Giants shine in Arizona Fall League

Some good reviews for future Giants in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.

Charlie Culberson played mostly 2B for the Scottsdale Scorpions and did well hitting .366/.394/.591 (AVG/OBA/SPCT), He was sixth in the league in batting and tied for the league lead in doubles. This will help his stock.

Conor Gillaspie tied for the league lead with five HR's. He batted .306/.350/.597 across the board, but the 5 HR's in 72 AB's is a huge development. If this continues, it won't be long before we see Gillaspie at the major league level. The lack of power was the remaining question mark and led to debate as to whether the Giants should move him from 3B, where he is maybe average defensively, over to 2B.

Brandon Belt continued to play to rave reviews in the AFL. He was fourth in the league in hitting with a .372/..427/.616 line. Scouts were impressed with his makeup and hitting approach. He has displayed good gap power and appears to be an extra-base hitting machine in the making. May be the Giants 1B of the future.

Among the pitchers, Jason Stoffel pitched well. I believe Stoffel, Jose Casilla and Seth Rosin will advance quickly, perhaps sooner than some other higher touted prospects within the system.

Ryan Verdugo, a ninth rounder in 2008 out of LSU, pitched well. Ryan is a 6-0, 185 LHP who clearly was not over matched among the highly touted hitting prospects this league attracts. He may be added to watch lists as we speak.