By now, most Giants fans are familiar with top prospects Christian Arroyo and Tyler Beede (A.K.A. Young Beedah) and for good reason. Both youngsters look like they could be impact players on the big league club as soon as this season. But the Giants’ farm system has plenty more talent where that came from.
ESPN’s Keith Law joined the KNBR’s Minor League Podcast this week and talked about which lesser known prospects fans should get acquainted with soon. The team’s most promising farm hand not named Beede or Arroyo could be Bryan Reynolds. An outfielder from Vanderbilt University, Reynolds fell into the Giants lap with the 59th pick, but Law believes he is a top tier talent.
“Reynolds is fairly toolsy for a college outfielder” says Law, “He’s got real power and real speed, stuff that’s gonna play in games.”
The only major knock against Reynolds, who led the 2014 national champion Commodores in hitting and slugging, is his elevated strikeout rate. The Giants organization does have a reputation for developing hitters who put the ball in play, so the strike outs may not be a problem for long. Reynolds still has a ways to go until he makes his major league debut, but fans will likely get a good look at what the 22 year old has to offer in San Jose.
Outfielder Steven Duggar is another interesting player to watch in 2017. Law sees something in Duggar that other scouts are not buying into yet.
“He can really run, there’s good bat speed, he’s got a very good approach at the plate. This is a guy who I think is gonna put up some good on base percentages.”
The 23-year-old outfielder displayed solid pop in 70 games with San Jose last season, hitting nine home runs. When he made the jump to Double-A with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the power went away, but his all around game got better. Duggar hit .321 with a .391 on base percentage in 60 games. Add in a solid throwing arm and the ability to play right and center field and Duggar sounds like a guy who might just find his way to AT&T Park sooner rather than later.
For more on who to keep an eye on in the Giants farm system and which rookies people will be talking about in 2017, listen to the latest edition of the KNBR Giants Minor League Podcast with hosts Cody Pasby and Adam Copeland.
Keith Law interview begins at 16:18