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 i...
Mar 16, 2023•40 min
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 mor...
Mar 09, 2023•42 min
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 finishi...
Feb 28, 2023•39 min
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 ...
Feb 21, 2023•37 min
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 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscr...
Feb 16, 2023•37 min
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 ...
Feb 09, 2023•23 min
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 is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acce...
Feb 02, 2023•23 min
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 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rogermunter.substack.com/subscribe...
Jan 26, 2023•26 min
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...
Jan 19, 2023•26 min
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 . T...
Jan 12, 2023•39 min
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 ranking...
Dec 15, 2022•36 min
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...
Dec 13, 2022•35 min
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 the...
Dec 07, 2022•39 min
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 @treywils...
Dec 01, 2022•38 min
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 tra...
Nov 22, 2022•49 min
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 em...
Nov 17, 2022•37 min
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...
Nov 01, 2022•41 min
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...
Oct 20, 2022•37 min
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: “Jiq...
Oct 13, 2022•33 min
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...
Oct 06, 2022•36 min
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 cha...
Sep 29, 2022•36 min
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 The...
Sep 22, 2022•37 min
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...
Sep 13, 2022•23 min
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 ...
Sep 07, 2022•36 min
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...
Sep 01, 2022•40 min
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...
Aug 23, 2022•36 min
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. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acces...
Aug 19, 2022•22 min
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. ...
Aug 04, 2022•38 min
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 ...
Jul 26, 2022•39 min
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 al...
Jul 21, 2022•36 min
