Tag Archives: Giants

04 Sep

still running strong

Of the players on the inaugural Mississippi Braves team in 2005 who reached the majors — and there are several — Brian McCann is easily the most accomplished. Jeff Francoeur had his moments of glory, of course, and Blaine Boyer is still kicking in San Diego’s bullpen. Also deserving of a tip of the cap is the less-heralded Gregor Blanco, who has been a valuable contributor in San Francisco for the past three years and helped the Giants win a World Series in 2012. Blanco played center field for the ’05 M-Braves and impressed with his speed, which is still showing. He is batting .260 (.340 on-base percentage) for the Giants, a strong postseason contender, with 14 stolen bases and five triples, and he makes plays in the spacious outfield at AT&T Park. Blanco also has four homers, 31 RBIs and 38 runs. Over his last 10 games, he has hit .333 with 15 runs accounted for. Blanco debuted in Atlanta in 2008 and hit .251 with 13 bags in 144 games. The Braves gave up on him — perhaps too soon — but he has gone on to have a nice career: .257, 14 homers, 25 triples, 80 steals and 232 runs. P.S. Erik Cordier became the latest M-Braves alumnus to reach the majors (No. 89) when he debuted for the Giants on Wednesday. The right-hander, regularly hitting 101 mph, walked a batter, hit a batter and fanned a batter in a scoreless inning of work.

03 Sep

on the debut watch

Curious to see how Kendall Graveman’s stuff plays in the big leagues. It sure worked in the minors. The ex-Mississippi State standout, a September call-up by Toronto, accidentally discovered a cut fastball, ala Mariano Rivera, this summer while throwing in A-ball. That pitch essentially propelled the right-hander to Double-A, then Triple-A and now to the Blue Jays. He went 14-6 with a 1.83 ERA as a starter at four levels in the minors. The Blue Jays, hanging buy a thread in the American League postseason race, figure to use Graveman out of the bullpen. “A big league starter? I don’t know,” Gary Allenson, Graveman’s manager at Triple-A Buffalo, told the National Post of Toronto. “He doesn’t light up the radar gun. But he’s got good movement on his fastball, and it’s late movement.” Allenson, a former Jackson Generals manager, also said that a “soft tosser” like Graveman can have a hard time getting an MLB opportunity, so Graveman has already beaten those odds. The Alabama native was an eighth-round pick by the Jays in 2013 after he went 8-5 with a 3.09 for State’s College World Series team. P.S. Other interesting call-ups include former Mississippi Braves pitcher Erik Cordier (11-7, 3.71 for the 2010 club) by San Francisco and ex-M-Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson by the New York Yankees. Richardson got a cup of coffee with Atlanta in 2011; Cordier is awaiting his MLB debut.

31 Jul

stepping up

The San Francisco Giants apparently wanted to give Chris Stratton a new challenge. They should be pleased with his response. Stratton, the former Mississippi State ace from Tupelo, made his Double-A debut on Wednesday and allowed one run on seven hits (one home run) and two walks in five innings. He struck out three for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, who ultimately lost to Harrisburg in 13 innings. Stratton, 23, a 6-foot-3 right-hander rated the No. 4 prospect in the Giants’ system by mlb.com, seemed to be treading water this year, his second full pro season. He was just 7-8 with a 5.07 ERA in 19 games at high Class A San Jose before his promotion. At low-A Augusta in 2013, Stratton went 9-3, 3.27. He was the SEC pitcher of the year in 2012 and was drafted 20th overall that year by the Giants.