The Thrill saw some of the Giants’ Minor League talent in Richmond, and he was impressed.
Will Clark joined Murph and Mac on Monday to talk all things Giants, and recalled a handful of names he’s absolutely convinced will be joining the MLB roster at some point in the not-so-distant future.
Clark offered three names: outfielder Vaun Brown, starting pitcher Landen Roupp and reliever Randy Rodríguez.
First, Brown, who, in 10 games with Richmond this year, is batting .378 with a pair of home runs, six RBI and nine runs:
“Great power. Can run like a deer — good outfielder, team leader. I mean, everybody hovers around him. That’s Vaun Brown. He will be in the major leagues without shadow of a doubt.”
Roupp, meanwhile, was apparently confounding batters. He has a 2.31 ERA with 19 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .195 over 11.2 innings this year:
94, 95 MPH power sinker, with a breaking ball. When I was there, he made guys look stupid. I mean, it was fun to watch.
Lastly, there’s Rodríguez. He’s posted a 2.91 ERA over 30.1 innings for Richmond this year:
We had a little vision of this guy in spring training this year. His name is Randy Rodriguez. He’s a right-handed reliever and just an electric fastball, 96, 97 and the ball just jumps out of his hand. So those three guys right there, without a shadow of a doubt, I’m projecting them as major leaguers.
That’s without mentioning Kyle Harrison or Marco Luciano, the top two prospects in the Giants’ system. Clark didn’t mention either, but did mention Luis Matos, who, in his mind, “is already there.” He feels he could be called up at any time from Triple-A Sacramento.
Clark’s assessments don’t differ far from the MLB.com rankings, which have Vaun Brown as the Giants’ fifth-best prospect, Roupp as the 12th, and Rodriguez at 25.
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