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Part two: manager's first half evaluation of the San Jose Giants
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The San Jose Giants won the first half North division title with a combination of solid starting pitching, a deep bullpen and clutch hitting. At the plate, the Giants are second in runs, third in the league in hitting, home runs and RBI's. Thomas Neale is the league's leading hitter (.342) and Buster Posey is fifth (.328). Neale, Posey and Roger Kieschnick have combined for 36 homers.
In part two of our interview, Manager Andy Skeels gives a mid-season evaluation of some of the organization's top prospects.
Examiner.com: Obviously Posey can hit but what do you think of his defense so far?
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Skeels: For a young kid, just getting used to catching every day, I thought his progress was tremendous. There are so many things when you are a catcher that you are responsible for on the field. He’s got good baseball sense. He’s a smart kid but he’s got great baseball aptitude as well. It’s something we look for when we evaluate our players. When they make a mistake do they make an adjustment and correct it. He’s done a nice job at that. This is his first year kid just learning his position at the professional level. I’m a much smarter manager with him behind the plate I can tell you that.
Examiner.com: How has your first baseman, Angel Villalona, handled the jump to the California League?
Skeels: Villalona comes into the league with a lot of hype and being the youngest player in the league (18). He hits in the .jpg)
middle of the lineup and hit as well as he did I thought was remarkable. Here’s a kid who’s two years removed from being a sophomore in high school. I submit that you look at the history of the game and tell me how many high school seniors have been able to jump into this league and do the things that he’s done. He still needs to get batter at working the count and understanding his strike zone. His defense is solid and he’s getting better and has a better understanding of his responsibilities in the bunting game. He’s come a long way especially from the time I saw him 1 ½ years ago in the Instructional League.
Examiner.com: Am I right in assuming that third baseman Conor Gillaspie has struggled in his first year of pro ball?
Skeels: What a lot of first-year players like Conor come to discover is that the workload here is much, much greater than it is in college. You’re expected to go out there everyday, you’re expected to do your early work, you’re expected to do your fundamentals, your individual defense, batting practice then play a game. I think it took him a little while to get his feet underneath him and figure out how his body would respond to playing every day. This kid has come a long way very quickly. The numbers are somewhat deceiving because he’s been putting together three or four good at bats every night. In my way of thinking in the development of a player, you’re looking for guys to take good at bats. He’s definitely making good progress.
Examiner.com: What would you say has been the biggest surprise of the first half for the Giants?
Thomas Neal has to be the biggest surprise. He’s got himself in better shape, his arm is finally healthy. Batting, you’ll see very few players locked in for that long a time. He’s drove in some huge runs for us. He anchored the middle of our line up. He was the biggest surprise for me with the type of success he had.
Part three: the pitchers
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