Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner threw three innings in his first minor league appearance of the spring Thursday, shutting down Oakland's AA club for two innings before getting squeezed on a potential strike three and then giving up a two-run double that ended his day. Bumgarner sat at 88-91 mph but reached back for 92-93 when he needed it, working in cruise control for most of his outing. His changeup was ahead of his slider; he turned the changeup over very well and showed an easy feel for it, but had trouble staying on top of his slider, resulting in a flatter pitch with a very early break. His fastball had good life on it and some sink that probably comes from his low three-quarter slot.Bumgarner's delivery takes some knocks from scouts, and while it's a little different, I don't see why it would earn any strongly negative reviews. He takes a long stride and generates power with his lower half. His arm action is definitely long in the back, much longer than previously reported, but it's pretty easy and loose and he has no problem adding to and subtracting from his fastball when he needs to do so. His arm slot is low for a starter, but the presence of an above-average and future plus changeup mitigates the concern with low-slot pitchers, which is that they'll have major platoon splits down the road. He has a workhorse build with a strong lower half. This was my first live look at him since his one inning in the AFLAC game in 2006, and he's a lot more advanced now with a stronger body and a very good feel for pitching. There's a reason Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and I all put him among the top 10 prospects in the game.• I also watched the BP sessions of both of San Francisco's A-ball clubs. The Giants gave Dominican outfielder Rafael Rodriguez over $2 million last August, the second-highest bonus awarded on the international market last year. He won't turn 17 until July, based on his listed birth date. As you might imagine of a 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic, he's quite raw; he has some bat speed and the ball comes off the bat pretty well, but he's all on his front foot and just hacks at the ball rather than setting, gathering and driving through it. When he got a ball up, he did a better job of staying back and squaring up rather than lunging just to make contact. Of course, he'd be in his junior or even sophomore year of high school if he was U.S.-born, and lunging in BP doesn't mean he'll lunge in games at pitches he probably should let pass.• Wendell Fairley struggled badly at the start of his first full pro season last year, but played better at the end and should go to a full-season league now that he's 21 (when he'd even be old for the Sally League). The good news is that the tool set that got him drafted in the first round is intact: He has great bat speed with quick hands and strong wrists, and is still a great athlete with some room to add a little more muscle up top.• Quick hits: Second baseman Nick Noonan doesn't walk, and he bars his arm horribly, as bad as I've seen any pro hitter do in a while. I'm not optimistic about him, given those two facts. … Outfielder Francisco Peguero has good hands and gets his arms extended well to drive the ball. He hasn't hit much in pro ball, so I don't want to overrate the look, but he's worth keeping an eye on. … Conor Gillaspie has great balance at the plate and a short contact-oriented swing with excellent bat speed. It looks like the Giants have worked with him on trying to drive the ball to right more often. He was a steal in the comp round, part of what I rated the best Day 1 draft of any team last year.