Like us on Facebook here

 Friday, May.31/ 2013

Heath Hembree is easily the most talked-about reliever in the Giants farm system.

By Jon Schifferle ( Giants Correspondent – visit his own personal website here.)  Follow @jonschifferle

With all of the changes to the bullpen and rotation recently, mostly stemming from the current issues in the rotation, many Giants fans are left to wonder why Heath Hembree has not come up and pitched in a late inning role.  

Ramon Ramirez was recently called up to fill a spot in the bullpen temporarily. He was with the Giants during their big World Series run in 2010.

Admittedly, he does have some nice numbers.  He currently owns a 5:1 K:BB right now, and sports a decent 1.23 WHIP.  He also throws a 97 MPH sinking fastball.  He sounds like a really attractive bullpen guy.  So why not call him up??

Well there are a few reasons.

1. He was not the hottest option

His stats do sound good, but he has struggled lately in the PCL.  In his last 10 appearances, he has a 5.73 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, and has given up 2 HR’s.  With a guy struggling that much, you don’t want to hurt him by putting him in a position that he’s not quite ready for, and you also don’t want him hurting a contending team.  

On the flip side, Ramon Ramirez does look good right now.  In his last ten appearances, he owns a 1.42 ERA, 18 K’s, and a WHIP lower than 1.  He is clearly pitching well right now, and the Giants should take advantage of that.  

2. He has no MLB experience

It’s a relatively simple concept.  He hasn’t experience MLB pitching yet, and Ramon Ramirez has.  Ramon Ramirez knows what it feels like to compete on a contending team, and has proven that he can.  

I’m not saying at all that Heath Hembree COULDN’T compete on a contending team, I’m just saying that he hasn’t yet, and the Giants would probably prefer someone who has.

3. The Giants want Hembree to stay

This is probably the most important point to make.  One of the worst things you can do with a prospect is continually send them up and down.  It’s bad for both their confidence, and then spend more time worrying about where they are going to pitch rather than how they are going to pitch there.  

With prospects that you think highly of, you want them to stay when they come up.  The Giants really like Hembree, and likely want him in the bullpen this season, but just not quite yet.  

Rookies can be really exciting.  I’m sure we would all rather hear that Hembree is coming up than anyone else, but we should remember that the most important thing for the Giants to do right now is worry about Hembree long term.  He’s a special arm, and nobody wants to ruin that.  

The Giants are in for a pure street fight in the last 2/3rds of the year. They have to contend with the current NL West (Pesky Leaders), the Diamondbacks, the lethal offensive Rockies, the upstart Padres – and who knows if the LA Dodgers all play to the back of their bubble gum cards. It will be tough sledding for the team to make the World Series for the 3rd time in the last four years.

***The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Giants  Correspondent’ Jon Schifferle for preparing today’s featured article. Jon is a college student that grew up in Northern California and he has been a Giants fan for as long as he can remember.

Two of his greatest memories were going to Game 1 of the 2010 World Series, and Game 2 of the 2012 World Series.  he loves to watch prospects and the draft, and started his own blog called A Giant Perspective here.

Jon loves to write about all aspects of the game.   His dream is to eventually work in baseball in some capacity. Being a West Coast guy, he is able to watch all of the late games out there and have a vast knowledge of the AL and NL West especially.

Feel free to follow Jon on Twitter and talk about the game of baseball  Follow @jonschifferle

Jon is on the left and his brother is on the right.

Please e-mail us at: mlbeports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

Like us on Facebook here