There R Giants

I’ve already share these interviews in video format, but I know folks come to my content from different places and with different preferences for consuming information, so I’m going to include them as a standalone podcast as well. These interviews with Richmond Flying Squirrels pitchers Greg Farone and Tyler Vogel were conducted in the first week at home at the brand new CarMax Park as the pair has both just gotten into one game each. Since then Farone has started two more games and Vogel has established himself as the team closer, picking up four Saves already on t...

I’m joined this week by my friend, Wrenzie Regodon, who you probably know as Giant Prospective on Twitter or at his Patreon site. As usual, we spend a long time looking over all four of the affiliate rosters and picking out the most interesting parts of the rosters, as well as tabbing sleepers, stars, and other players who catch our eyes! It’s a long one so settle in!

Sacramento (2:00)Richmond (20:00)Eugene (38:00)San Jose (51:00)

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or p...

Kerry Crowley and I break down the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Giants’ cold start. We try to make sense of the bullpen usage. And we talk a few prospects who are hitting along the way. It’s a new KROG, back by popular demand!

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Yesterday was media day at the gorgeous, brand-spanking new CarMax Park in Richmond. And, while taking in the beautiful new digs, I got to speak with players Maui Ahuna and Scott Bandura, and the long-time manager of the Flying Squirrels, Dennis Pelfrey, about the upcoming season. Enjoy!

* Maui Ahuna (3:45)

* Scott Bandura (11:40)

* Dennis Pelfrey (21:30)

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Kerry Crowley and I talk about my annual trip to Papago Park and minor league spring training, where the Giants’ are in terms of competitive windows, and how the bullpen is likely to shake out in the next couple of months.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

On this week’s pod, I have a sort of hybrid for you from my spring training trip to Scottsdale. First, I’m flying solo, talking about the players that have jumped out at me during my time at Papago Park the past week or so. It’s been a fun trip, with a lot of bats really standing out in my looks.

And then in the second half of the program (20:45 mark), I have a short interview with Gavin Kilen, whom I was able to talk to for a few minutes before last week’s Spring Breakout...

Opening Night is less than two weeks away…. and there are decisions to be made for the Giants! One jumbo-sized one, and a whole lot of smaller ones. KROG is here to help. Kerry Crowley and I dive into the Bryce Eldridge question and try to straighten out the bullpen and final bench assignments. Kerry even comes up with a late spring trade idea! Were sooooo close to the real thing!

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic joins me to talk a lot about the Bryce Eldridge decision, and a little about the Luis Hernandez decision — with a lot of bullpen conversation along the way! It’s a spring spectacular with opening day less than 10 days away.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

SF Chronicle’s Giants’ beat writer, Shayna Rubin, joins me this week to talk about camp battles and young players making impressions early on in camp.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Kerry Crowley and I finally have some baseball to talk about…sort of! As the Giants get ready for their first games of 2026, KROG discusses what we’re looking forward to most in this year’s camp.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

As signs of baseball spring to life once again, MLB’s Jim Callis returns to talk Spring Breakout series, an improving Giants’ farm system, and we even sneak in a little early draft talk! Jim will be dropping his MLB Top 30 for the Giants on March 4 — and he even gives us a sneak peak at where a couple of players are landing on the list this year.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Giants’ young OF prospect, Carlos Gutierrez, is my guest on this week’s podcast. We talk about his surprise at making the San Jose squad last year — and the amazing season he had there. We also talk about his efforts to over come the continuing back issues that have sidelined him, and his hopes for the coming year.

As the organization looks to develop more well-rounded players with supreme contact skills, Gutierrez figures to be a big part of the coming wave of outfielders, with his long history of outstanding bat-to-ball ability and that sweet left-handed swing. You al...

My guest this week is Giants’ left-hander, Luis de la Torre, who is coming off one of the biggest and most unexpected break out campaigns of 2025. De la Torre talks about when he knew big things were coming for him, how it felt to be given the starting assignment for the Cal League clincher, and the many big goals he has set for himself in 2026. He’s going to be one of the really fun talents to watch in the upcoming year, and as you will hear, he’s got some big plans for what he wants to accomplish!

<...

Kerry Crowley and I talk about the Giants’ signing of Harrison Bader. We also talk CJ Abrams, Brendan Donovan, and the moves still potentially to be made as they start packing the trucks for Arizona.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Giants’ Senior Director of Amateur Scouting, Michael Holmes is my guest this week. With the college season just about to get underway, this seemed like a great time to talk with Michael about the impending search for a star at the #4 position in the draft. Given how much changes in the course of the spring, this seemed like a good time to talk process with Holmes: how does the team marshal it’s resources? How big of a net do you cast when drafting high up in the first round? When does the winnowing down begin? And how does the...

Once again this year, Giants’ Senior International Scouting Director, Joe Salermo, joins me to talk about the January 15 international signing class. This year’s group was only three players, thanks to the Giants handing out MLB’s largest signing bonus this year to Venezuelan shortstop, Luis Hernandez. Joe talks about Hernandez and the Giants’ decision to build their entire year around him. We also talk about how Hernandez and last year’s top signing, Josuar Gonzalez, will be able to compete for shortstop reps in coming years, and discuss a lot of the big development steps that previous international signees ha...

Kerry Crowley and Roger Munter ring in the new year…..without much new to discuss (other than the unwanted Kyle Tucker news that dropped last night). We talk austerity, strategies for improvement, why 2b has moved to the front of the wish lists, and think about the long-term strategy with an improving farm system bolstering the front office’s options.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Giants relief prospect Trent Harris joins me from Scottsdale, AZ, where he’s working hard to get ready for the 2026 season. Trent talks about the jarring transition pitchers face when heading to the PCL, what he learned from his first experience in Triple-A, and how he’s working to incorporate those lessons for the upcoming year. Hopefully, we see Harris get an invite to camp (something I ask him about) in about a month!

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid...

With Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook now out in digital form, and the system top 30s up on BA’s site, it’s a perfect time to check in with Josh Norris, who has handled the Giants’ chapter of the Handbook for many years now. Josh talks about a system that has taken a large step forward over the last year, and the many exciting talents who are driving it up BA’s organizational rankings.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber...

Eli Walsh joins me to talk about Baseball Prospectus’ Giants’ prospect rankings which just dropped last Friday. We get into a few mano á mano debates in the system — including Bryce Eldridge vs Josuar Gonzalez at the very top — and talk outfielders, shortstops, and a lot about left-handed pitching. Enjoy our final podcast of the year!

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

It’s Silent Night at the Hot Stove, and Kerry Crowley and I are here to dissect the difficult path ahead for the Giants this off-season.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

To celebrate the winter meetings, I’m having a double podcast week! Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen joins me direct from Orlando to talk Rule 5 picks, Marco Luciano’s development, the Giants’ contingent at Arizona Fall League, and much more. If you’re interested hearing about Josuar Gonzalez, Parks Harber, and Spencer Miles, then this is the podcast for you!

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I’m not sure exactly why, but it appears that the post for today’s podcast went out with no media attached to it, so there’s nothing to listen to when you try to play it. It sounded great on my side of the curtain before it went out over the interwebs, so I’m not entirely sure how to fix things other than to re-create a new one, send it out once more, and hope for better!

As the Winter Meetings get started in Orlando, FL, I’m joined by Giants’ beat reporter, Maria Guardado of MLB.com...

As the Winter Meetings get started in Orlando, FL, I’m joined by Giants’ beat reporter, Maria Guardado of MLB.com, to talk about the situation the Giants find themselves in this winter as they try to improve upon a long run of mediocre seasons. We talk pitching, money, potential avenues for upgrades, and we get into a little prospect talk with the upcoming Rule 5 draft looming on Wednesday.

This conversation was recorded Friday afternoon just hours before the news broke of Marco Luciano being claimed by the Pirates — so while his name does come up briefly in thi...

Kerry Crowley and I light the pilot on the hot stove season, and look at where the Giants have got to focus their offseason efforts in this edition of the KROG podcast.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

David Flemming is once again my guest this week. We talk the World Series, how the Blue Jays can be a blueprint for the Giants going forward, what the Tony Vitello hire says about Buster Posey’s leadership, and the crucial process of putting together the new coaching staff.

[Dave also very generously gives a happy testimonial as a paying subscriber to There R Giants. So be like Dave and sign up today, just in time to get my previews of 2026 rosters, complete depth charts for the organization, and, of course, the new year’s Top 50 ranking for...

Kerry and I talk about Tony Vitello’s introductory press conference, the dramatic (albeit tragic for Giants’ fans) World Series, and start thinking about the offseason to come.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This week, I’m joined by Jacob Rudner, who covers college baseball for Baseball America. Together we talk about the Giants’ historic decision to hire University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello to become the franchise’s 40th manager — and all the fascinating implications of this move.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The Giants have rather shockingly named University of Tennessee head coach, Tony Vitello, as the franchise’s 40th manager — a historic and fascinating hiring. Kerry Crowley and I naturally had to crank up the ol’ podcast machine immediately to talk about it, in the Emergency Pod version of KROG!

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Baseball America’s Jesús Cano joins me this week to talk Instructional League, Bridge League, and Arizona Fall League action. We talk a bunch of Josuar Gonzalez, as well as the set up for Instructional League and the importance of game action in the fall.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Kerry and I dive into the manager search, and talk approaches to interviewing, potential favorites, and more wide-ranging organizational changes that could be on the horizon in the latest KROG podcast.

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 free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rogermunter.substack.com

Though the dugouts are all empty at this time of year, let’s drop another “In the Dugout” episode, this one featuring Drew Cavanaugh, who made it up to Double-A Richmond for the final month of the season. I caught up with Drew during the final weeks of his whirlwind season, in which he played for all four full-season affiliates in the Giants’ system — and hit a home run for all four of them, too! Drew talks through his baseball journey from freez...

My guest this week is Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes, who digs into the data to look at some of the best pitching breakouts of the season on the Giants’ farm. We also play a little game of “Prospect Showdowns,” stacking up Keyner Martinez vs Argenis Cayama, and Luis de la Torre vs Jacob Bresnahan in a ranking game. Geoff does incredible work at Baseball America, especially digging into the metrics, and he’s always a fun guy to talk ball with.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, cons...

Kerry Crowley and I talk Giants’ 2025 season in the end game.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

It’s something of a theme pod today: Rehab Stories. I talk with three different pitchers who spent most of the last couple of years going through rehab together in the Giants’ Papago Park facility in Scottsdale. Ryan Murphy, R.J. Dabovich, and Chris Wright all give their own variations on the theme of life in rehab, and talk about the support and comfort that these players give each other while trying to work their way back to normal.

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a fr...

The Northwest League Championship series begins tonight in Eugene, OR. And to help you get prepared for it — and recapture the feel of the amazing second half run that the Eugene Emeralds have been on — Eugene’s road announcer (and man of many behind-the-scenes talents) Jacob Archer rejoins the pod. We talk about the turnaround in pitching, the guys who really took forward strides along the way this year, the leadership that Charlie Szykowny and Jonah Cox have give the team all year long, and some of the recent additions to the team that have really supplemented the core. We als...

This week I have a matched pair to last week’s group of player interviews from my west coast swing. Where we had hitters in last week’s group, this week it’s the arms. I speak with one of the true break out stars of this season, left-hander Luis de la Torre, one of the hardest throwers in the Giants’ organization, right-hander Liam Simon, and the team’s 7th round pick in 2024, lefty Greg Farone, who is putting the finishing touches on a very strong first season of pro ball.

All of my travel and player interviews...

Kerry Crowley and I discuss the Giants’ recent power surge, whether this current incarnation of the team is what we should have expected all along or just a September chimera, and what to hope for in this final month. We also indulge in a little bit of looking forward to the off-season to come, because we just can’t help ourselves!

Enjoy!

There R Giants is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I put quite a number of player interviews in the can on my trip to the west coast affiliates last week, and I’ll roll them out over the next couple of weeks. First up, I have a trio of hitters — two trade acquisitions who have just gotten their first taste of action in the Giants’ organization this month, and a high school draftee in his second season. Nate Furman and Parks Harber talk about the unique situation of being traded while rehabbing injuries, as well as their approach to hitting. Furman is one of best contact hitters in the mi...

For this week’s podcast, I’m joined by a couple of members of the Richmond Flying Squirrels who have traveled some long roads to get to where they are now. First we have Aruban native, Dayson Croes, who has hit ball everywhere he’s every played, but had to go through tiny colleges, Indy ball north or the border, and international competition to get the chance to play pro ball. And once again, he’s hitting the ball all over the field. Marques Johnson hasn’t had that long or circuitous a road, but from a SoCal JuCO to college...