There R Giants Roger Munter

This week’s pod features a couple of pitchers who have been carving up hitters this year without the normal huge velocity we tend to associate with great pitching performances. John Michael Bertrand has now won the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors twice, while Dylan Cumming was the Pitcher of the Month for the Northwest League in April — and has a decent shot at repeating the honor in May. Both of them were generous enough to share their baseball journeys with me and detail their preparation and thought processes when on the mound.
This one’s a little noisy — as happens with in-stadium interviews, but it’s well worth it. Both of these guys are thoughtful, articulate, and engaging!
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Intro/Outro: “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” by Gladys Knight and the Pips


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It’s time for another installation of There R Giants’ ever popular video interview series, In the Dugout! In this installment, we talk with Giants’ right-handed pitcher, Eric Silva. The Giants’ 2021 4th round pick out of JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA, Silva is going through multiple transitions this year: into the upper minors and to the bullpen. Through it all, Silva remains a thoughtful, introspective, and articulate young man, who is as interested in his growth as a person as he is his growth as an athlete. I hope you enjoy this super engaging talk with Silva, definitely one of my favorites to converse with.
There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

MLB.com’s Maria Guardado joins me to talk about the young wave of talent joining the Giants, and the struggles, adjustments, and improvements that are helping these young talents stick on the roster going forward.
You can follow Maria on twitter at mi_guardado to see all of her coverage of the Giants (including a special report on the upcoming Field of Dreams game from Rickwood Field).
Follow me on twitter at rog61, or you can subscribe to There R Giants to get all of my daily coverage of the Giants’ farm system.
There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rogermunter.substack.com/subscribe

This week on There R Giants podcast, I’m joined by the Sacramento River Cats’ play by play man, Zack Bayrouty. The long time Stockton Ports announcer, who took over behind the microphone for the River Cats last year, talks about the success they’ve been having on the field both individually and as a team. Zack and I discuss the plethora of pitchers vying for big league opportunities and the growth of hitters like Marco Luciano, Casey Schmitt, Brett Wisely, and Luis Matos.
There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Intro/Outro: “If and When” by the dBs


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Kerry Crowley and Roger Munter get together once again to talk over the Giants first month of the 2024 season. We talk about the wonder of Matt Chapman’s throwing arm, the likelihood that the offense will pick up, and the looming question of how far the Giants will stretch out their young pitchers.
Watch all of episodes of The Kerry Crowley show on his You Tube channel, and follow him on twitter at KO_Crowley. You can follow me on twitter at Rog61 or become a There R Giants’ subscriber to get all of my Giants’ prospect work.
There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Intro/Outro: “Pieces of April” by Three Dog Night


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For this week’s podcast, I have a trio of interviews from the Diamond in Richmond (excuse the standard stadium noisiness!), all involving pitchers whose baseball paths have involved twists and turns.
First, I spoke with Reggie Crawford, the Giants’ top pick in the 2022 draft, who has just recently joined the Richmond pitching staff as he continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. Crawford is, for the first time in his career, developing as a pitcher only, after being a two-way player at UConn and previously in his pro career. We talk about his time as a hitter in the AFL and the decision to focus on pitching, his health history, the path forward and much more.
Next I spoke with 2021 4th round pick, Eric Silva, who is negotiating a change from starter to reliever in his third full season. Eric talks about the relationship he’s built with fellow pitcher Jose Cruz, the value of being bilingual, and the improvements he’s made to the mental side of his craft.
Finally, Tanner Kiest discusses his long career in Independent leagues as he worked on his craft and worked his way back to affiliate ball. A decade after he was originally drafted by the Phillies in 2014, Kiest has made it to Double-A, where he’s doing quite well in the Squirrels’ bullpen, sporting an 0.82 ERA over his first seven games.
There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Intro/Outro: “You Learn,” by Alanis Morissette


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rogermunter.substack.com/subscribe