Grizzlies baseball: Pitching prospect Heston helps Fresno get win - fresnobee.com

Chris Heston with the Richmond Flying Squirrels

One of the new toys I have for this season, in addition to the MLB.tv package via ROKU (all teams, all games, all the time) is the MiLB.tv package on my laptop.

from milb.com:
http://www.milb.com/milb/multimedia/milbtv.jsp#teams

According to this listing of teams that broadcast, you get all the AAA affiliates including the Fresno Grizzlies (Giants AAA). The Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants AA affiliate) are not listed, but I expect they will show up on the schedule as the road club for teams that do provide a broadcast. As a bonus, the Giants Hi-A affiliate in San Jose is listed as a provider of games.

So now in addition to knowing some of the future Giants as a "slash-line" (statistically) and via the occasional You Tube snippet from a prospect scouting service or Baseball America, I will actually be able to watch some of these guys live (even while watching the big club). How cool is that?

I was able to watch snippets of this game and RHP Chris Heston looked sharp. Looking forward to seeing LHP Mike Kickham start on Sunday.


from the Fresno Bee:
Grizzlies baseball: Pitching prospect Heston helps Fresno get win - Fresno Grizzlies - fresnobee.com:

Heston is known more for his groundball prowess than strikeouts, keeping hitters off balance with a sinking fastball and well-spotted breaking pitches. That's how the Palm Bay, Fla., native went 9-8 with a 2.24 ERA last season for Double-A Richmond.

Those numbers made Heston the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year and caused the Giants to add him to their 40-man roster during the off-season.

'via Blog this'



The MiLB.tv comes with an extra $5/month charge to the MLB.tv package. The feed sometimes freezes or disconnects a bit too much, I'm not sure if I have all the settings, add-ons or plug-ins configured exactly right. But we're getting there. It's a better view than I've ever had in the past and right now, even with the bugs, I give it a "two thumbs up".

mlb.com report on Chris Heston:
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2012/#list=sf

Chris Heston Rank: 17 ETA: 2013 Position: RHP Age: 24, DOB: 04/10/1988                    Bats: R, Throws: R  Height: 6' 4", Weight: 185 Drafted: 2009, 12th (357) - SF

 After a very strong 2011 that saw Heston make the California League All-Star team, the East Carolina product has backed it up by not missing a beat with the move up to Double-A in 2012. He was an All-Star for the second straight season to work his way more firmly into the Giants’ plans. He has a four-pitch mix, using a sinker to get groundball outs, a slider, curve and changeup. He competes well and takes pride in keeping his team in games. He may not have the ceiling of a top-of-the-rotation type, but he’s looking more and more like a workhorse who should fit nicely into the middle of a big league rotation soon.

2012

Team

W

L

ERA

G

GS

SV

IP

H

HR

BB

K

AVG

WHIP

GO/AO

EAS

RIC

9

8

2.24

25

25

0

148.2

124

2

40

135

.230

1.10

1.63

Minors

9

8

2.24

25

25

0

148.2

124

2

40

135

.230

1.10

1.63