SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Giants are trying to put a twist on a team-building method that led them to three championships.
In 2010, Buster Posey arrived and took control of a staff full of young aces. Fourteen years later, a new front office is hopeful that a similar pitching staff is being built, but the Gold Glove-caliber catcher showed up at the front of the line this time.
Patrick Bailey helped acclimate Kyle Harrison, Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck last season, and that could just be the start of a wave. Harrison looks ready to slide in behind Logan Webb, and Winn and Beck should fill out the rotation, but the Giants feel some of the best talent hasn't been seen yet. Their big league clubhouse this spring is filled with pitching prospects, all of whom seem to be about 6-foot-4 with broad shoulders, big fastballs and revamped breaking balls.
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On Monday's episode of "Giants Talk," Bailey gave scouting reports for four young pitchers who reached at least Double-A last season and could all debut this summer. Here's how he broke it down, with added info from others who have been around the bullpens over the first couple weeks of camp:
Carson Whisenhunt (LHP, 23 years old)
Bailey: "I haven't had much time with him, but from the little time I've had it's a really, really good changeup. A good feel with command. A good fastball, can spin it a little bit. Yeah, he's really exciting. I don't really know if there's many guys you can compare [the changeup] to. What he can do just pronating it creates some side spin that has a really good movement profile."
San Francisco Giants
Bob Melvin: "The pitch quality is fantastic. There's a steeliness to him. It's just bullpens, but you like to see how guys react if they throw a pitch they don't like. They move on to the next one. Obviously his changeup is kind of off the charts ... his fastball, he's got great command of it and it gets on you in a hurry. He really could probably just pitch with those two pitches -- fastball changeup -- as a starter, but my understanding is he has a pretty good curveball, too. I just haven't seen it yet other than on video."
Mason Black (RHP, 24)
Bailey: "He's somebody I've had a lot of time with. A fantastic guy, which is awesome to be able to say. It's a plus fastball that kind of creates a unique look to hitters, and he hides it well. He's got a sinker to go with it. A big, sweepy slider, and he's actually added a smaller one last year and kind of continued to work on a changeup. But, [it's] just a really, really good fastball."
Joey Bart: "It's a really good four-seam, and he's got a gyro slider that's pretty effective and a really nasty sweeper as well. He's got power stuff. For him, he's got a lot in there. I think it's probably more just about execution and executing that sweeper. Once that sweeper gets rolling, he's really hard to hit."
Hayden Birdsong (RHP, 22)
Bailey: "I keep hearing a lot about him, and I obviously see him around quite a bit. It sounds like a big, loud fastball, and he commands it well. And then just a good, steady mix of some offspeed pitches. He can spin it well."
Tom Murphy: "The first thing that jumps out to me is that fastball. It's explosive; there's super-extension, it seems like. I don't even know the numbers on it, but visually you can tell he's got that. He reminds me a lot of a Logan Gilbert-type over there in Seattle. The same build, the same everything going on. I could see that kinda developing that way and he seems like a really bright kid."
Landen Roupp (RHP, 25)
Bailey: "He's a North Carolina kid, which is cool. I faced him in college and caught him a bunch here. It's probably one of the better breaking balls in our system. The curveball is probably competing with one of the better ones in the game, [and] he can really command a sinker. And then he's working on a good changeup."
Bart: "He's impressive, man. Mentally, it seems like his mindset is really good. It seems like he's really confident. The four-seam, two-seam, look what the best pitchers on our team do -- they throw the two-seam on both sides of the plate and it's kind of a hard thing to do. That's what he was doing in the bullpen that I caught him, throwing the two-seam on both sides and he's got a big breaking ball. And he's got a split-change that's legit."
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