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 th...
Jul 05, 2022•39 min
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 progre...
Jun 30, 2022•13 min
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 f...
Jun 21, 2022•35 min
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 is a public...
Jun 16, 2022•35 min
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 ...
Jun 14, 2022•39 min
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 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus ep...
Jun 08, 2022•23 min
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...
Jun 07, 2022•36 min
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 Ful...
May 31, 2022•30 min
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 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with ...
May 24, 2022•34 min
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)Gre...
May 03, 2022•46 min
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 k...
Apr 26, 2022•42 min
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 tr...
Apr 19, 2022•36 min
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 20...
Apr 12, 2022•32 min
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 he...
Apr 05, 2022•37 min
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...
Mar 31, 2022•45 min
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...
Mar 24, 2022•33 min
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...
Mar 10, 2022•41 min
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 . A...
Mar 03, 2022•47 min
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 f...
Feb 24, 2022•52 min
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 m...
Feb 17, 2022•26 min
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 difficu...
Feb 10, 2022•48 min
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...
Feb 03, 2022•49 min
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 ...
Jan 27, 2022•55 min
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 mess...
Jan 18, 2022•38 min
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...
Jan 13, 2022•36 min
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 cour...
Jan 06, 2022•34 min
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 ...
Dec 30, 2021•37 min
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 ...
Dec 23, 2021•30 min
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 straigh...
Dec 16, 2021•49 min
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 @StevenR...
Dec 09, 2021•56 min
