San Francisco Farm Director Kyle Haines on 4 Giants Prospects

The San Francisco Giants have an improved farm system, one that’s highlighted by the presence of Kyle Harrison (no. 26) and Marco Luciano (no. 97) on our preseason Top 100. There are different promising prospects within the system as nicely. I not too long ago requested Giants Senior Director of Player Development Kyle Haines about 4 of them:

• Vaun Brown, a 24-year-old outfielder who was taken within the tenth spherical of the 2021 draft out of Florida Southern College. Brown slashed .346/.437/.623 with 23 dwelling runs and 44 stolen bases final yr between Low-A San Jose and High-A Eugene (plus one recreation with Double-A Richmond).
• Casey Schmitt, a 24-year-old third baseman/shortstop who was chosen within the second spherical of the 2021 draft out of San Diego State University. Schmitt slashed .293/.365/.489 with 21 dwelling runs between High-A and Double-A (plus 5 video games in Triple-A).
• Carson Whisenhunt, a 22-year-old left-hander who was taken within the second spherical of final yr’s draft out of East Carolina University. Whisenhunt was suspended for his closing collegiate season, then made two appearances every within the Arizona Complex League and Low-A.
• Rayner Arias, a 16-year-old outfielder who was signed as a global free agent this January. The son of former Detroit Tigers pitching prospect Pablo Arias is a local of Bani, Dominican Republic.

In the opinion of Eric Longenhagen, all 4 have “impact FV grades.” Overall, our lead prospect analyst considers pitching improvement to be the group’s power.

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Kyle Haines on Vaun Brown: “I believe what’s loopy about Vaun is that he’s an enormous performer, and individuals are going to naturally level to his age… however the numbers are backed up by bodily instruments. He’s type of the extra conventional scout’s all-time favourite sort of participant, the place all the bodily instruments are there, and the efficiency is there. A variety of instances you’ll see with guys who’re older [for the level] performers, the bodily instruments — the run, the way in which the ball comes off the bat, the outfield protection — are brief as soon as they get to a degree the place their athleticism doesn’t match up. But Vaun is as athletically gifted as perhaps any participant within the minor leagues. It’s an awesome power-speed combo. What he did to the pitching staffs at each of the degrees he performed eventually yr was mainly domination. Driving the baseball off and over partitions, stealing bases, beating out infield hits… should you love efficiency, you’re keen on Vaun Brown. If you’re keen on bodily instruments, you’re going to like Vaun Brown.

“The ongoing joke is that he’s some type of blend between Gabe Kapler and Hunter Pence, physicality-wise. He’s lifting a lot. There are some really cool pictures of him in high school compared to what he looks like now. He could probably have a bodybuilder career as a second career if he really wanted to. But we’re fine with him being a baseball player.”

Haines on Casey Schmitt: “Coming out of the draft, when individuals requested about him… [Senior Director of Amateur Scouting] Michael Holmes had been with the A’s after they drafted Matt Chapman, and he felt like there have been quite a lot of similarities between Casey and Matt Chapman. There’s the plus-plus protection, clearly the nice throwing arm — he was the nearer at San Diego State — but in addition, the facility was there within the exercises and within the Cape Cod League. It simply by no means emerged at San Diego State. Through some improvement, via some arduous work on his finish, we’ve seen the facility emerge.

“Now the Gold Glove defense is merged with some power. The hit tool has maybe been even a little better than we thought. He probably doesn’t strike out nearly as much as Matt Chapman did. But I think that’s a pretty fair comp. We had it pretty early on. That’s what we thought we had a chance to have, and hopefully he’s on that path right now.”

Haines on Carson Whisenhunt: “Between Carson Whisenhunt and Reggie Crawford, we took two good photographs on two good lefties that missed final spring for various causes. I believe with good springs final yr, each might have been prime 15 picks. Carson has appeared actually good this spring. We’ve seen the velo tick up slightly bit. He’s nonetheless received the wipeout changeup. The physicality of his decrease half has developed significantly better — he’s had that skinny, lefty body — and he’s trying each bit the a part of a first-round high quality decide who we received within the second spherical. He seems just like the man who had all of the hype going into final yr at ECU after which wasn’t in a position to pitch.

“It was a tainted supplement, I believe is what he said. A test came back for a banned substance of some type — I’m not exactly sure the exact substance — but we did a lot of digging on him. I think it was a crushing blow, as well as a surprise to everybody involved. Seeing his physicality, he’s probably the last guy anybody would accuse of trying to cheat; he’s a skinny-rail kid. He’s ready to move on, but he’s also obviously crushed that he missed his junior year with his teammates. I know that East Carolina had a lot of hopes last year with Carson anchoring that staff, and he just wasn’t able to do it.”

Haines on Rayner Arias: “He’s 16 years previous — he’ll be 17 [on April 29] — and he’s right here for spring coaching, becoming in actually properly with the older guys. You don’t even know he’s that younger. When you consider it, he’s a sophomore, perhaps a junior in highschool, so it’s unbelievable watching him do what he does out right here. Again, he’s slot in properly. Seems like an awesome child. Hard employee. There are huge issues in retailer for him, hopefully, over the subsequent few years.

“Rayner was signed out of the Dominican Republic [and] he was our biggest international signing this past season. He’s a center fielder, and the hit tool is the bread and butter. There’s probably future power, as he looks like he’s going to fill out and be a strong kid. An intriguing player. We’ve got some intriguing young guys. We’ve got some intriguing older guys as well, so we have a good blend in the system. We were pretty bare for a long time, but that’s changing.”