Giants' 2011 Draft Signings

It's now been basically a month since the 2011 MLB draft was held, so I figured I'd check in on the Giants' draft picks that have signed so far.

Here's a quick rundown of all the signings, in order of when they signed (based on what the San Francisco Giants' official website says).

Name	          Pos	Round	Signed
Joseph Panik	  SS	1	6/11/2011
Cody Hall	  RHP	19	6/16/2011
Jack Snodgrass	  LHP	27	6/16/2011
Phil McCormick	  LHP	31	6/16/2011
Shawn Payne	  2B	35	6/16/2011
Garrett Buechele  3B	14	6/19/2011
Paul Davis	  RHP	17	6/19/2011
Eldred Barnett	  OF	29	6/19/2011
Ben Thomas	  1B	34	6/19/2011
Brian Nicholson	  1B	38	6/19/2011
Danny Sandbrink	  LHP	42	6/19/2011
Brian Maloney	  LHP	45	6/19/2011
Elliott Blair	  OF	46	6/19/2011
Kelby Tomlinson	  SS	12	6/24/2011
Kentrell Hill	  OF	10	6/25/2011
Demondre Arnold	  RHP	25	6/25/2011
Clayton Blackburn RHP	16	6/30/2011
Jean Delgado	  SS	8	7/3/2011

The Giants have yet to sign any of their picks from rounds 2-7 (and the sandwich round).

He's not listed above, but I'm assuming that 32nd round pick Michael Mergenthaler has signed, as he's already appeared in eight minor-league games with the Giants' farm system (one at-bat in Triple-A Fresno...?).

Most of these guys have started with the Rookie-class AZL Giants. Here's what they've done, though obviously, small sample size caution should be applied (especially in the case of those that have tossed just a few innings, it's too early for these stats to mean much of anything).

	Age	G	PA	AB	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Eldred Barnett	22	7	35	30	1	2	8	.233	.314	.467	.781
Elliott Blair	23	8	16	16	0	0	6	.250	.250	.313	.563
Garrett Buechele	21	9	41	39	2	1	7	.308	.325	.513	.838
Jean Delgado	18	1	1	1	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Kentrell Hill	20	7	25	24	0	1	8	.208	.240	.250	.490
Michael Mergenthaler?	22	7	33	26	1	6	9	.192	.364	.308	.671
Brian Nicholson?	21	8	26	25	1	0	10	.320	.346	.480	.826
Ben Thomas?	22	11	52	46	2	6	6	.391	.462	.674	1.135
Kelby Tomlinson?	21	5	18	16	0	2	2	.313	.389	.375	.764

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2011.

And the pitchers --

	Age	ERA	G	GS	IP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
Demondre Arnold	19	0.00	3	0	3.2	12	0.818	4.9	0.0	2.5	12.3	5.00
Clayton Blackburn	18	0.00	2	0	1.2	5	0.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Paul Davis	21	2.84	4	1	6.1	27	1.263	8.5	0.0	2.8	7.1	2.50
Brian Maloney?	22	0.00	4	0	4.1	17	1.385	8.3	0.0	4.2	16.6	4.00
Danny Sandbrink?	22	4.05	4	0	6.2	27	1.200	9.4	1.4	1.4	9.4	7.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2011.

A few have begun in Short-Season A with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes...

The pitchers --

	Age	ERA	G	GS	IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
Cody Hall	23	7.71	4	0	4.2	9.6	0.0	3.9	11.6	3.00
Philip McCormick?	22	1.08	5	0	8.1	7.6	0.0	3.2	8.6	2.67
Lorenzo Mendoza	19	3.86	4	4	21.0	7.7	0.4	1.3	9.0	7.00
Steven Snodgrass?	23	7.15	6	0	11.1	15.9	0.0	2.4	9.5	4.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2011.

And lastly, the hitters --

	Age	G	PA	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Garrett Buechele	21	3	10	1	0	0	0	6	.100	.100	.400	.500
Joe Panik?	20	17	78	3	2	1	10	6	.343	.423	.507	.931
Rashawn Payne	21	20	78	0	7	1	13	18	.242	.397	.306	.704

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2011.

Down in the Minors: 4/30/11

A look at what's going on in the San Francisco Giants' farm system...

Mike Kickham Q&A - Ten Questions

San Francisco Giants prospect Mike Kickham is a left-handed pitcher currently with the San Jose Giants. He was drafted out of Missouri State in the sixth round of the 2010 draft. He's on Twitter, so go ahead and follow him.

Mike was nice enough to answer several questions:

1) Your twin brother, Dan, was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. Is there a big sibling rivalry there, especially with him being in the farm system of a rival team?

My brother did not sign and is playing at Missouri State this year. He's having a very good year so far and I hope to help him along as his baseball career progresses. We are very close and have always been very competitive growing up.

2) Are you focusing on anything specific at the moment (i.e. fastball velocity, developing a new pitch, etc.)?

During spring training I was really focusing on polishing my change and throwing it more consistently.

3) Missouri State has produced several major-league arms (Shaun Marcum, Brad Ziegler, etc.). Have you had any kind of contact with these guys?

Ziegler's around in the offseason quite a bit, however I haven't really chatted with him at length. However, I did get to pick Cole Hamels' mind this past offseason which I felt was very beneficial speaking to another lefty.

4) What would you say is your best secondary pitch? Curve? Slider? Change?

I'd have to say my go to secondary would be my slider, I feel that I can get most anyone out with that pitch, especially lefties.

5) The Giants' farm system has had a lot of success in developing pitchers in recent years. Was that something that you thought about when you came to the Giants?

Most definitely, this organization does an excellent job drafting and developing arms and now they have a ring to prove that. I was very excited to work with the same guys that developed Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner. Those are guys you want to emulate.

6) You haven't pitched yet for the SJ Giants because of a blister, right? Is the Giants' farm system cursed? So many injuries...

Haha I hope not...it's frustrating that such a minuscule thing has cost me time with the team but I understand that it needs to fully heal so that it won't become a recurring issue throughout my career.

7) Do you envision yourself as a starter in the majors? Or might you go the path of a reliever?

I think of myself as a starter, I've always been one and like going 6-7 innings; but whatever role the organization wants to put me in and feels I'll be the most successful I will gladly do. I just enjoy competing and giving my team a chance to win.

8) What's it like playing with so many talented prospects in San Jose? Fun group of guys?

Great group in San Jose, with so much talent around I can learn from everyone, not just the pitchers. I can talk to the hitters about their at bats and get valuable information I can take with me out on the mound.

9) Scouting reports say your velocity tops out in the mid-90s. What's the hardest you've ever thrown?

Hardest I've ever thrown was 95

10) You played one year of D-1 college baseball, and you're now starting in high-A. Is this all happening too fast?

It has happened fast, but this is something I've always worked toward. I wouldn't have left school early unless I felt I was ready for the next step and I felt I was ready. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this organization and excited to keep working hard and keep working my way up to reach the ultimate goal.

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