Determined Brown gets first call to Giants

DENVER -- Gary Brown watched his brethren in the outfield, one by one, advance to the Major Leagues while he remained in the Minors. Roger Kieschnick. Francisco Peguero. Tyler Colvin. Juan Perez, several times. Even Double-A farmhand Jarrett Parker.

Yet Brown, who officially received his first callup from Triple-A Fresno on Tuesday, insisted that he never felt bitter when somebody else ascended to San Francisco.

"I'd be lying to myself if I said I should be the one to go, because obviously the numbers weren't there," said Brown, San Francisco's No. 1 selection (24th overall) in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.

Brown didn't have overwhelming numbers this year, his second in a row with Fresno. But he improved his batting average from .231 in 2013 to .271, his on-base percentage from .286 to .329 and his slugging percentage from .375 to 394. Rated No. 20 on MLB.com's Giants Top 20 Prospects list, Brown also scored 89 runs and stole 36 bases, compared to 79 and 17 last year.

Brown, who turns 26 on Sept. 28, said he gained a better understanding of what it means to be consistent.

"I was trying to have the same mental approach every day," Brown said. "Sometimes I was up, sometimes I was down. But that was the area I was working on the most."

The Giants likely will use Brown as an occasional late-inning replacement and pinch-runner.