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The San Francisco Giants didn‘t select any high-ranking prospects in the 2013 MLB draft. Nonetheless, two of their picks will be showcased this weekend in the College World Series.

Nick Vander Tuig, SP, UCLA

With their sixth-round pick (193rd overall), the Giants selected Oakdale native Nick Vander Tuig. As a starting pitcher with UCLA in 2013, the right-hander went 12-4 with an impressive 2.37 ERA.

Despite the shiny peripheral numbers, Vander Tuig—who underwent Tommy John surgery in high school—didn’t dominate college competition, striking out only 81 batters in 114 innings pitched. But he was still hard to hit, as he held opponents to a .237 batting average and managed a 1.02 WHIP.

A 6’3” righty, Vander Tuig sits at 91 MPH with his fastball, which has good tailing movement. He also throws a slurvy slider and a changeup—both of which project as major league average pitches. He’s confident in his ability and isn’t afraid to challenge hitters.

If all goes well for Vander Tuig, he could eventually reach his ceiling as a No. 3 starter. If not, he profiles as a decent reliever.

Vander Tuig is very reminiscent of Atlanta Braves starter Kris Medlen; he’s not a hard thrower, but he has good movement on all of his pitches. He locates his fastball well and knows how to use his changeup. Like Medlen, Vander Tuig could find himself being juggled between the bullpen and the starting rotation.

If that’s the case, the Giants would be quite happy. Any sixth-round pick that forces his way into a club’s plans is well worth the selection.

Catch UCLA as they battle LSU in the College World Series. The matchup begins on June 16 at 8 p.m. ET.

Ty Ross, C, LSU

The Giants drafted LSU catcher Ty Ross with their 12th-round pick (372nd overall). Known mostly as a defensive presence, Ross has had limited success with the bat as a member of the Tigers.

In 2013, the 6’2” right-hander hit only .215 with three home runs in 200 at-bats. Ross does possess some power, and the Giants are hoping to see more of it as he progresses through the minor leagues.

In all reality, Ross will exceed expectations if he ever reaches the big leagues as a backup catcher.

Watch Ty Ross as his LSU Tigers take on Nick Vander Tuig’s UCLA Bruins in the College World Series.

The series kicks off on Father’s Day, June 16, at 8 p.m. ET.

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With San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval due to miss what could be a significant chunk of time, via the San Jose Mercury News, the Giants need to make a bold move to bolster their offense.

According to Giants President and CEO Larry Baer, third baseman Pablo Sandoval has a hairline fracture in his foot.  

Meanwhile, the Giants are disputing Baer’s statement, saying that the portly third baseman’s injury is just a strain.

Either way, Sandoval is on the disabled list and will miss at least the next two weeks. Forget about whether or not the conflicting reports are a sign of things to come. Forget about whether Sandoval’s injury is the result of carrying excess weight.

The most important thing at this very moment is what the Giants must do to replace the jovial slugger in the lineup.

With the team on the road for six more games against two tough opponents—the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves—Joaquin Arias and Nick Noonan aren’t going to cut it. This stretch of games could possibly decide whether or not the Giants—who are 33-29, two games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks—are in the playoff race come August and September.

Now is the time for the Giants to do something bold, which is not something they have been wont to do in the past. In 2011, Rookie of the Year catcher Buster Posey sustained a season-ending injury in May. The Giants decided to go with a tandem of Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart to replace their most important hitter while the club lost precious ground in the standings. When they acquired Carlos Beltran at the trade deadline, it was too late.

That can’t happen again. Although it is still unknown how long Sandoval will be out, the Giants must not play the waiting game. If they want to stay within striking distance, they need to make a bold move.

They need to call up Adam Duvall.

Duvall was selected in the 11th round of the 2010 draft. In his first full season, the powerful third baseman launched 22 home runs for the Augusta GreenJackets. He struck out 98 times in 431 at-bats, which is not horrible for a young power hitter. His on-base percentage was a nice .385, showing his willingness to take a walk.

In 2012, Duvall played in High-A San Jose. While his power numbers increased (30 home runs), so did his strikeout rate (116 K’s in 534 at-bats). Duvall’s OBP dropped to .327 that season, suggesting that he might need a little more seasoning in the lower minors.

Still, the Giants decided to promote the 24-year-old to Double-A Richmond for the 2013 season. Through 111 at-bats, the righty is hitting an impressive .315 with an even better .382 OBP. He’s struck out far less frequently than he has in the past (14.6 K% in 2013 compared to a 19.4 K% in 2012), which is impressive considering the fact that Double-A is widely regarded as the hardest level to hit in.

Duvall has only launched six home runs thus far, but that most likely is a consequence of his new-found discipline at the plate. With a massive .662 slugging percentage—the highest it has ever been in his career—Duvall obviously hasn’t lost his ability to hit for power.

The biggest question surrounding Duvall is his ability to play third base. Over his three seasons in the minors, the Giants have tried the slugger at third, second and first base. This year, Duvall has played third base exclusively. In 27 games, he has compiled an ugly .914 fielding percentage while committing six errors. In 2012, Duvall played 117 games at third and wound up with 29 errors and a .918 fielding percentage.

He obviously has lots of work to do defensively. But the Giants need someone to fill Sandoval’s shoes in the batter’s box, and Duvall is the only player in the minor league system capable of doing that.

If the Giants were to call up Duvall, they would have to clear a space on the 40-man roster. To do so, they could waive either utility infielder Tony Abreu or minor league shortstop Ehire Adrianza. Abreu, who owns a career batting average of .250 in the major leagues, has only played two games with the Giants this season. Adrianza, known strictly as a defensive player, is currently hitting .225 in Richmond.

Both players would stand a decent chance of passing through waivers, allowing them to be optioned to the minor leagues and removing them from the 40-man roster. Still, if Abreu or Adrianza was to be claimed by another club, it would not be a major loss to the Giants.

Regardless of how they decide to make the roster alteration, the Giants need to do something to improve the club while Sandoval is on the disabled list. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests that the Giants will make no such move.

But now is not the time for the Giants to make excuses. They should look around the league and realize that more and more teams are bringing up their top prospects. In many cases, those prospects are paying immediate dividends.

The Los Angeles Dodgers brought up phenom Yasiel Puig, and he has done nothing but rake. The Seattle Mariners called up Nick Franklin and Mike Zunino. The Pirates, who the Giants are facing tonight, summoned Gerrit Cole to make his big league debut.

We all know what Arias, Noonan and Abreu have to offer. They are decent backups and nothing more. But if the Giants want to stay afloat while Sandoval misses significant time, they need to do something bold.

They need to call up Adam Duvall.

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After a recent slew of injuries, the San Francisco Giants’ biggest overall weakness has quickly been exposed.

The team lacks depth, a fact that could go on to plague them as the season continues.

Ryan Vogelsong and Santiago Casilla are on the disabled list. Angel Pagan is nursing an injured hamstring that has kept him out of the lineup since May 25. Jovial third baseman Pablo Sandoval will at the very least miss the weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals due to an injured foot.

When Vogelsong first went down nobody was particularly rattled. Considering how poorly he had been pitching, some fans may even have thought that the Giants would be a better team without the well-traveled right-hander.  

But after an uninspiring list of possible replacements eventually yielded Mike Kickham, a rookie who lasted only 2.1 innings in his major league debut against the Oakland Athletics, Vogelsong’s absence suddenly looms quite large.

The Giants’ starting rotation has been horrible so far this season (17-18, 4.77 ERA), and Vogelsong has certainly been a big part of that. But he looked to have finally put things together on the night he fractured his hand, throwing five shutout innings against the Washington Nationals before incurring the unfortunate injury.

Now that Kickham’s trial run has failed, the Giants—due to lack of a better option—are turning to long reliever Chad Gaudin, who will take the ball Sunday against the Cardinals.

But that creates another problem.

With Santiago Casilla on the disabled list, the Giants’ bullpen is already weakened significantly. Take Gaudin—who has posted a 2.05 ERA on the season—out of the equation, and the group as a whole could suddenly be very vulnerable.

George Kontos, who has been filling Casilla’s normal seventh-inning role, has not been effective. In 26.1 innings, the right-hander has a lofty 5.13 ERA. He allowed two run-scoring hits to Yoenis Cespedes in the recent series against the Athletics.

Jean Machi has been good, but he’s still an unproven commodity at this point. Ramon Ramirez’s promotion from Triple-A could last only until the Giants feel Heath Hembree is ready to contribute at the big league level. 

According to Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area, that moment could be soon:

I asked Bochy and he said Hembree is close to being deemed ready to face major league hitters. I do think we’ll see him at some point this season. But as it was explained to me, the Giants don’t want to bring him up as an extra arm. They are grooming him for a late, leveraged relief role and don’t want to throw him in there until they absolutely feel the time is right. That could be a week or two from now. It just depends on how the bullpen comes together now that roles are being shifted around a bit. 

Outside of Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez, the Giants’ bullpen is a major question mark. If the starting pitchers continue to show an inability to pitch deep into games, the Giants could be in trouble.

But, unfortunately for the Giants, their pitching isn’t the only problem.

Up to this point of the season, the Giants’ offense has been able to pick up the slack. The team has managed to post 16 come-from-behind victories, allowing them to stay afloat in a surprisingly competitive division.

But with Pagan out of the lineup and Sandoval battling the flu before sustaining the foot injury, the top of the order has been relatively punchless.

Since Pagan last played on May 25, Giants’ leadoff hitters have gone a combined 3-19. The center fielder is likely slated to return to action on Sunday, according to Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News.

Having the usual leadoff hitter back in the lineup will be a relief for the Giants, even though Pagan’s numbers have been subpar so far this season (.262 batting average, .314 on-base percentage).

With a very difficult June schedule looming, the Giants have picked a bad time to catch the injury bug. After they finish in St. Louis, the Giants travel home for a quick two-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays before hopping right back on the road for nine games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves.  

Now is when a deep bench and major league ready talent waiting in the wings would be a welcome sight.

But the Giants have neither.

With Sandoval ailing, Joaquin Arias and Nick Noonan will replace him at third base.

On the season, Arias is hitting .220 with a .267 OBP. His action has been limited, only garnering 41 at-bats in 37 games. Noonan, after a hot start, has been even worse. Through 32 games, the rookie infielder is hitting just .216 with a weak .508 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).

As poor as Noonan and Arias have been thus far, the Giants clearly don’t have confidence in their minor league replacements, or else they would be up with the big club right now.

Kensuke Tanaka, the Japanese import, is playing well in Fresno. In 171 at-bats, the infielder is hitting .310 with a .374 OBP. But he had some severe defensive issues in spring training, forcing the Giants to choose Noonan to be their utility infielder.

Other than Tanaka, who is still struggling with his defense (.938 fielding percentage), there are no inspiring options to replace Noonan on the roster.

If Pagan is unable to fend off his hamstring injury, the Giants would be looking at a potential starting outfield of Andres Torres, Gregor Blanco and Hunter Pence.

While Torres has been decent at the plate so far (.276 AVG, .321 OBP), his defense in left field has been suspect, to say the least. Blanco has struggled lately at the plate, dropping his batting average to a weak .268. Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle recently said:

For all the bellyaching I’ve seen on Twitter about Andres Torres lately, he was hitting .287/.333/.416 before his 0-for today. In his past eight games he was 12-for-25 with six doubles. That’s not bad for a guy who was signed to be a platoon No. 7 hitter. I’d be more concerned with the defensive lapses the past couple of days, but he’s been pretty good in left field overall. Blanco’s been the one struggling. He’d benefit from a return to the seventh spot when Pagan returns.

Pence has been his usual productive self, but the Giants simply won’t be able to score many runs as long as Torres and Blanco are starting on a daily basis.

In the minor leagues, only a few outfielders have shown that they may be ready to contribute at the big league level. Roger Kieschnick, the Giants’ third round pick in the 2008 draft, has been especially impressive. Through 49 games in Triple-A Fresno, the right fielder is batting .313 with seven home runs and a .974 OPS.  

Besides Kieshnick, the Giants’ only other minor league option is Francisco Peguero, although he’s been unimpressive in his two major league cameos.

The reality is that the Giants simply aren’t a club built to sustain any prolonged absences of their key players, a fact that was made painfully obvious in 2011 when Buster Posey suffered his traumatic injury.

If the Giants are going to defend their World Series title, they will have to get healthy—and fast.

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After Ryan Vogelsong fractured his pitching hand on Monday night, the San Francisco Giants are faced with the decision of who will replace him in the starting rotation.

Despite the suddenness of the injury, it is likely that the leading candidates to fill Vogelsong’s spot have already been placed under the microscope.

The right-hander’s early-season struggles (1-4, 7.19 ERA in 9 starts) have been well-documented, and manager Bruce Bochy had recently broached the topic of skipping Vogelsong’s turn in the rotation.

So now that the unfortunate injury has forced the Giants’ hand, who is most likely to become the team’s new fifth starter?

Since Vogelsong is expected to miss only 6-8 weeks, the replacement almost certainly will come from within the organization.

*All statistics courtesy of MLB.com and MiLB.com and current through May 20.

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Even though the San Francisco Giants sit near the top of the National League West, they have been presented with some unpleasant surprises to begin the 2013 season.

The starting pitching has been among the worst in the league.

The defense has been porous, committing 35 errors (second-most in the league) through 45 games.

Still, mostly because of an impressive offense and a spectacular bullpen, the club has held its own in a tough division.

But in order for the Giants to have any chance of defending their World Series crown, they must find a way to counter the negative surprises while maintaining the positives.

*All stats courtesy of MLB.com unless stated otherwise. Stats current through May 20.

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Over a month into the MLB season, there is a surprise contender hovering near the top of the National League West: the Colorado Rockies.

But before the San Francisco Giants and their fans start wringing their collective hands and clamor for a more humid humidor at Coors Field, two questions must be asked and answered:

Are the Rockies really this good? If so, will they still be in the hunt come September and threaten the Giants’ ability to repeat as division champions?

Without a doubt, the Rockies offense is one of the best in the league.  As a team, they rank first in nearly all offensive categories, including batting average (.278), OBP (.343), slugging percentage (.459), OPS (.802) and runs (169). Only the Atlanta Braves have hit more home runs (47) than the Rockies (45).

With a star-studded lineup that features Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Wilin Rosario, Dexter Fowler, Michael Cuddyer and young stud Nolan Arenado, it is more than reasonable to expect that the Rockies—should they remain healthy—will be able to maintain their stellar offensive production throughout the season.

But can they remain healthy? 

In six MLB seasons, Troy Tulowitzki has only reached the 150-games-played mark twice. Carlos Gonzalez has never appeared in more than 145 games. 

If Tulowitzki or Gonzalez miss significant time, do the Rockies have enough firepower to stay afloat in the National League West?

Rosario and Arenado are both great—but unproven—talents. Fowler is off to a hot start, but he is not the type of player who can carry an offense. Cuddyer is a nice complementary piece, but his production would surely drop off if Tulowitzki or Gonzalez were missing from the lineup.

Even if the Rockies do manage to stay healthy, it remains to be seen whether they have enough pitching to carry them through a whole season. 

On one hand, the bullpen has been dominant. 

Thanks to closer Rafael Betancourt and nasty setup man Rex Brothers, the Rockies’ bullpen ranks second in the league (trailing the Giants, of course) with an ERA of 2.69. The bad news, at least for the Rockies, is that they have amassed 124 IP, which is most in the league.

This statistic points to the Rockies’ biggest weakness—starting pitching. Colorado starters have pitched only 182.1 innings, an average of 5.1 innings per start. If that trend continues, which it likely will, the bullpen’s effectiveness is bound to regress due to overuse.    

Further, Colorado’s starting pitchers have a collective ERA of 4.34, which ranks 11th in the league.  Besides Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge De La Rosa, the Rockies’ starting staff is full of holes. 

Juan Nicasio has talent, but he has yet to prove that he can be effective at the major league level. Jeff Francis and Jon Garland are nothing more than retreads who do not belong in any playoff contender’s starting rotation.

Even worse for the Rockies, they have no major-league ready talent waiting in the wings. 

Chad Bettis, their No. 4 overall prospect, according to MLB.com, is currently trying to figure things out in Double-A Tulsa. If the Rockies need help in the rotation, which they most certainly will, it will have to come from outside the organization. 

Signing Roy Oswalt, who joins Francis and Garland in the “retread” category, is not even close to being a plausible solution.

As is, Colorado’s roster is not one that is built for success over 162 games.

Even if the Rockies were to piece together a playoff-caliber roster this season, the responsibility of holding it together would fall onto the shoulders of an unproven manager. 

Walt Weiss, a 14-year MLB veteran and winner of the 1988 American League Rookie of the Year award as a shortstop for the Oakland Athletics, has never managed above the high school level.    

After watching manager Bruce Bochy masterfully maneuver the Giants to two World Series titles in the past three seasons, Giants fans know how pivotal a good manager is to getting a team both to and through the playoffs.

The Rockies’ hot start, while not a complete fluke, is not something that will likely be sustained. While they certainly have many good pieces, most notably on offense, their roster is not nearly as complete as the Giants’. 

Until Colorado bolsters their starting rotation and gains the invaluable experience that comes with playing meaningful baseball late in the season, they will not be able to realistically compete for the division title.

For 2013 at least, Giants fans can breathe a sigh of relief.     

*Stats are courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.

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