Giants Short Season Team not Short of Talent

Outside of getting brought up from the minors baseball fans rarely hear about minor league players and don't even know that there is a Class A short season league. What is the short season league for? Look at it as a prep class for the minor leagues. The short season team allows newly drafted players and other rookies to begin playing in the minors right after their college season ends. The minor league seasons start before the college playoffs and world series so draftees can continue to play for their college team and then are able to play in the Class A short season league.

Just a little summary of the Giants minor league system in case you are interested. The AAA team for the Giants is the Fresno Grizzlies where injured players will rehab before coming back into the majors. The Grizzles have a ton of players with major league experience right now - Zito, Bill Hall, Ishikawa, Runzler, Hector Sanchez, Manny B, Brandon Crawford, Conor Gillaspie. The AA team is the Richmond Flying Squirrels and in single A are the San Jose Giants and the August GreenJackets. Down at the bottom of the list are the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, the short season team. (along with the 2 rookie league teams)

The Giants first round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft was Joe Panik (29th overall), a shortstop for St. John's University in New York. He currently plays for the Volcanoes on the Giants short season team where he has proven that he deserved his first round pick designation. He is currently the league leader in BA, RBIs, runs, and hits, 4th in SLG, 2nd in OBP, and 2nd in TB. He is exactly what the Giants have been missing for most of this season, a contact hitter who can hit for average and has over .400 BA with RISP. The Giants have lost most of their games this year because they have one of the lowest averages with RISP.

Panik isn't the only player playing well for the Volcanoes. Mike Murray is batting 2nd in the league, 3rd in SLG, 5th in OBP, 3rd in TB, 2nd in RBI behind teammate Joe Panik, and 2nd in hits. Brett Krill is batting 3rd in the league, league leader in SLG, 7th in OBP, 9th in TB, 5th in RBI, and 9th in 2B. Another notable Volcano is Jesus Galindo who is leading the league in stolen bases.

Giants fans should remember these names as they will be coming up into the minors soon. If you are interested in hearing about Panik's game stats follow me on Twitter @SFGfaninNYC where I send a daily tweet.