There R Giants

This week’s guest is Brendan Gawlowski, who writes about prospects for Fangraphs, following several years as a pro scout with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gawlowski included several Giants pitchers in a recent round up of Instructional League notes, and we spent this episode talking about some of the Giants’ pitchers that he’s seen on the back fields during Instructs, including their second pick in this year’s draft, Carson Bolemon. We also talk about Beau Bryans, Henry Lalane, Joniel Hernandez, and a lot more super shortstop prospects.

I do need to apologize for some technical issues with my mic in this episode, which kept switching back and forth from my actual microphone to my air pods. I’ve never encountered this before, and didn’t have great recourse to fixing it in post. I’ll try to figure out the source of the issue so that it doesn’t recur in the future.

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In light of the Richmond Flying Squirrels being named the 2026 MiLB Organization of the Year, this seemed like a perfect time to get together with Squirrels’ Director of Communications (other duties as assigned) and talk over a truly magical and incredibly historic year in Richmond.

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My guest this week is NBC Sports Bay Area beat writer, Alex Pavlovic. We talk about the perception that the Giants are moving against the grain of analytically-driven decision making, the upcoming roster crunch, and the way forward for this Giants’ team.

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Time for the off-season (for the Giants at least). Kerry Crowley and I get into the question of whether the Giants should look to compete in 2027 or take a step back for runs in 2028 and 2029 — and whether or not it really changes their winter strategy very much.

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One of my favorite twitter follows, Matthew Knauer joins me this week to talk pitch shapes, pitch data, and analysis, the Giants upcoming roster crunch, sleeper arms in the org, and much more. Matthew is a great follow on Twitter (@matthewk36711) as well as a contributor to another of my favorite baseball resources, TJStats, in between his work for the UCLA Bruins baseball team and the Daily Bruin. That’s a busy schedule!

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I’m clearing out the last of my in-season interviews on this week’s podcast. There’s a lot of out-of-date talk about upcoming playoffs, but also a lot of great conversation looking back on the season that passed — successes, failures, trades, promotions, and trying to keep pushing through it all! My guests Zander Darby, Kaeden Kent, and Jacob Bresnahan all have much to reflect on fro this year with satisfaction — and Kent’s year isn’t quite over, as he now heads to the Arizona Fall League, which starts its schedule on Saturday.

As I mentioned in the podcast, my talk with Bresnahan was meant to be a video interview and I think it is better in that format. If you’d like to see the full think (with actual video of pitch grips rather than just talking about pitch grips, you can become a There R Giants’ full subscriber, where you get all posts and videos delivered direct to your Inbox.

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I still have a few more conversations with players that I recorded in the final few weeks of the season to get out, and today is a big one! We start with my conversation with Jhonny Level, who simply had a sensational season at the age of 19, vaulting into the Top 100 level of prospectdom as the buzz around this young player really built. I also got to talk with Cam Maldonado about his first full season, one that had a injury interruption in the middle of the season. We talk about his excellent speed — and the challenges of being a speedy player in the chilly northeast where he went to college, and how to balance going all out on the field and also taking care of your body to stay on the field. Maldonado was one of the three 20/20 players in the system — and Level finished just shy of that mark, so it’s a good power/speed combo on this week’s episode of the There R Giants podcast.

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Kerry Crowley and I sift though the ashes of the 2026 Giants’ season seeking for things we have learned, things we have enjoyed, and things we’re looking forward to next year.

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With minor league playoff season in full gear, it seems only right to dedicate this week’s podcast to men leading their teams into the post-season. I was able to speak with Eugene Manager Jacob Heyward during the team’s final hometand before the playoffs (which ended sadly for his squad, though they fought hard throughtout), and with Richmond Manager Dennis Pelfrey during his team’s final homestand as well (they start their run in the Eastern League playoffs tonight). Both men talk about the year that has passed — how they define success, the satisfaction they take in players who have moved on up, and what they hope their players take from competing for league titles.

This is a really fun one with two of my favorite people in the Giants’ organization. Enjoy!

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To get you ready for Game One of the Eugene Emeralds’ quest for their third NWL Championship this decade, I have a conversation today with the Game One starter, Henry Lalane, who is a new arrival in the Giants’ organization. With the help of pitching coach Luis Piño, who served as translator, Henry talked me through his baseball history, how he keeps his mechanics locked in, health issues he’s gone through, and what his proudest achievement in 2026 is. Then Piño gets the mic turned on him, as he talks me through the transition from player to coach.

Make sure to tune in tonight for the first playoff games for both Eugene and San Jose.

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This week’s episode features a couple of conversations I had last week with young players who have been promoted recently from Eugene to Richmond, outfielder Lisbel Diaz, and catcher Jancel Villarroel. Both earned their promotions with outstanding first half performances in the NWL. Diaz is tied for the lead in the Giants’ system with 26 home runs on the year, while Villarroel, who came over from the Astros this winter, hit over .300 with an .856 OPS in Eugene. I talk with both players about their baseball journeys, from Cuba for Diaz (who speaks with me in his second language), and from a small island off the mainland of Venezuela for Villarroel who speaks with me in Spanish, with an assist from Dayson Croes, who served as interpreter).

As an aside, I’m happy to see that the Substack transcript generator seems to have recognized Spanish and done what looks to me like a pretty solid job of generating an accurate transcription of Villarroel’s side of the conversation. You might want to copy some of those out of the transcript and pop them into an online translator to get a fuller version of his comments.

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My guest this week is Justin Allegri, who has been one of the voices of the San Jose Giants for more than 10 years. Justin and I talk about the amazing crop of shortstops who have come through the San Jose roster this year, as well as how the pitching sets up for the team’s coming defense of its Cal League title.

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Kerry Crowley and I sift through the what’s worth watching over the final months of a dismal season, and then shift our focus down to San Jose, where the real excitement for the organization is performing nightly.

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A trio of brand new Squirrels, who transferred the top of the Eugene Emeralds’ lineup 3,000 miles to the east last week. We talk transitions, development, competing, and being good teammates on this week’s edition of the pod.

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Giants Senior Director of Amateur Scouting, Michael Holmes joins me to talk about the Giants’ 2026 exciting draft class, and the many months of hard work that went into it. Great job by his entire scouting department injecting a lot of new talent into the system! I really appreciate Michael taking some time to talk with me about the new kids coming into the org.

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Kerry and Roger present A Guide to Watching the Dog Days of a Dying Season

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It’s here! The annual favorite as MLB’s great Jim Callis joins me to talk over the Giants’ 2026 draft. We have arms to discuss! Lots of them. Come for the Jackson Flora gushing, stay for Jim’s hot take regarding Carson Bolemon. This is a fun one!

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Go hence, and have more talk of these sad things. For never was a story of more woe than the 2026 San Francisco Giants. Kerry and I go to Shakespearean lengths to try to figure out what is ailing this organization.

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On this week’s podcast, I chat with Emeralds’ play by play man, Jacob Archer, to talk over Eugene’s amazing first half.

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It’s a whole lot of Bryce Eldridge talk on the latest KROG podcast, as Kerry Crowley and I kick around what the emergence of their top prospect means for the franchise going forward.

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