricted” links in today’s Stats Reviews post for the Google sheet tables — those have now been replaced with links you can see freely as usual.

It’s a double pod week! I had the chance to talk with Richmond catcher Brandon Martorano and LHP Chris Wright last week and thought I’d share the whole conversations with you. Both of these guys are low round draft picks who have jumped pretty quickly into the upper minors and they were gracious enough to share their baseball journeys with me and with you the listener! Enjoy!

Brandon Martorano (1:56)Chris Wright (21:10)

Intro/Outro: “Periodically Double or Triple” by Yo La Tengo

This week I’m joined by my favorite fellow Giants’ prospect blogger affectionately known as GPT. Avi and I talk over our major impressions of the Giants’ farm through the first third of the 2022 season. It’s a power summit of observations and one I think you’ll really enjoy!

Of course, you need to be following Avi on Twitter @giantsprospects. And for all of my work, you can follow me on Twitter @rog61 or simply subscribe to There R Giants to get all of my writing delivered, ad free, straight to your Inbox every morning.

Major Trends on Giants’ Farm (0:00)Heliot Ramos’ Season (8:50)Marco Luciano (13:30)Pleasant Surprises: Will Wilson, Trevor McDonald (16:40)Will Bednar (21:50)Mason Black (25:00)Casey Schmitt (27:35)Vaun Brown (30:30)1st Round Woes (33:10)

Intro/Outro: “Good Morning (The Future)” by Rogue Wave

Richmond 1b Frankie Tostado joins me to talk about his baseball journey, the stop and start nature of his early career, and the strides he’s making that are powering this year’s outstanding performance. Tostado has been first or second in the league in batting average or hits for most of the year, and is now in the league’s Top 10 in OPS, Slugging, and wRC+.

Intro/Outro: “Santeria” by Sublime

Baseball America’s draft expert Carlos Collazo joins me to talk some 2022 draft! Carlos digs into the stars of the draft, the potential bargain spots, some high risk/high reward types, and picks me out four potential targets for the Giants’ top pick at #30. It’s not too early to get a strong case of Draft Fever!

Follow Carlos on twitter @CarlosACollazo to make sure you’re up to date on the latest draft news, mock drafts, and high risers! And, of course, you can follow me on twitter to get all of my work, video, and observations from the field @rog61.

With draft coverage coming and rookie league season underway, there’s no better time to become a There R Giants’ subscriber!

Intro/New Draft Calendar (0:20)Competitive Advantages of Shortened Draft (5:20)Looking back: Hunter Bishop and Patrick Bailey (7:00)Overview of this year’s draft (9:50)Extreme Pitcher-heavy drafts of 2021 (12:00)Kumar Rocker Update (14:30) — Note: Rocker did pitch this weekend for first time (and looked great!)Who are Stars of 2022 draft (16:15)Tamarr Johnson (20:15)Theme of the Draft: Bloodline players (22:00)Late Round Depth of Draft — what’s available at 30? (24:30)Big Risk/Reward types who might be available (26:20)Finding the Giants a Player — one player from each quadrant (30:00)

Intro/Outro: “Gonna Get that Man” by Connie Francis

Laura Nuñez, the Giants’ Manager of Education and Cultural Development stops by to discuss the important work being done by her office to help the players coming into the organization from the international side transition to playing professional ball in the United States. It’s a critical aspect of player development that we don’t often hear about, so I’m really excited to be able to get some time to speak with Laura about the work that she and her team are doing.

Intro/Outro: “The World is Full of Strangers” by Camera Obscura

I’ve got something different for you this week: Richmond Manager Dennis Pelfrey joins be, but he’s not here to talk Giants’ prospects, instead Dennis and I dive in to some alternative ideas for extra-innings baseball, and in particular a rule he originated while working in Indy ball that’s starting to get some play around the baseball world. We’re calling it: The Pelfrey Rule!

Intro/Outro: “Only A Fool Plays By the Rules” by Chris Rea

Johnny Doskow, the voice of the Sacramento River Cats joins me on this week’s There R Giants podcast to talk about this year’s team, life in Triple A, and Jason Krizan’s long-awaited call up.

Follow Johnny on twitter @JDoskow. And you can follow all of my work on twitter @rog61 or become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all of my work covering the SF Giants’ farm system.

Jason Krizan (2:00)Life in Triple A (4:20)LaMonte Wade Jr (8:00)Sean Hjelle and Heliot Ramos (10:00)Yunior Marte (16:20)Gregory Santos (18:15)Raynel Espinal and other arms (19:40)David Villar (24:45)So many new guys! (30:30)Ka’ai Tom and Austin Dean (32:00)Bryce Johnson (35:30)Pitch Clock (40:30)

Intro/Outro: “This is the Day” by The The

Joe Ritzo, the voice of the San Jose Giants stops by this week’s edition of the pod to talk about the 2022 version of the San Jose Giants and all of those amazing arms. We talk piggy back starters, strikeout records, and the chances this club could “run it back.”

You can (and should!) follow Joe on twitter to keep up with the San Jose team @@JoeRitzo. And, of course, you can follow all of my work on twitter @rog61 or subscribe to There R Giants to receive my posts five (or six!) days a week to keep you updated on everything happening on the Giants’ farm.

* Putting a bow on the 2021 San Jose team (1:00)

* 2022 team: so many arms! (6:00)

* 20 strikeout game (9:30)

* Top Group of Draft picks (Bednar, Mikulski, Black): (16:00)

* Eric Silva, the high school guy (20:15)

* Mercedes, Vinicio, and other interesting arms (23:00)

* The young position player group (27:20)

* Returning players (McCray, Frechette) (34:00)

* Vaun Brown (36:20)

* Will they run it back? (37:20)

Intro/Outro: “Stronger Better Faster Stronger” by Daff Punk

This week’s There R Giants podcast features this year’s Barney Nugent Award winner Brett Auerbach and Richmond Flying Squirrels’ Hitting Coach Danny Santin. Auerbach has quickly become a fan favorite and he talks to me about his journey from undrafted college free agent to a prospect that Giants’ fans now have their eyes on (#32 in TRG Top 50 this year and looking to move up next year!). Santin talks about his approach to helping the hitters achieve their potential and how the organization is trying to put their hitters in a position for success! Danny’s a little soft in the recording, but hopefully he’s so engaging you won’t mind!

Intro (0:00)Brett Auerbach (1:48)Danny Santin (18:25)

Intro/Outro: “The Laws Have Changed” by the New Pornographers

On this week’s There R Giants podcast, I answer a few listener questions regarding opening day rosters and some expectations for key players and then talk with tonight’s starting pitcher for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Tristan Beck, as well as Squirrels’ 3b Sean Roby.

Don’t forget you can get all my posts delivered straight to your Inbox by becoming a There R Giants’ subscriber, and for the next two days you can get a full year’s subscription at 30% off, so now’s a great time to join the 2022 journey on the Giants' farm system.

Intro/Listener Mailbag (0:00)Tristan Beck interview (13:00)Sean Roby interview (22:20)

Intro/Outro: “Begin the Begin” by REM

Maria Guardado, MLB’s beat writer for the Giants, joins me this week to talk about some of the impressions that various minor league players have made on the major league coaching staff this spring. We talk about how top prospects and some of the lesser known guys have made big impressions on Gabe Kapler and his staff over the last month. We also spend some time talking about Maria’s fantastic story on the Giants Spanish-language classes for English-speaking minor leaguers, which you can read here:

Follow all of Maria’s coverage of the Giants on Twitter @MI_Guardado. And follow my work on Twitter @Rog61, or subscribe to There R Giants to get full coverage of the Giants minor league system sent right to your Inbox every day of the week!

Triple A Sacramento begins its season tonight, so now’s a great time to jump in!

Intro/Outro: “Beatnik Beach” by The Go Gos

MLB’s Jim Callis is back from visiting the Giants minor league camp in Scottsdale, AZ. He joins me talk about MLB’s new Top 30 ranking of the Giants organization, one of the deepest top 30s for the Giants in recent memory.

You can follow Jim on Twitter @jimcallisMLB to follow all of his work at MLB Pipeline and, of course, you can follow me on Twitter @Rog61 or just subscribe to There R Giants.com to get daily in-season updates of all the happenings on the Giants’ farm delivered straight to your Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “Endless Summer” by Superchunk

This week’s There R Giants podcast features three conversations I had with players conducted while I was visiting the Giants’ minor league spring training facility in Scottsdale. Matt Mikulski, Trevor McDonald, and Rohan Handa all took time to share their journeys with me as they each prepare for their first full season in pro ball.

Audio is a little uneven this week, as the interviews were recorded out in the back fields at the Giants’ new Papago Park facility and I didn’t quite have my normal technical elements on the road with me. Hopefully, you’ll overlook some low tech recording for great insight from the players.

If you’d like more great There R Giants content, why not subscribe to get daily in-season updates, ad free, delivered right to your Inbox?

Richmond Flying Squirrels Manager Dennis Pelfrey (coming off of last season’s championship in Eugene) joins me to talk about spring training camp, the advantages of coming from an Indy ball background, the resources available for player development today — and, of course, we talk about some of the players as well! You’ll be into the spring mood by the time you finish this one!

I’ll be heading to Scottsdale next week so I’ll have much more minor league camp content to share in the coming days. So now is a great time to become a There R Giants subscriber if you’re not already. Once the season starts, I’ll bring coverage of the entire Giants’ minor league system five days a week.

Intro (1:00)Do Manager’s Think in Terms of “Promotions” (4:00)Advantages of coming from Indy Ball (7:50)Technology and Data Resources for Player Development (12:30)Marco Luciano (18:50)Jairo Pomares (23:30)Ismael Munguia (26:30)Diego Rincones (30:20)Will Wilson (32:15)Ryan Murphy (35:00)

Intro/Outro: “Go!” by Apples in Stereo

A little something different in the podcast this week. I needed to do some venting and emotional processing over the current state of MLB so I called in my friend Marc Delucchi to help talk me through it. Marc and I talk negotiations and economics and how sad and unnecessary the current situation is.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back to Giants prospect talk next week!

You can follow Marc’s work on Twitter @maddelucchi and read his Warriors and 49ers writings at Golden State of Mind and Niners Nation.

And, of course, you can follow my work on Twitter @rog61 or subscribe to ThereRGiants.com for all of my Giants prospect-related work — I’ll be at minor league camp in a couple of weeks with video and observations coming at you!

Intro/Outro: “I’m Not Angry” by Elvis Costello

My friend Phil Goyette joins me this week to talk statistics and predictions for big performances in the upcoming season. Phil and I play “Big Three/Next Three” with Giants’ hitting and pitching prospects to see if we can tease out who the big stories will be on the farm in the upcoming year. We also see if we can identify the next Ryan Murphy type breakout player.

Phil’s been kind enough to share his spreadsheets, estimating major league equivalencies from last year’s statistics which you can find at the following links:

* Hitters

* Pitchers

You can follow Phil on Twitter @PhilOfSports to see all of his excellent work. And, of course, you can follow my work on Twitter @rog61 or get all of my Giants’ prospect work by subscribing to There R Giants dot com!

One more thing, I fumblingly mentioned seeing something recently that highlighted the great college seasons that Giants draft picks Matt Mikulski and Nick Sinacola had in 2021. I was right that it came from my friend Kyle Goings DIGS:

Intro/Outro: “Hell of a Season” by The Black Keys

Giants breakout RHP prospect Ryan Murphy is my guest on this week’s edition of There R Giants podcast. At least on the minor league side pitchers and catchers have reported to Scottsdale for spring training, and Ryan and I talk about his off-season regimen, what he’s been working on improving this winter, and how he likes to use data in his training. Ryan should be headed to Double A sometime in the upcoming season and hopes to keep himself on the fast track to a big league future.

If you like my coverage of Giants prospects, you might want to subscribe for daily coverage in season.

Intro/Outro: “The Boys Are Back” by The Dropkick Murphys

Fangraphs’ Tess Taruskin joins me to talk about Fangraphs recently published Giants prospect rankings and the state of the system. We talk about Casey Schmitt’s defense, Joey Bart’s weird development path, Patrick Bailey’s eventful first year and much more!

You can follow Tess on Twitter @tesstass. And of course you can follow me @rog61 and get all of my Giants prospect related posts by subscribing to ThereRGiants.com

Intro (0:00)How Fangraphs balances various data (3:00)Not overrating difficult seasons (7:30)Hunter Bishop (9:50)Casey Schmitt (11:30)Marco Luciano (15:30)How close is Luis Matos to top? (17:45)Patrick Bailey’s ranking (19:15)Bailey vs. Bart (23:00)Heliot Ramos (28:00)Pitching strategies and armslots (31:50)Kyle Harrison (34:25)Gregory Santos (37:20)Sleepers (39:45)

In/Out: “I’m Down” by The Beatles

The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly is my guest on this week’s There R Giants podcast. Andy and I talk about the important work area scouts do, what’s going on in the Giants’ front office during the lockout, and how they’ll handle the plethora of players who are running out of options this year.

You should absolutely be following Andy’s on twitter @extrabaggs. And, of course, you can follow me on twitter @rog61, or subscribe to There R Giants to get all of my work, ad free, delivered straight to your inbox. I’ll be headed out to minor league spring camp soon and hope to have plenty of observations and video to bring you from Papago Park.

Life during the lockout (2:00)Dick Tidrow Scout of the Year (6:10)Seiya Suzuki (11:00)How is the Giants depth at this point? (17:00)Guys running out of options (20:20)Tyler Beede (23:50)Steven Duggar (28:20)Joey Bart’s transition (33:35)How high will payroll go? (40:00)

Intro/Outro: “If and When” by The dBs

Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes stops by to talk about modern pitch data and how smart clubs like the Giants are leveraging different looks. We also dive into the five Giants who placed on the BA Top 100, with some deep dives into the hit data on Marco Luciano, Luis Matos and Joey Bart. It’s a super-packed episode full of vertical approach angles, inverted vertical breaks, pitch shapes and more!

Follow Geoff on twitter @GeoffPontesBA to see all of his great work at Baseball America. And to get all of my There R Giants content, you can follow me on twitter @rog61 and subscriber to ThereRGiants to get daily Giants’ prospect news during the season and three posts a week through the winter.

Giants’ Development Philosophies (0:40)How Advanced Understanding of Pitch Metrics is Helping Smart Teams (8:40)Swiney, Santos, Bednar, Murphy and their Pitch Data (15:20)BA Top 100: Kyle Harrison (26:20)Marco Luciano (38:00)Luis Matos (42:00)Joey Bart (47:55)

Intro/Outro: “Watch the Tapes” by LCD Soundsystem

Joe Salermo, the Giants’ Director of International Scouting, graciously stops by to talk about the newest class of international free agents who signed with the Giants this weekend. Joe takes us through the Giants journey to sign shortstop Ryan Reckley, catcher Juan Perez, and infielder Dennys Riera, as well as the rest of the incoming class (who does he say can hit a ball as far as anyone?). He also talks about the progress of some of the previous years’ classes. And he leaves us with this message: it’s an exciting time to be a Giants’ fan!

If you like the There R Giants podcast, consider subscribing to get all of my Giants-related content delivered ad-free, straight to your Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “You Can Have It All” by Yo La Tengo

SF Chronicle’s Susan Slusser is my guest this week. The longtime A’s beat writer and former President of the BBWAA talks about becoming a newbie on the beat in the middle of a pandemic, the Giants’ risk tolerance, how they’ll handle the catcher position in the upcoming year and much much more.

You can follow Susan’s work on twitter @susanslusser and read all of her work by subscribing to the SF Chronicle.

And, of course, you can catch all of my work by following me on twitter @rog61 and read all of my Giants’ prospects work by subscribing to ThereRGiants.com. You’ll get five posts a week in season rounding up all the minor league action and three posts a week throughout the offseason.

Intro/Outro: “The Way We Get By” by Spoon

The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard joins me once again to talk about her Top 30 rankings for the Giants’ system and the many questions she fielded from her readers about that list. We dive into the questions of how to assess rough years, Rule 5 protection, and the difference between starting pitching prospects and relievers. As always, Melissa’s work on the Giants’ system is a must follow at The Athletic. You can keep up with all of her work by following her on Twitter @melissalockard.

And, of course, you can follow my work as well @rog61 or subscribe to ThereRGiants.com to get all of my work delivered straight to the Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes

I’m trying something new for the final There R Giants podcast of the year: a listener mailbag. No guest this week, just me prattling along trying to answer a host of great questions from you! If you like this format, just drop a comment for me below and I’ll try to mix in more of these from time to time.

And, of course, all of my content is wholly supported by my subscribers, so if you’d like to support There R Giants and get lots and lots of my prospect writing, just hit this button here:

Have a very wonderful New Year everybody and we’ll talk again in 2022!

Intro/Outro: “Anywhere I Lay My Head” by Tom Waits

Baseball America’s Josh Norris stops by with a little pre-Christmas gift of knowledge! Josh writes up the Giants’ system for BA and he talks with me about the Giants upcoming top 10 list, how the pitching is progressing in the system, and the amazing prospect bonanza that is coming soon to Eugene.

You can follow Josh on Twitter @jnorris427 and of course you can follow me @rog61 or subscribe to ThereRGiants.com to get all of my writing on Giants’ prospects.

As a reminder, next week I’ll run solo on the podcast answering listener questions (if I get some!), so drop any questions you might have for me in the comments below.

A very merry Christmas to all of my listeners. Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and support my work!

Intro/Outro: “Merry Christmas, Baby” by Booker T. and the MGs

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Baseball Prospectus’ Lead Prospect Writer Jeffrey Paternostro drops by to discuss the site’s new prospect rankings for the Giants’ organization. Together we chat about why catcher development is weird, how pitcher usage affects prospect evaluation, the Giants epochal 2018 J2 class and much more.

Follow Jeffrey on Twitter @jeffpaternostro and look for his prospect coverage on Baseball Prospectus.

You can follow me on Twitter @rog61 and to get all of my Giants’ prospect writing delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to There R Giants:

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Are Giants a Top 3 system? (0:45)Top of the list (7:45)Impact of 2018 J2 class (15:40)Joey Bart’s Future? (17:30)Diego Rincones: Sleeper Candidate (22:25)Pitching coming on: (25:15)Stretching out Kervin Castro or Randy Rodriguez (38:25)Hunter Bishop’s and Will Wilson’s prospects for revival (42:30)

Intro/Outro: “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” by The Ramones

This week’s guest is the host of the RizzoCast and youngest journalist on the Giants’ beat, SF Bay’s Steven Rissotto. Steven has built up a substantial list of journalistic accomplishments already at the age of 19, including covering the Giants for the second half of their NL West title run in 2021. He stops by to talk about the young players who may make an impact on the 2022 version of the Giants, including Tyler Beede, Sammy Long, Joey Bart, and more!

You can follow Steven on Twitter @StevenRissotto or follow his podcast @RizzoCast. And, of course, you can find all of my work by following me on Twitter @rog61 or subscribe to ThereRGiants.com to read all of my Giants prospect-related work:

Intro: (0:20)John D’Acquisto: (3:30)Tyler Beede (7:30)Sammy Long (11:40)Joey Bart (16:00)Steven Duggar and Thairo Estrada (22:20)Mauricio Dubón (30:20)Jaylin Davis (33:55) Heliot Ramos and the OF situation (37:05)Bullpen Options (41:40)

Intro/Outro: “Don’t Let Me Down” by The Beatles

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Kevin Goldstein, currently of Fangraphs, formerly of the Houston Astros front office, joins me on this week’s episode to talk about an industry in transition, how big data has changed the game, why developing pitchers is easier in some ways than hitters, and what the next frontiers are for development staffs.

You can follow Kevin on Twitter @Kevin_Goldstein and read his work or listen to his own podcast, Chin Music at Fangraphs.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @rog61 and keep up with all of my Giants’ prospect writing by subscribing to ThereRGiants.com

Intro/Outro: “The Room Where It Happens” by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen joins me to talk about Giants’ prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League as well as a little chatter on the kids who played in rookie ball in Scottsdale this summer. Eric is one of the very best prospect writers and analysts around and it’s always a huge pleasure when he stops by to talk Giants’ prospects with me. Follow Eric on Twitter @longenhagen and make sure you check out the great Prospects Board he’s created on Fangraphs’ site.

And, of course, you can follow all of my work by following me on Twitter @rog61 or just subscribe to ThereRGiants.com to get all of my Giants’ prospects-related writing delivered straight to your Inbox.

If you enjoy the There R Giants pod, please share it with a Giants’ fan in your life. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Intro/Outro: “Who You Calling Kid?” by Hot Hot HEAT

Kerry Crowley stops by this week to talk about Buster Posey’s legacy with the Giants and how they fill his mighty shoes going forward. Buster was a transformational figure in Giants history — there will most likely be a statue of him standing outside Oracle Park one day — and it’s hard to imagine how they’ll replace everything he gave this organization and its fans.

You can follow Kerry on twitter @KO_Crowley, reads his Giants-related coverage for the Bay Area News Group, and listen to him evenings on KNBR. He’s always got a great take on the Giants and baseball in general.

And, of course, you can follow my work on twitter @rog61 or subscribe to ThereRGiants.com to read all of my Giants prospect work. Right now, I’m writing about each prospect on my Giants Top 50.

Intro/Outro: “One Last Kiss” by J. Geils Band

Everyone’s favorite Giants twitter-related follow @GiantsProspects joins me for a listener requested conversation in which GPT and I talk about some players who we evaluate somewhat differently. It’s a fun conversation where we go back and forth on some guys and, hopefully, learn some things in the process!

Follow GPT on Twitter and, of course, follow me as well @rog61 to find all my work. You can also subscribe to ThereRGiants.com to read all of my Giants prospect writing including my upcoming Top 50 rankings project — I’ll be writing a new essay for each player in my Top 50 all through the winter!

Joey Bart (3:30)Heliot Ramos (11:00)Diego Rincones (16:10)David Villar, Casey Schmitt, and Ismael Munguia (20:20)Sammy Long (28:50)Hunter Bishop (33:40)Eric Silva and Manuel Mercedes (37:10)Nick Swiney (39:05)Patrick Bailey vs. Ricardo Genovés (40:30)Four Relievers: R.J. Dabovich, Cole Waites, Gregory Santos, Randy Rodriguez (45:00)

Intro/Outro: “I’ll Be You” by the Replacements

MLB.com’s Sam Dykstra joins me fresh off a two-week visit to Arizona to talk Arizona Fall League. Sam and I talk robo-ump, Statcast data, the pleasures of prospect watching in the desert, and he gives us his impressions of the various Giants’ prospects participating in the AFL.

You can follow all of Sam’s work on Twitter @SamDykstraMiLB and, of course, follow the entire MLB prospect team @MLBPipeline. And you can follow my work @Rog61 and make sure you get all of my Giants prospect work delivered straight to your Inbox by subscribing to ThereRGiants.com.

The AFL Setting: (1:00)Statcast Data (7:15)Robo-Ump system (10:00)Talking Giants prospects: Marco Luciano (13:10)Hunter Bishop (17:45)Patrick Bailey (20:40)Will Wilson (24:00)Seth Corry (27:00)

Intro/Outro: “Autumn Sweater” by Yo La Tengo

The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee joins me to parse through the pain of Giants’ seasons past. We share our mutual love of ‘70s era Giants baseball, and discuss why we’ll always remember 2021 with more fondness than sadness. With some side discussions into the current playoff format, the Dodgers’ playoff troubles, the Giants winter plans, and the importance of major league baseball supplying housing for minor league players.

What was the most painful Giants season: 2002, 1993, or 1962? (3:10)How does 2021 fit into the pantheon of pain? (12:20)Current Playoff format: love it? (18:15)Summing up this era of Dodgers baseball (21:55)Giants winter plans (27:00)Will the rookies make an impact in 2022? (31:50)Providing housing for minor league players (37:52)Will Grant ever write his book about the 70s Giants? (43:50)

Intro/Outro: “Cry Me a River” by Joe Cocker

Marc Delucchi stops by to talk about the choices the Giants will face going forward and which prospects we might expect to see them protect from the Rule 5 draft. Follow Marc on twitter @maddelucchi to catch all of his Giants-related thoughts (you can also read his work on the 49ers and Warriors @NinersNation and Golden State of Mind (@unstoppablebaby).

And, of course, you can follow me on twitter @rog61 and join ThereRGiants.com to read all of my Giants’ prospects writing.

Intro/Outro: “The Shape of Things To Come” by Max Frost and the Troopers

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Tonight, the Low-A West Championship Series begins pitting the San Jose Giants against the Fresno Grizzlies. The Giants will be trying to win their first championship since the 2010 season, which ended their Cal League dynasty of the first decade of this century. To get you all set for the championship match, Joe Ritzo stops by today to discuss the changes on this San Jose roster, how they look heading into the playoffs, and whether this is the best San Jose team Joe’s ever seen.

Joe will be calling each game of the series, starting tonight. If you can’t listen in (or watch on MiLBTV), follow Joe on Twitter @JoeRitzo to get all the details. And, of course, you can follow me as well @rog61 to find all of my thoughts and work, or subscribe to There R Giants to get all of my writing delivered straight to your Inbox.

Is this the best San Jose team ever? (1:00)Change over on the SJ roster (4:30)Joe’s Ranking of the best prospects on 2021 SJ Giants (8:40)Luis Matos (15:30)Patrick Bailey’s turnaround (18:30)The weird final week (21:30)How the two teams match up/keys to series (24:30)Randy Rodriguez’ growth (31:30)

Intro/Outro: “Rev It Up” by Jerry Harrison

Long time voice of the Sacramento River Cats Johnny Doskow joins me on the latest edition of There R Giants podcast. Johnny and I talk about the difficulties of being an “extended” part of the Giants roster, how long players need to stay at minor league levels, and the difficulties of developing into a big leaguer. And we talk lots and lots of players, too! It’s a great conversation that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

You can follow Johnny on twitter @JDoskow and, of course, follow all of my work @rog61. And, if you like this podcast, you may enjoy subscribing to all of my written work at ThereRGiants.com:

Intro/Outro: “The Waiting” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Richmond Flying Squirrels’ leadoff hitter, middle infielder, and new center fielder Simon Whiteman is my guest on this week’s There R Giants podcast. Simon talks about his journey to Yale and when he began thinking about a career in pro baseball. He also discusses the value of analytics for him, and his approach to playing and thinking about the game he loves. Simon is just a tremendously thoughtful and articulate young man, who you can follow on twitter @thespeedkillz.

And, of course, you can follow me on twitter @rog61 and read all of my coverage of the SF Giants farm coverage at ThereRGiants.com, or subscribe to get all of my writings delivered straight to your Inbox.

Intro/Outro: “The Speed of Life” by David Bowie

MLB’s Jim Callis stops by once again to talk Giants farm system on the pod. MLB Pipeline has rolled out its midseason updated rankings including a new Giants Top 30, organizational rankings, new Top 100 and more! It’s always a great episode when Jim stops by to talk Giants. You can (and should!) follow all of Jim’s work on Twitter @jimcallisMLB.

And you can follow my work on Twitter @rog61 or subscribe to There R Giants for my full coverage of the Giants system.

Intro/Overall play in minorsState of Giants System (4:30)Joey Bart’s Season (9:00)Marco Luciano (12:10)Matos vs. Ramos (15:50)Jairo Pomares’ rise (19:20)Some Struggles: Bishop, Bailey, Corry, and Wilson (22:00)Pitching Surprises: Long, Murphy, Berroa, Ragsdale, Hjelle (27:45)Rookie League standouts: Mercedes, Arteaga, Sugastey and others (32:05)Sleepers (34:15)Culture of Meritocracy (38:10)

Intro/Outro: “Questions 67 and 68” by Chicago Transit Authority

My friend and fellow Giants prospects’ blogger Wrenzie Regodon stops by to discuss our respective Giants Top 30 mid-season rankings. Wrenzie’s work can be found in many places, he’s a prospect writer for Around the Foghorn and he also publishes his own work for Patreon subscribers. You can follow Wrenzie on Twitter to find all his work @giantprospectiv.

My Top 30 can be found in last week’s Week in Review post.

If you like the There R Giants podcast, you can get more great There R Giants content delivered straight to your Inbox by becoming a subscriber.

Intro: “The Concept” by Teenage FanclubOutro: “What You Do To Me” by Teenage Fanclub

In this week’s edition of the There R Giants podcast, Richmond reliever R.J. Dabovich stops by to talk about the work he’s done at Push Performance Gym, his search for the perfect breaking ball, and his first full season in pro ball.

If you like There R Giants podcast, you might also enjoy subscribing to There R Giants newsletter, bringing all of the action in the SF Giants farm system straight to your Inbox, M-F.

Intro/Outro: “Origins” by Tennis

For my 50th episode of the There R Giants podcast, I got to speak with Armani Smith and Ricardo Genovés of the Eugene Emeralds. Both of these were recorded outdoors at PK Park in Eugene, so excuse the occasional noises of a ballpark coming to life for the night’s game!

Armani Smith (2:45)Ricardo Genovés (22:20)

And as always, if you like this podcast, you may want to become a There R Giants subscriber to get daily roundups of all the action on the SF Giants’ farm.

Intro/Outro: “Hang on Little Tomato” by Pink Martini

My guests on this week’s There R Giants podcast are two of San Jose’s top prospects, LHP Kyle Harrison and 3b Casey Schmitt. Both were members of the Giants’ 2020 draft and both are having excellent first pro seasons. I think you’ll enjoy both of these short interviews! I did have a few technical issues here while I was on the road with a different recording setup, so apologies for some of the sound issues in this episode — especially all my typing noises!

If you like There R Giants podcasts, you might want to sign up for daily newsletters rounding up all the action on the Giants farm system, delivered to your Inbox every Monday-Friday.

Intro/Outro: “California Stars” by Wilco

Once again I’m joined by The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard to get a mid-season report card on the Giants’ farm system. Melissa talks about the Giants’ draft class, the pleasant prospect surprises of the year, and some of the less pleasant ones. She also gives her insight on what kinds of prospects we might see traded at the deadline this year. It’s always a great pod when Melissa comes by to say hello!

To keep up with all of the prospect related deadline news, make sure you follow Melissa on Twitter @melissalockard.

And, of course, you can follow me as well @rog61. And if you like my content at There R Giants, you might want to subscribe for daily coverage of the system!

Intro/Outro: “We’re Having Much More Fun” by X

My friend and fellow podcaster Marc Delucchi takes over hosting duties for a special There R Giants/Sound the Foghorn cross-over podcast spectacular! A few of my fellow Giants prospectors and I dreamed up a special event in the wake of the MLB draft — Brian Recca (SF Draft Talk), Kevin Cunningham (Giant Futures), Marc and his site co-expert Wrenzie Regodon (Around the Foghorn) and myself teamed up to draft our own teams out of the Giants’ farm system. And we forced, ahem, ALLOWED you to listen to it all on this special edition podcast.

Hope you enjoy it, everybody! Please follow all of us on Twitter: Marc (@maddelucchi), Brian (@brian_recca), Kevin (@sfgiantfutures), Wrenzie (@giantprospectiv) and, of course, myself (@rog61) to keep up to date on everything going on around the Giants farm system. And, of course, to get all of my daily writings delivered straight to your Inbox without ads or interruptions, you just need to subscribe!

My team took a decidedly different course than I first anticipated, but I was happy with my ferocious lineup! There’s going to be some Bye, Bye, Baby going on when these Giants come to town.

Intro/Outro: “Deadbeat Club” by the B-52s.

The great Jim Callis joins me to talk about the Giants’ 2021 draft, and on the way we take some side trips to remember Dick Tidrow, discuss Allan Simpson’s efforts to create the draft coverage we know today, and reminisce over the advertisements one used to find in the back of The Sporting News. It’s a pretty great conversation!

If you’re not already, you should definitely follow @jimcallisMLB on Twitter and please follow me as well to keep up with my work @rog61.

Speaking of which, if you’re enjoying this podcast perhaps you’d enjoy more There R Giants content delivered straight to your Inbox.

Remembering Dick Tidrow (00:45)The Khalil Watson Decision (8:15)Will Bednar (17:20)Day 2 run of Pitchers (19:30)Day 3 picks (27:20)Allan Simpson and the creation of MLB Draft Coverage (33:15)

Intro/Outro: “I’m Not Angry” by Elvis Costello

My good friend Brian Recca, who you might know from Twitter as “SF Draft Talk” stops by again to talk about the MLB Draft, which begins with the 1st round this Sunday night! You should definitely be following @Brian_Recca for all your draft-related info, and check out his tremendous spreadsheet primer. It’s a resource I use all the time! Brian will be live chatting the draft on Twitch as well, if you want to check that out. Brian and I talk various scenarios for the 1st round and try to hone in on what we think the choices board might look like.

And, as ever, if you like There R Giants content, you might want to subscribe for more!

Intro/Outro: “Head On” by Jesus and Mary Chain

On today’s edition of There R Giants podcast, Richmond 3b David Villar talks to me about getting through 2020, how he’s seeking to improve his game, and how all the many connections between players in the baseball world. David is currently one of just three players in the Giants’ system with 10 HR and is coming off a June in which he slugged .506.

After David, I talk with Richmond hitting coach Doug Clark about how he and the Giants development staff seek to support and help players through their baseball journey. I loved listening to Doug’s perspective and came away with a new appreciation of the work these athletes are putting in to try to succeed at this incredibly difficult game.

I also want to make sure you know that I have a 4th of July subscription sale going on right now until next Tuesday. Get 30% off the annual subscription to receive daily posts covering all the action around the Giants farm system.

David Villar (2:00)Doug Clark (23:20)

Intro/Outro: “The Way We Get By” by Spoon

It’s a Eugene Emeralds two-fer on this week’s edition of the pod. First up, one of the Giants top prospects, Eugene starting shortstop Will Wilson stops by to talk about what it’s like to get traded so early in his career, getting to work with Brandon Crawford, life at the alternate site, and how his first full season is going so far. Following Will, his manager Dennis Pelfrey visits me to dig pretty deep into the Emeralds roster, breaking down what’s so special about this group of players.

As always, follow me on Twitter @rog61 to get all of my baseball content and consider subscribing to get There R Giants daily posts covering everything that’s going on in the Giants farm system

Will Wilson Interview (2:13)Dennis Pelfrey Interview (21:00)

Intro/Outro: “It’s a good day (to fight the system)” by Shungudzu

My guest this week is the Giants Director of International Scouting Joe Salermo and this is one I’m really excited to share with you. Joe and his staff are responsible for bringing so much talent into the Giants organization over the last few years. You’re going to hear Joe talk about names you know very well and are already excited about, and you’ll hear him talk excitedly about names you might not know at all!

If you care about the future of the San Francisco Giants then this edition of There R Giants podcast is a must listen!

As always, follow me on Twitter @rog61 and subscribe to There R Giants for daily content about the San Francisco Giants minor league system.

Intro/Outro: “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones

Richmond starting pitcher Caleb Kilian joins me to talk about adjusting to Double A, how he spend the 2020 pandemic (it’s pretty incredible!), and how he works to improve himself in the days between starts. It’s a great conversation with one of the rising pitching stars in the system.

For those of you wondering about the slightly odd timing — I was originally planning to include this interview in last week’s podcast, but weather and scheduling changed my plans. And I have another interview coming out in the regular Thursday slot that I’m really excited about. So I figured I’d just sneak in a supplementary show — because who doesn’t want more There R Giants content?

Speaking of which, if you do want more it’s easy to come by!

Intro/Outro: “That’s Right (You’re Not from Texas)” by Lyle Lovett

This week I’m joined by Phil Goyette. Phil writes prospect-based fantasy content for Rotoballer, Baseball Farm and other outlets. And lately he has created a formula, working with Matt Eddy of Baseball America, to estimate “Barrel” percentages and xwOBA for minor league hitters — these are the kinds of “batted ball” stats we’ve come to rely on major league baseball, but the public data is sadly lacking at the minor league level. For Baseball America, Phil is just using the formula to look at the very best performances across the minor leagues, but just for There R Giants he’s kindly run the numbers for the entire system and we talk about them in depth on today’s episode.

Follow Phil on Twitter @PhilOfSports to see all of his great work.

You can follow our discussion much easier if you see the data as well — you can access it via Google Doc here.

(Or if you just want a sneak peak at the top of the lists, here’s a jpg teaser!)

Intro/Outro: “I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Everyday” by The Pogues

Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen joined me for a deep dive into the Giants system with a side discussion of project valuation in general. Eric also gave me insights from his trips to the Giants new Extended Spring Training site at Papago Park with first-hand observations of youngsters like Manuel Mercedes, Adrian Sugastey, Aeverson Arteaga, and much more!

Near the end of the pod, Eric talks a lot about the Giants young right-hander Manuel Mercedes, and refers to this video that he posted on Fangraphs last night:

Make sure to follow Eric on Twitter @longenhagen and be sure to check out the great work he’s posting at fangraphs.com/prospects.

And, if you like this material, why not subscribe for more great posts at There R Giants.

Introducing Sam Delaplane (1:15)Other Relief Arms: Camilo Doval, Gregory Santos, Kervin Castro (4:00)Why are pitchers ahead of hitters around minors (9:30)Hitters from 2019-20 drafts: Bailey, Bishop, Wyatt, Fitzgerald, Schmitt (13:50)Will Wilson (19:20)Fangraphs approach to prospect valuation (23:30)Marco Luciano, Luis Matos, and special development challenges for Hispanic players (29:00)Players of note at Extended Spring Training: Mercedes, Sugastey, Vinicio, more (35:30)

Intro/Outro: “Psycho” by The Sonics

Today’s podcast is a little different as I have two different interviews to share with you in this podcast. First up is LHP Joey Marciano who is off to a fantastic 2021 in the Richmond Flying Squirrels bullpen. You may recall that I spoke with Joey a year ago when he talked about his work to come back from retirement. Now that he’s back I wanted to know how it felt to return the game and what is working well for him. And then secondly I talk with the Voice of the Flying Squirrels, Richmond Director of Communications and Broadcasting Trey Wilson. Trey and I dive into the Richmond roster from top to bottom.

You can follow Joey Marciano on Twitter @promadejoe773, and Trey Wilson @treywilson757. And, of course, follow me as well @rog61 and read all my work at ThereRGiants.com

Introduction: (0:00)Joey Marciano (2:30)Trey Wilson (17:30)

Intro/Outro: “Hail to the Flying Squirrels” by Black Iris Productions

Alex Stimson who handles radio duties for the Giants new High-A affiliate the Eugene Emeralds is my guest this week. Alex and I talk about the Emeralds roster in depth and he shares observations on Will Wilson, Patrick Bailey, Kai-Wei Teng, Logan Wyatt and many more. Follow Alex on Twitter @AlexStimson — he wants to hear from Giants fans listening in so let him know you’re out there. You can also contact Alex @EugeneEmeralds.

And, of course, you can follow my work on twitter @Rog61 and read my daily recaps of the action around the Giants system for subscribers at ThereRGiants.com.

Intro/Outro: “Dark Corner of the World” by The Young, Fresh Fellows

The Voice of the San Jose Giants Joe Ritzo joins me in this week’s There R Giants podcast to discuss the exciting talent on the 2021 San Jose club. Joe has been the full time play by play announcer on San Jose broadcasts since 2007 and has watched generations of talent come through the Giants system, so he’s the perfect guest to discuss this year’s crop of Low-A Giants prospects.

Comparing 2021 and 2009 rosters (1:30)San Jose OF: Canario, Matos, and Smtih (7:05)Lenn Sakata and Mix of Age and Youth on Roster: (12:00)Marco Luciano ’s start (14:30)The Starting Rotation (19:00)The Bullpen (26:00)Ricardo Genovés (29:30)How to see the Sj Giants (32:00)

Intro/Outro: “Get Up and Go” by 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees The Go Gos

My friend and former fellow blogger Conner Penfold joins me to talk about the Alternate Site scrimmages that took place in Sacramento over the last month and look forward to the Sacramento River Cats season, which opens tonight in Las Vegas.

You might know Conner from his days writing Giant Potential, or follow him on Twitter @@giant_potential. But he’s now the Media and Baseball Operations Coordinator for the River Cats and got to watch all of the scrimmages that took place at Sutter Field this spring, so he brings a wealth of insights on players we may see in San Francisco soon, as well as lower level prospects like Heliot Ramos, Will Wilson, and Ricardo Genovés.

Intro/Outro: “This is the Day” by The The

The 2021 Minor League Season is just days away and NBC Sports Bay Area’s own Dalton Johnson joined me to celebrate the coming year. We talked sleepers, pop ups, and of course, lots of Heliot Ramos, Joey Bart, Will Wilson, and Hunter Bishop content as well!

Follow Dalton all season on Twitter @DaltonJ_Johnson or at NBCSports.com/bayarea.

Standouts from Camp: Grant McCray and Garrett Frechette (1:30)San Jose Outfield (7:45)Luis Matos: (9:30)Will Wilson and Hunter Bishop (12:00)Are Alt Site reps the same as Minor League At Bats? (16:00)Heliot Ramos (18:00)Joey Bart (25:15)Which Affiliate Will Have Most Exciting Roster? (28:00)Marco Luciano (29:30)

Intro/Outro: “You! Me! Dancing!” by Los Campesinos

Dennis Pelfrey was supposed to start his career as a Manager in the Giants system in 2020. Instead he’ll get his Giants debut next month as the Manager of the Eugene Emeralds. It’s been a long journey for Dennis who spent six years in Indy Ball as a player and many more years as a Coach and Manager in Indy Ball before coming aboard the Giants system. Here Dennis tell the story of his baseball journey and talk about what it’s like becoming part of the large, complex, and sophisticated development staff with the Giants.

Coaching during the Pandemic (1:00)A Life in Indy Ball (3:40)Coming to the Giants (12:15)Advancements in Development Technology (15:30)Managing a Minor League Staff and Complexities of Giants Organization (17:30)Getting Ready to Bring a New Team to Eugene (30:20)

Intro/Outro: “Man Like Me” by Beulah

The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard joins me to talk about players (finally!) reporting to minor league spring camp. We discuss storylines for the upcoming season and potential assignments for many of the system’s best prospects.

Follow Melissa on Twitter @melissalockard.

Intro/Outro: “Feed the Tree” by Belly

NBC Sports’ Ahmed Fareed stops by to brainstorm ways to make baseball a more entertaining product just in time for Opening Day. Removable walls and borrowed soccer rules are just some of the ideas we have to up the fun quotient of the game.

Intro/Outro “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” by Gladys Knight and The Pips

MLB’s Jim Callis stopped by to talk about MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Prospect ranking for the Giants’ system. Jim’s always a must listen!

Ranking in a pandemic (1:20)How Driveline and other labs are changing development (5:00)Where Giants system ranks among MLB (6:30)Top Tier of the system (8:00)Ramos/Bishop comparison (9:15)Seth Corry (12:45)Kyle Harrison (16:30)Other Pitching Prospects (19:15)Players beyond the Top 10 (22:30)Luis Matos chances to leap up rankings (26:00)How clubs will treat lost season (27:30)Who is just off the Top 30? (31:30)

Intro/Outro: “Hold On, I’m Coming” by Sam and Dave

I’m joined today by Lukas McKnight, longtime member of the Chicago Cubs organization and front office who now helps run the baseball site PeloteroIntl.com. Along with his partner Tom Shafer, Lukas recently penned a series of guest posts at There R Giants on recent Giants international signees Marco Luciano, Diego Velasquez, and Mauricio Pierre. Lukas and I discuss the evolution of front offices, how scouting the amateur and international markets are different, and the effects that technology is having on scouting and evaluating baseball talent everywhere.

The life of a minor league catcher (6:40)Transition from player to scout and front office work (11:20)How modern front offices are organized (14:00)Growth and development of analytics and technology in scouting (18:45)Using statistical modeling in drafting (22:00)Scouting in the international market (25:30)Equitable access to showcase opportunities in US amateur scouting (33:30)Future of scouting (36:30)

Intro/Outro “Tiger Phone Card” by Dengue Fever

My good friend Marc Delucchi stopped by to talk about all of the “Prospect Week” content he produced at Around the Foghorn. Marc and I talk at length about specific prospect comparisons: Matos vs. Ramos, Bart vs. Bailey, Santos and Castro vs. Blake Rivera. It’s a deep dive into the system.

Follow Marc on Twitter @@maddelucchi

Intro/Outro “Best of You” by the Foo Fighters.

Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group joined me to talk about Giants prospects and the organization’s path into the future. We talked a lot about pitchers, and a little bit about how much we hate “bulk innings” and “openers!”

You should follow Kerry on Twitter @KO_Crowley.

Intro/Outro “Outside Chance” by The Turtles

KNBR’s Mark Sanchez joins us from Scottsdale, AZ bringing us prospect tales from the early days of Giants Spring Training (and just a little bragging on a fellow Terrapin!). Follow Mark for all his reporting from camp @MarkWSanchez on Twitter.

Intro/Outro: “Looking at the Sun” by Matthew Sweet