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<\/p>\nSAN JOSE \u2014 Jackson Flora delivered the beer. Then got doused in sparkling apple cider.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old right-hander has barely begun his promising professional career with the San Francisco Giants, who selected him with the fourth pick two months ago, the first pitcher in the class. But a few of Flora\u2019s attributes are already apparent after just two assignments since joining Low-A San Jose.<\/p>\n
Flora has ace-level stuff. And he has a bit of ace-level showmanship.<\/p>\n
The Bay Area native and UC Santa Barbara product was one heck of a playoff ringer for San Jose on Thursday night at Excite Ballpark. He topped out at 99.6 mph in two scoreless innings, landed his two breaking balls often enough, walked two, didn\u2019t allow a hit, and struck out four \u2014 including Stockton Ports shortstop Edgar Montero, who was the designated \u201cbeer batter\u201d in Game 2 of the California League Northern Division championship series.<\/p>\n
The thirsty crowd chanted for the strikeout that would give them half-price suds, and when Jackson complied by blowing a fastball past Montero to end the second inning, the right-hander flamboyantly doffed his cap as he strutted off the mound.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got two strikes on him, I figured I would let one eat, so that was fun,\u201d Flora said. \u201cI felt like I settled into a groove a little bit, getting those first two strikeouts in that (second) inning, and wanted to please the people. They were rooting for me, so I had to execute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, after the Giants finished off their series-clinching 3-1 victory, Flora joined his new teammates, some of whom are still teenagers, in blasting each other with Martinelli\u2019s finest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen somebody hat-tip the stands after striking out the beer batter until today, and I\u2019ve seen a lot of games in this ballpark over many years,\u201d Giants farm director Kyle Haines said with a laugh. \u201cBut I thought that was a good play to the crowd there. Why not? Hat tip their discounted beer there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flora\u2019s professional experience this year will be more like a cup of coffee. He spent most of August working out at the Giants\u2019 Papago Park minor league complex in Arizona, pitching in scrimmages and making refinements to a kick change that he hopes will complement his high-spin fastball, sweeper and shorter slider.<\/p>\n
The Giants directed him to make his pro debut with an inning last weekend for San Jose, which was a dress rehearsal for the real assignment: a start in the best-of-three series against Stockton with the hope of reaching the Cal League championship series. After the Giants punched their ticket by sweeping two games from the Ports, Haines confirmed that Flora would take the ball one more time in next week\u2019s best-of-3 series against Lake Elsinore.<\/p>\n
Haines said the playoff assignment was about Flora\u2019s mental development as much as his physical readiness.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne (goal) is acclimating himself to the organization and competing with his new teammates, but also to experience what a playoff race feels like,\u201d Haines said. \u201cYou just don\u2019t know when you\u2019re ever going to get these opportunities. A lot of players, including me when I was a young minor leaguer, thought it was going to happen regularly, and it doesn\u2019t. \u2026 there\u2019s value in winning together and feeling playoff baseball, and bringing out your inner competitor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he showed that he can overwhelm just about anybody when his command\u2019s on. He made some really good hitters on their other team look like they were in between pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Flora was the fourth overall selection of July\u2019s Draft. (Al Bello \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Flora is the brightest pitching hope for a Giants farm system that now ranks among the best in the industry, yet remains heavily tilted toward position players. There is pitching in the system \u2014 left-hander Cesar Perdomo, who has allowed just one run in 10 innings since making his debut, is a good reminder that a strike thrower who can manipulate the baseball need not show up on top prospect lists to find major league success \u2014 but the beleaguered major league pitching staff requires so much help that it\u2019s hard to imagine the Giants can do a credible overhaul in one offseason.<\/p>\n
As tempting as it might be to think of Flora as an immediate fix, he\u2019s as realistic as his coaches and coordinators. A lot of development needs to happen first.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very self-aware,\u201d Haines said. \u201cHe told us a story about going to college and seeing the other players and evaluating what he needed to do. That was a pretty mature way for him to grow from a freshman into a sophomore. And I think we\u2019ve seen a little bit of that here. He\u2019s really good about realizing where the bar is and where he needs to get himself to, and he\u2019s very driven, very competitive. You don\u2019t always see that in players who might think they\u2019ve got it figured out. He definitely doesn\u2019t have it figured out, he knows he doesn\u2019t have it figured out, and he\u2019s got a lot to still get better at. But he\u2019s also a really good competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n
And a crowd pleaser. Flora, who graduated from Foothill High in Pleasanton, the same high school that produced former Giants Gold Glove shortstop Brandon Crawford, had a sizable cheering section that included friends, family, his junior high coach and next-door neighbors. Some of them undoubtedly joined the hundreds of others who chanted \u201cbeer, beer, beer\u201d once Flora got two strikes on Montero.<\/p>\n
Flora needed an inning to settle in, missing the zone both arm side and glove side while issuing two walks in the first frame. He also struggled to land his changeup, perhaps because he grew accustomed to throwing it in the dry Arizona air. Catcher Rod Barajas Jr. helped Flora settle in by throwing out a runner attempting to steal second base.<\/p>\n
After Flora completed his prescribed two innings, he remained in the dugout and cheered on his new teammates. Ricardo Estrada, a left-hander from Chihuahua, Mexico, tossed four solid innings. Two more international players \u2014 Taiwanese right-hander Chen-Hsun Lee and Venezuelan right-hander Samir Chires \u2014 combined to pitch the final three.<\/p>\n
Exciting shortstop prospect Josuar Gonzalez lined a double to ignite San Jose\u2019s two-run first inning, Estrada executed a pickoff that saved the Giants a run, and left fielder Oliver Tejada saved two more with a diving catch in the fifth. Designated hitter Drew Smith, a 14th-round pick in this year\u2019s draft out of the University of Oregon, drove in all their runs with a two-run double in the first inning and a home run in the eighth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really feel like a new guy,\u201d Flora said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve known these guys for a long time. \u2026\u00a0 It\u2019s been really easy to come in here and be comfortable and hang out with these guys, which is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Jose pitching coach and former Giants left-hander Dan Runzler has only worked with Flora for a week. If Runzler returns to San Jose next season, it might be the only time he and Flora work together. Depending on how aggressive the Giants want to be with their assignments next season, the team could have a stacked rotation at High-A Eugene or Double-A Richmond with Flora, left-hander Jacob Bresnahan, and trade deadline additions Ramon Marquez and Henry Lalane.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s definitely a routine-oriented guy,\u201d Runzler said of Flora. \u201cYou can tell from the way he plays catch. Everything is really diligent. \u2026\u00a0 He\u2019s very accountable for what he does, and he also asks a lot of questions, even as a young, newly drafted guy. And obviously, you guys see his stuff. It\u2019s real.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the beer batter?<\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly think he just got in his element and did what he\u2019s supposed to do, and was really fun to watch,\u201d Runzler said.<\/p>\n
Flora plans to return to Santa Barbara after the season, where he\u2019s got three other newly drafted roommates to help keep each other on schedule with their winter workouts. He\u2019ll take a few more classes as he whittles away the credits he needs to complete his degree in communications. And because he\u2019s 21, he can buy something a little stronger than sparkling cider \u2014 even if he has to pay full price.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo celebrate in the clubhouse like that just motivates you even more,\u201d Flora said. \u201cYou want to get up to the big leagues and help that team win and celebrate like that on the big stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2014 Jackson Flora delivered the beer. Then got doused in sparkling apple cider. The 21-year-old right-hander…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,2329,99],"class_list":["post-844139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}