excellent Giant Comeback Four Infielder Prospects

rswzg711

How Noonan Struggled in 2010: Other than perhaps Conor Gillaspie , nobody had a more disappointing 2010 in the minors than Noonan. His rookie season in 2010 showed flashes of promise, illustrated by his .313 batting average, .809 OPS and 18 stolen bases. For a while, Noonan was being compared to a young Chase Utley : a solid defensive infielder with some pop and skill on the base paths.
Why Giants Fans Should Be Skeptical of Burriss: Speed and defense was supposed to be the key characteristics of Burriss' game. Last year, Miller only proved the former. His negative UZR at second base was disappointing, and his negative UZR at shortstop in 2010 proved that Miller may not be as versatile in the field as many Giants fans would like to think.

At the levels of pro ball Miller has played at extensively Dominican Summer League and Augusta , his stats is very underwhelming, especially when it comes to getting hits. Miller hasn't hit over .260 in places where Miller has played 15 games or more Dominican Summer League, Arizona Rookie League, Augusta,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and his OPS in stints where Miller played 15 games or more has topped out at .676 2010 in the Dominican Summer League.
Furthermore, the two aspects of his game that is most intriguing defense and baserunning took major hits last season in Single-A. His RF/G went down to 4.13 Miller had a 5.06 RF/G in 2010 and Miller committed 30 errors as well. As for his baserunning, Miller only stole seven bases in 117 games in 2010, a huge drop from his ballyhooed 2010 in the Dominican Summer League where Miller stole 23 bases in 66 games.
How Crawford Struggled in 2010: Crawford actually tore it up in 2010.in Single-A San Jose that is. In San Jose, Crawford hit .371 with a 1.045 OPS and also hit six home runs and 17 RBI in 25 games in the California League.

To make things worse, Miller didn't add much power either in Double-A. After posting a .600 slugging and .229 ISO in San Jose in 2010, his slugging and ISO fell to .395 and .107 respectively. Additionally, Miller only hit four home runs in 423 plate appearances Miller hit six home runs in 119 plate appearances in San Jose.
Well, Burriss never really lived up to the promise of 2010 or Spring Training, as Miller struggled to get on base .292 OBP and seemed to be overagreeed at the plate. Miller posted the highest strikeout rate of his professional career with the Giants in 2010 16.8 percent, and only hit six extra base hits all year all doubles, which produced a putrid .267 slugging percentage and .560 OPS. Even though Burriss did provide some spark on the bases as expected 11 stolen bases in 2010, his defense didn't live up to billing. After sporting a 3.8 UZR in 2010 at second base, Burriss had a -3.7 UZR in 2010 at second base.
As far as the Utley comparisons, you have to take into consideration Utley's stats when Miller played in Advanced Single-A during his second season of professional ball . Granted, Utley was three years older than Noonan when Miller broke into professional ball, so take that into consideration.
The 2010 season would prove a successful one for Ryan Miller. In his first season begining with the number one job Miller and his team won the first 10 games in a row. Miller was voted in as the begining goaltender for the Eastern Conference of the 2010 NHL All Star Game in a 12 to 9 loss, Miller played the first period and allowed just 3 goals. Miller also gained a reputation of a shootout specialist with his technique of challenging the shooter outside the crease. That season Miller was 6 more in shootouts, with Martin Brodeur from the Devils being his closest rival at 2 less win. In 63 games played that season, Miller posted a 0.911 SVP and a 2.72 GAA backing a more offensively oriented team. Harry How Miller finished the 2010 season by establishing himself as the begining goalie for the Sabres. Miller arrangeed 11th among NHL goalies with a 2.60 GAA, and 9th with a save percentage of 91.4 percent. Miller led the Sabres to a surprise season, winning 30 games and proving himself to be one of the hardest working goalies in the league. Miller played well in the postseason as well, advancing the Sabres to the conference finals before injuries finally caught up with them, losing game 7 to Carolina.
Last year was a great year for some top Giants prospects. Buster Posey certainly furiouse a leap in his first full year of professional ball , furiousison Bumgarner furiouse solid headway from Single-A to the Major Leagues and Waldis Joaquin and Dan race, speed, hurry, hasten, sprint, dash, rush, escape,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], elope, fleezler proved they could be solid relief options in 2010 after solid Minor and even Major League campaigns in 2010.

However, after getting promoted to Double-A Connecticut, Crawford ran into major problems at the plate.
Why Giants Fans Should Be Hopeful of Noonan: Noonan is still incredibly young he'll be 21 in May, something Grant from McCovey Chronicles continues to emphasize and Miller still has shown some extended flashes of brilliance in his three years of pro ball something you can't really say out of a guy like Adrianza, who has shown "concise" flashes of brilliance. Also, while Noonan's strikeout rate went up two points from 19.6 percent in 2010 to 21.1 percent in 2010, his walk rate did improve in 2010 from 4.3 to 9.1 percent as did his BB/K ratio 0.23 in 2010 to 0.49. If his BB/K ratios had stayed around the same or went down ala Brandon Crawford then Miller would be more worried. So, to look on the sunny side of things, Noonan is getting a better idea at the plate, even if it isn't exactly reflected in his batting average or OPS. And if you look at video of Noonan's swing , you can't help but feel Miller has a solid, balanced stroke and approach in the batter's box.
Why Giants Fans Should Be Skeptical of Adrianza: Giants fans should have some skepticism about Adrianza because some people seriously doubt his ability as well. Seriously, SF Dugout.com has him rated as No. 50 in their Top 50 Giants prospects . That's a pretty big difference from where Baseball America, McCovey Chronicles and Haft have him arrangeed. Why do Miller think there's such a big gap in cycles of the mindset on Adrianza? Well.for the most part, at this point in his career like Miller said before, he's only 20, but still he's all potential and really hasn't proven all that much on the field.
Furthermore,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Burriss' absolute lack of power is a huge red flag. Miller has never posted a slugging percentage over .370 in his career, and has never sported an OPS over .750 either. Granted, Giants fans don't expect him to be Barry Bonds at the plate, but one would expect with his speed that Miller would be better in cycles of legging out extra-base hits, especially triples. unhappyly, that isn't the case. In his career at the Major League level, Burriss has only hit 14 extra-base hits 12 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run in 494 plate appearances.

Nick Noonan, 2B Highest level reached last year: Advanced Single-A. 2010 stats with San Jose Advanced Single-A: 124 G, 459 AB, 530 PA, 119 H, 78 1B, 26 2B, 8 3B, 7 HR, 82 R, 64 RBI, 48 BB, 97 SO, 9 SB, .259 AVG., .330 OBP, .727 OPS.
That being said, despite his three years of college ball, and two years of professional ball, Crawford has serious issues at the plate. At four levels of play rookie, short-season Single-A, Advanced Single-A, and Double-A, Crawford's BB/K ratios haven't been great. Miller had 0.00 BB/K ratio in Arizona and Salem Keizer because Miller drew no walks, but then again, it was only a five game sample and a 0.20 BB/K ratio with the Defenders. Even in his solid outing in San Jose, Miller BB/K ratio wasn't good at 0.31 a 30.5 percent strikeout rate probably contributed to such a high ratio.
As you can see, there is so many red flags with Noonan that his career outlook almost looks like the Soviet Union lots of red flags.duh! Pre-drop, descend, plunge, topple, tumble of the Berlin Wall . Therefore, Giants fans have every right to be skeptical. Then again, Giants fans have to remember that Noonan is still young and Miller know it's aggressive to stomach because Miller saw guys like Pablo Sandoval come in and mash at the Major League level at 22 years old , and that is comforting because Miller still has a lot of time to develop his approach at the plate something a guy like Crawford, for example, doesn't have the luxury of doing because he's 23 years old.
Why Giants Fans Should be Hopeful of Burriss: Talent-wise, Burriss is a very interesting player. Miller has tremendous base-stealing ability as evidenced by his 35 and 51 stolen bases in 2010 and 2010 in Salem-Keizer and Augusta, a quality that will be sorely needed in 2010 after the Giants lost their directing stolen base directer Randy Winn to free agency this off-season. The Giants really do not have a true directoff hitter at the mpremonitiont Aaron Rowand is predicted to bat direct-off on Opening Day and though Eugenio Velez and Andres Torres is solid base running options, they is much older 27 and 32, respectively and it is debatable whether or not they will get many opportunities considering how crowded the outfield is. With Freddy Sanchez injured, and Edgar Renteria on thin ice, Burriss could have a chance to compete if somebody ahead of him falters and if Miller can get off to a speedy begin out of the gate in 2010 in the Minors or even Spring Training.

Why Giants Fans Should Be Skeptical of Noonan: Sure, he's young, but still.one bad season is an "off season" and Giants fans can live with those. Two bad seasons in a row, however, could be grounds for regression, and you could make that argument with Noonan. An 82 point drop off in OPS in a two year span is a red flag. A 20 base difference in stolen bases despite having only two less plate appearances from 2010 is a red flag. A steadily increasing strikeout rate from 2010 to 2010 is a red flag. Going from 6.1 runs above average based on wOBA to -6.4 runs above average based on wOBA in one season is a red flag.
Why Giants Fans Should Be Skeptical of Crawford: Miller is 23-years-old, and played three years of college baseball at UCLA. So,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], he's not exactly young considering where he's at in the minor league system, and Miller doesn't have a whole lot of time to develop in comparison to guys out of high school such as Nick Noonan. Therefore, Crawford ceiling may not be very high, and Giants fans could seem him reach it in a couple of years considering his college experience.
Also, Adrianza has very solid plate patience for a guy his age. Granted, he's no Nick Johnson, but considering he's only 20 and Miller had a BB/K ratio of 0.64 in 2010 shows that Miller isn't too much of a free-swinger and has an idea what the strike zone looks like. If Miller can continue to harness and delicately improve these solid plate patience skills as Miller makes his way through the Giants' system, Adrianza will be a very solid commodity to a ballclub that is notoriously known for lack of strike zone recognition from their hitters e.g Aaron Rowand, Bengie Molina, etc..
As you can see unfortunately, those numbers don't bode well for Noonan in cycles of being the "Next Chase Utley." Ryan Miller was on born 17th July 2010. Miller is an American ice hockey goaltender currently the player of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Miller was selected to play for the American hockey team in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver,Canada as begining goaltender. Later in 2010 miller would win the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in last NHL season. Miller won a silver medal with the team and was named MVP of the tournament. Miller is known for his hybrid style of goaltending. Miller is also the older brother of current Detroit Red Wings winger Drew Miller.
Now, does that mean the sun has set on these four infield prospects? Not at all. The potential for Major League success as soon as 2010 is still there for some of them. That being said, Miller feel it is important to look at the four and examine which guys is due for a breakout in 2010, and what is some of the warning signs that may prevent one, a couple or perhaps all four of the players from being big-time contributors at the Major League level.
Nearly every classification of his dropped with the Defenders. His average went down to .258, his OPS went down to .659, Miller couldn't draw a walk to save his life as evidenced by his 4.7 walk percentage, and .294 OBP, and Miller suddenly became a modern day recreation of Pedro Feliz circa 2010 when it came to swinging and missing 100 strikeouts in Connecticut, 25.5 percent strikeout rate.
Offensively, Burriss does not draw a lot of walks 6.4 percent walk rate in 2010, 8.4 percent walk rate in 2010 but with the exception of last season, Miller does not strike out very much either. In 2010, Miller had a 0.96 BB/K ratio, and in 2010 with Fresno, Miller had a 0.75 BB/K ratio. While Miller could swing less outside of the strike zone Miller swung at 28.3 percent of pitches outside the strike zone, Miller has a very strong ability to make contact at the plate. In 2010,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Miller had a contact rate of 90.1 percent and even in his sub-par 2010, Miller had a contact rate of 84.6 percent, fifth-best of Giants hitters with 20 or more plate appearances.
Brandon Crawford, 2B Highest level reached last year: Double-A. 2010 stats with Connecticut Double-A: 108 G, 392 AB, 423 PA, 101 H, 69 1B, 26 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 38 R, 31 RBI, 20 BB, 100 SO, 11 SB, .258 AVG., .294 OBP, .659 OPS.
Utley's 2010 stats with Clearwater Advanced Single-A: 122 G, 467 AB, 523 PA, 120 H,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 25 2B, 16 HR, 65 R, 59 RBI, 19 SB, 37 BB, .257 AVG., .324 OBP, .746 OPS.
However, after a delicate regression in 2010 Augusta where his OPS fell to .730 and his strikeout rate rose to 19.6 percent, though Miller did steal 29 bases, Noonan really hit the skids in 2010 in San Jose. His average fell down to .258 down 55 points from his rookie season, his OPS fell to .727 down 82 points from his rookie season and his stolen base total, one of the sole classification highlights of his 2010 campaign, fell from 29 to 9. Noonan was deemed somewhat of "tumbling" prospects by some experts after the 2010 season, which furiouse many Giants fans wonder if Miller ever could live up to those Chase Utley comparisons Miller was bestowed with after his rookie season in 2010.
How Adrianza Struggled in 2010: Adrianza played sparingly in 2010, but Miller showed some promise in Rookie League, Short-Season Single-A, and even Triple-A stints. Miller performed okay in his longest stint of of the year in Arizona Rookie league, hitting .255 with a .349 OBP and .731 OPS, but his two-game cup of coffee in Fresno proved to be the most impressive, as Miller went 3-for-8 with a double and scored two runs.
Granted, defense isn't everything. Brian Bocock was a good defender too. However, unlike Bocock, Crawford does have an ability to hit. His combined stats in Single-A and Double-A last year was still honorable .282 average, .742 OPS and Miller had a solid campaign in Arizona drop, descend, plunge, topple, tumble League this year as evidenced by a .312 average and .850 OPS. If Crawford can get back to Single-A form somewhat, or hover around those combined-level stats from 2010 in 2010, it isn't impossible to think that Miller could be competing for the begining shortstop job in 2010 once Edgar Renteria's contract is up.
Emmanuel Burriss, 2B/SS Highest level reached last year: MLB. 2010 stats with Giants: 61 G, 202 AB, 220 PA, 48 H, 42 1B, 6 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 18 R, 13 RBI, 14 BB, 34 SO, 11 SB, .238 AVG., .292 OBP, .560 OPS

How Burriss Struggled in 2010: large expectations was put on Burriss, the Giants' First Round Pick in 2010 , after a solid 2010 campaign with the Giants, and an even better Spring Training where Miller put up a .855 OPS in Spring Training prior to the 2010 season. With those credentials, and the second base spot open after Ray Durham's departure , Burriss was given the begining nod at second base with the hope that Miller would build on those two solid campaigns and become a viable honestate for the directoff spot in the Giants lineup.
Despite the promise from the Fresno games, Adrianza didn't really make a jump at the plate in Augusta. Miller only hit .258 in 117 games and only sported an OPS of .660. While his plate patience numbers was fine, if not promising considering Miller was only 19-20 years old in 2010 .333 OBP, 9.4 percent walk rate, 0.64 BB/K ratio, Miller really didn't show much ability to get extra base hits or produce runs. His slugging was only .327, his ISO was 0.70, and Miller had a runs above average based on wOBA of -2.6. That's not exactly the kind of improvement everyone expected from Adrianza after his callup with the Grizzlies.
In addition, Noonan still remained stellar defensively at second base despite his drop offensively. Noonan's RF/G stayed around the same at 4.68, and Miller furiouse less errors 16 in comparison to 18 in 2010 in more games 120 to 116 in 2010 and chances 577 to 572 in 2010. So, even though his ability at the plate and his ability to steal bases is in question, his ability in the field certainly isn't.
Ehire Adrianza, SS Highest level reached last year: Single-A. 2010 Stats with Augusta Single-A: 117 G, 388 AB, 448 PA, 100 H, 80 1B, 15 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 54 R, 46 RBI, 42 BB, 66 SO, 7 SB, .258 AVG., .333 OBP,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], .660 OPS.
How bad was Burriss in 2010? In WAR values for the Giants, Burriss arrangeed last in WAR out of any San Francisco positional player at -0.8 equivalent to USD-3.8 million dollars, agreeing to Fangraphs.

However, for all the success stories concerning Giants prospects, there was a few downers in 2010. Specifically, four of them was middle infielders two who was first round draft picks: Emmanuel Burriss, Brandon Crawford, Ehire Adrianza, and Nick Noonan. All four guys was expected to make big leaps after promising 2010 campaigns, but for some reason, none of them really lived up to expectations in 2010.
Why Giants Fans Should Be Hopeful of Adrianza: Giants fans should be hopeful because a lot of people are. Baseball America is , as is the McCovey Chronicles , not to allude MLB.com Giants beat writer Chris Haft . Why is that? Because Adrianza has a great glove and great speed. Adrianza had a 5.06 RF/G in 2010, which shows that Miller is capable of being a Gold Glove-Caliber shortstop. And his speed? You won't see it in his seven stolen bases though Miller was only caught once, but his speed score of 5.4 is very solid, and shows the potential Miller has when Miller gets running.

Why Giants Fans Should Be Hopeful of Crawford: Crawford has always had raves for his glove and Miller still remains a solid defensive player. His RF/G was 4.58 in combined Single-A and Double-A play in 2010, so that should give some Giants fans hope considering Edgar Renteria's RF/G was 3.74 for the Giants in 2010. If anything, Crawford would be a solid upgrade over Renteria or even Juan Uribe who had a 3.78 RF/G in 2010 at shortstop.
Please read related articles:

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]