They Might Be Giants: June 15

Position Player: Thomas Neal, OF
Age: 21
Level: High-A, San Jose
BA Ranking: 23
Week Stats: .417/.481/.792, 6 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB
Season Stats: .346/.426/.626, 47 R, 19 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 24 BB

Neal, a 37th round pick in 2005, has made a Sandoval-esque jump this season, going from merely a solid minor leaguer to a legitimate prospect. He has out-shined more highly touted prospects in San Jose, and was one of three players from that lineup named to the California League All-Star team, along with catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Roger Kieschnick. He seems to have no problem handling Single-A pitching, so a jump to Double-A could be in his future.

Pitcher: Clayton Tanner
Age: 21
Level: High-A, San Jose
BA Ranking: 20
Week Stats: 1-0, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 13 SO
Season Stats: 5-1, 51.2 IP, 45 H, 18 BB, 49 SO, 2.96 ERA, 1.22 WHIP

Tanner, a third round selection in 2006, is repeating at San Jose, where he put up respectable numbers last year. He's been better this year, and his start against Modesto this week was arguably his best of the season. In a season-best seven innings, he walked none and struck out a career-high thirteen. Tanner is one of those second-tier Giants' pitching prospects, but could raise his profile if he keeps pitching like this.

They Might Be Giants: June 8

Position Player: Buster Posey, C
Age: 22
Level: High-A, San Jose
BA Ranking: 2 (14 in MLB)
Week Stats: .381/.581/.619, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 8 BB, 1 SB
Season Stats: .307/.403/.512, 36 R, 15 2B, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 27 BB, 5 SB

On the day before the 2009 draft, it's appropriate that we look back at last year's first round selection, who has done nothing but impress. The highlight of Posey's week was a walk-off home run against Bakersfield on June 5. But what has impressed me most about Posey so far is that he possesses something that is sorely lacking in the Giants' system: plate discipline. He seems to have a very good idea of the strike zone, as his .403 OBP is tenth in the California League. I haven't been able to judge what kind of catcher he is, but the bat is for real. The speculation is that he will skip Double-A and head straight to Fresno.

Pitcher: Henry Sosa
Age: 23
Level: Double-A, Connecticut
BA Ranking: 13
Week Stats: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR
Season Stats: 4-0, 51.0 IP, 41 H, 17 BB, 34 SO, 4 HR, 2.12 ERA, 1.14 WHIP

Sosa, once ranked as highly as fifth overall in the Giants' system by Baseball America, has had trouble putting together a full, healthy season, despite flashes of dominance. So far, so good in 2009, and despite getting a no-decision, the right-hander had possibly his best start of the year against New Britain this week. He allowed a season-high four walks, but made up for it by allowing just one hit and striking out seven, both season-bests. Sosa, who is on the 40-man roster, could be due for a September callup, and is a dark horse for a roster spot in 2010.

They Might Be Giants: June 1

Position Player: Angel Villalona, 1B
Age: 18
Level: High-A, San Jose
BA Ranking: 3 (44 in MLB)
Week Stats: .417/.417/.667, 4 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Season Stats: .308/.342/.470, 30 R, 9 2B, 7 HR, 29 RBI, 7 BB

Villalona continued to hold his own at San Jose, despite the fact that he would still be in high school if he had been born in the United States. He's still a pretty raw talent, and he will probably always be the kind of player who strikes out a lot and doesn't draw many walks, but he's got more power potential than any player in the Giants' system. He's the first baseman of the future, though that could be the somewhat distant future. Note: I didn't pick John Bowker because he's not a prospect anymore, but his performance this week at Fresno is worth a mention, as he hit a ridiculous .538/.586/.923 with a couple of home runs.

Pitcher: Scott Barnes
Age: 21
Level: High-A, San Jose
BA Ranking: 9
Week Stats: 1-0, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO
Season Stats: 5-2, 45.1 IP, 41 H, 18 BB, 33 SO, 2 HR, 3.97 ERA, 1.30 WHIP

There were a few good performances by Giants' pitchers this week, but Barnes is the most legitimate prospect of the bunch. The lefthander, an eighth round draft pick in 2008, allowed a season-low two hits while striking out a season-high six against Visalia. With Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson gone, Barnes is the top pitching prospect left in San Jose. After a bit of a rough stretch in early May, he's been much better in his last three starts, going 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA. In case you're curious, Bumgarner had a good, but not dominant start, allowing one run in five innings, walking two and striking out three.

They Might Be Giants: May 25

"They Might Be Giants" is a weekly feature in which we highlight the best performance by a position player and a pitcher in the Giants' minor league system.'

Position Player: Buster Posey, C
Age: 22
Level: High-A, San Jose
BA Ranking: 2 (14 in MLB)
Week Stats: .360/.429/.800, 7 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB
Season Stats: .298/.379/.516, 27 R, 11 2B, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 18 BB, 4 SB

The Giants' number one draft pick from 2008 broke out of a slump in a big way this week. Most scouts project Posey as a 12-15 homer guy, but he's shown pretty good power so far in the California League, including three home runs in the last week. A promotion to Double-A or perhaps straight to Triple-A is likely this summer, and Posey appears to be on track to be the everyday catcher next year in San Francisco.

Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner
Age: 19
Level: Double-A, Connecticut
BA Ranking: 1 (9 in MLB)
Week Stats: 1-0, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 SO
Season Stats: 6-1, 42.1 IP, 30 H, 8 BB, 44 SO, 0 HR, 1.06 ERA, 0.90 WHIP

I actually made a mistake last week when I listed Bumgarner's age at 20. The fact that he's doing what he's doing at 19 makes his accomplishments even more noteworthy. Bumgarner continued to dominate since his promotion. He has a 0.50 ERA in three Double-A appearances. He has yet to allow a home run at any level this year, and his K/BB ratio is better than five to one. The promotion of David Price to the majors leaves Bumgarner as the best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball, and you might have to remove the left-handed part, and maybe the pitching part.

They Might Be Giants: May 18

"They Might Be Giants" is a new feature in which we pick the best performance by a Giants' position player prospect and pitching prospect from the previous week.

Position Player: Roger Kieschnick, OF
Age: 22
Level: High-A, San Jose
Baseball America Ranking: 14
Week Stats: .462/.481/.769, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
Season Stats: .345/.387/.540, 21 R, 6 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 9 BB, 3 SB

It was a close call between Kieschnick and Jesus Guzman, who put up an impressive .483/.516/.690 line at Fresno, and may be seeing the big leagues soon, but I went with Kieschnick because of the home runs. Kieschnick was a bright spot for San Jose, whose prospect-heavy lineup has gone cold the past few weeks. The Giants' system is relatively short on outfield prospects and power, so it would great if Kieschnick, a third-round pick in 2008, could keep it up.

Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner
Age: 20
Level: Double-A, Connecticut
BA Ranking: 1 (9 in MLB)
Week Stats: 2-0, 12 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 11 SO, 0 HR, 0.75 ERA, 0.92 WHIP
Season Stats: 5-1, 1.24 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 36.1 IP, 28 H, 7 BB, 34 SO, 0 HR

I have a feeling this might need to be renamed the MadBum Award by season's end. It's said that the jump from High-A to Double-A is the toughest for a prospect, and Bumgarner handled it with ease this week. He was effective if not dominant in his first start for Connecticut May 11, allowing one earned run over six innings, but allowing seven hits and only striking out two. He was more like his old self on Sunday, throwing six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out nine. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus may have put it best in this piece today: "Whenever I would write about the Giants having the most terrifying rotation in the game, I usually attached the arrival year of 2011 to it; that may prove to be too conservative an estimate."