Sean Roby Finds His Power Stroke

After Sean Roby hit 22 home runs in 222 at-bats as a sophomore at Arizona Western JC in 2018, the Giants selected the third baseman in the 12th round.

Though Roby won the short-season Northwest League’s home run derby in August 2019, his home run numbers in his first two pro seasons were far from eye-popping. He hit 10 in his first two seasons and 389 at-bats, primarily in Rookie ball and with short-season Salem-Keizer.

The 22-year-old Roby apparently rediscovered his power stroke early at instructional league in October.

“You knew it was in there,” Giants farm director Kyle Haines said. “It was just a matter of time for it to play in the game, and I think we’re starting to now see him become a well-rounded player with power, and a developing bat for us.”

How did Roby, who is listed at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, become more power-proficient in the instructional league?

“He seems to be a little stronger. He’s put on a little more weight,” Haines said. “We’ve always seen it in the workouts that he would hit for power one day. He’s always been a really good hitter, and our hope was always that he could develop into a good hitter with power.”

A righthanded hitter, Roby put together eerily similar production in his first two pro seasons. Not only did he hit five homers in each of those seasons, but his OPS tracked at roughly .800 in each season.

“He’s always given us good at-bats. He’s always hit the ball well” Haines said. “So, I think now we’re just looking to see if the game he’s showing us here at instructional league is going to play out over a full year and be a consistent week-to-week and month-to-month production.”

Roby is primarily a third baseman, but he can play first as well.

Haines clearly likes Roby’s power potential and also likes his demeanor.

Roby is “never rattled by anything,” Haines said. He’s “very even-keeled, soft-spoken. You can never tell if he’s having a great day or a bad day. He just seems to be the same kid every single day.”

GIANTICS

— Outfielder Heliot Ramos, the Giants’ first-round pick in 2017, was sidelined early at instructional league because of an injury to his left oblique. The 21-year-old injured the same oblique making a throw in spring training. Ramos was at the Giants’ alternate training site in Sacramento this summer. He’s expected to be ready for spring training.