Draft Interview with The College Baseball Blog

We recently had a chance to catch-up with our draft/amateur baseball expert and webmaster of The College Baseball Blog, Brian Foley, to get a little bit better look at some of the players the Giants selected in the '10 draft. Here is the interview:

Q: With their first pick in the 2010 draft, the Giants took speedy centerfielder Gary Brown out of Cal State Fullerton. What's your take on him and how quickly do you see him moving through the Giants' system?

BF: Brown was injured late in the 2010 college season which cost him a chance to play in the NCAA Tourney. He is a speedster who I was surprised was drafted so high but on all the draft boards that I saw he was included as a number 1 pick. I saw him in the Cape Cod Baseball League where he was a decent player but I thought there was a couple of other better outfielders with five tools.

Q: Is Brown the guy you would have taken at pick 24? There were some really good hitters still on the board.

BF: Not at all, I would have taken Bryce Brentz and Zack Cox over him who both are going to be outstanding hitters at the next level.

Q: With their second pick, the Giants went after another speedy outfielder in Virginia's Jarrett Parker. Tell us a bit about him and how he compares with Gary Brown.

BF: I have personally seen Parker play at least eight different times and every time he has had a terrible game striking out multiple times. Parker had an outstanding sophomore year which made him jump up all the draft boards but had a tough 2009 Cape Cod League season batting .188 with a homer and 13 RBI in 29 games. This is a wood bat league so his power might not transfer over to the pro level.

Q4: One of my favorite picks for the Giants in this draft was the big lefty out of South Florida, Andrew Barbosa. What are your thoughts on him, and did he last longer than you thought he would in this draft?

BF: Barbosa was a true walk-on at South Florida and the coaches were awed when they found out he could throw mid-90's. He had a dominating season for the South Florida Bulls where he went 8-2 with a 2.40 ERA while striking out 95 batters in 86.1 innings. He also held batters to a .228 average.

Q: Give us an arm and a bat that were taken after round 10 that you

BF:Brett Bochy is an arm to watch as he was outstanding at the end of games for the Jayhawks before he got injured thus missing the last 3/4 of the season. Dan Burkhart could work himself into being a backup catcher for a long time in the league behind Buster Posey.

Giants Notes: Back at the Major League level, the Giants have hit a bit of a bump in the road after crusing along through most of June. They lost 2 of 3 to the Red Sox over the weekend, and fell to the Dodgers in game one of a three game set on Monday night. Tim Lineceum was knocked out of the game in the third inning on Sunday, and forced the bullpen into the game early which is significant because the Giants don't have another off-day until the all-star break. Luckily Barry Zito went a solid 6, allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts, but didn't get a decision due to a Casey Blake game winning 2-run homer after Zito departed. Keep an eye on the Giants bullpen over the next couple of days cause the weather is heating up and so is their work load. A couple of negatives for relievers.