MLB’s Ironman for a day, Matt Duffy, was placed on the 15-Day DL. Duffy had overtaken the league lead for appearing in the most consecutive games. Yesterday, that streak came to a streaking halt. The San Francisco Giants’ front office is now in deep discussion on whether or not they should bring up their top prospect, Christian Arroyo. Currently in AA with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Arroyo is continuing to build on his strong start to his career. He was named the Arizona Rookie League MVP, and lead his teams in hitting over the past two seasons. This spring, Arroyo tore up the Cactus League and many thought he may have a shot at starting the year AAA. With Duffy down for two weeks thanks to an achilles strain, this is the perfect time to give Arroyo a shot.
It’s Time to Give Christian Arroyo a Chance
Flashbacks
The Giants actually had this dilemma when Bengie Molina went down with injury in 2010. With a “not quite ready” star prospects in Buster Posey and Joe Panik, the Giants had to make a decision in June to give them an opportunity. Obviously it worked out well for Posey, who went on to win the NL Rookie of the Year, lead them to the franchises first World Series win in San Francisco. We all know what he followed up with, an MVP, a batting title, two more World Series victories and a slew of other honors.
The latest “early call-up,” Panik, took over the starting spot for second base in less than two weeks. He also hit above .300 with a stellar On Base Percentage as well. While his offensive impact wasn’t the level of Posey’s, his biggest impact came on defense, where he made this incredible play in the 2014 World Series Game 7:
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
Arroyo might just be the best position player prospect the Giants have produced since Brandon Belt and Posey. He was drafted 25th overall in the 2013 MLB Draft, a shortstop out of high school. The last position player before then that was taken in that spot? That would be Mike Trout. Obviously, it would be stupid to compare him to Trout just because they are drafted in the same spot. Trout was clearly on another level, and was one of the top prospects in baseball the day he was drafted. Still, the Giants usually grab arms that early in the draft, so clearly they saw something they liked.
Minor League Success
Arroyo so far has proved his worth, winning Rookie League MVP in 2013. Again, there is no correlation to rookie league success and MLB success, literally ever. So what does he look like elsewhere? In 2014 he played at two different levels and struggled at the highest level. While batting .333 at Low A, he hit a dismal .203 at A level. In 2015 they bumped him up to their High A affiliate, San Jose Giants. In 90 games his slash-line was .304/.344/.459/.803. His strikeout to walk ratio was not that good, though, which obviously is something he has to work on. This season at AA, his slash-line is .285/.330/.397/.726.
While that’s not terribly impressive at first glance, he’s spent his entire time in the Minor Leagues as one of the youngest players in the league. Age differential is a legitimate hindrance in the minors, especially when he was only 19 years old playing against many 22-year-olds. Despite the batting average being lower this year, he’s still on pace to surpass his output at High A. In spring training this year, Arroyo hit .556 in 13 games. His glove was incredibly flashy as well. Outside of the numbers, why Arroyo?
Give Him Something to Work Toward
Who knows, Arroyo could get called up and do terrible. It wouldn’t be shocking if he looked overmatched in the big leagues. But with Panik, he got a quick call-up, and then was sent back down. When he returned, he made adjustments that ultimately gave him that starting spot. Maybe a week or two in the bigs will give him just a good enough idea of where he needs to be. It’s a win-win situation for the Giants and I don’t see why they shouldn’t give him a chance.
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