Nate Schierholtz

Schierholtz attended San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, California, the same high school as former San Francisco Giants teammate Randy Winn. At San Ramon Valley, he served as the team captain. Following high school, Schierholtz played for Chabot College, a community college located in Hayward, California. He spent the 2003 season with Chabot, starting at third base. In his lone season at Chabot, he was named an All-American.\n', ' Schierholtz was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. He began his minor league career that year as a third baseman with the rookie Arizona League Giants, batting .400 in 11 games before getting promoted to the Single-A short season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League. In 35 games for Salem-Keizer, he hit .306 with 38 hits, three home runs, and 29 runs batted in (RBI). He began the 2004 season with the Single-A Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League, earning All-star game honors for that league. He batted .296 with 53 RBI in 58 games and was leading the league in home runs (15) and extra-base hits (37) before getting promoted to the Single-A advanced San Jose Giants of the California League. At San Jose, though still receiving significant playing time as a third baseman, he began to play the outfield as well. In 62 games with San Jose, he batted .295 with three home runs and 31 RBI. He was second on the team with nine triples after not hitting any with Hagerstown. He was third among Giants\' prospects with 18 home runs and ranked second with 84 RBI in 2004.\n', ' In 2005, Schierholtz remained at San Jose, where he became an everyday right fielder. Over 128 games, he batted .319 (fifth in the California League) with 160 hits (tied with Chris Lubanski, Seth Smith, and Clay Timpner for fifth), 37 doubles (tied with Danny Putnam for eighth), eight triples (tied with Wladimir Balentien, Danny Richar, and Joe Gaetti for third behind Timpner\'s 12 and Anthony Webster\'s 11), 15 home runs, and 86 RBI. He batted .333 in the playoffs, helping San Jose win the California League championship.\n', '