San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball spherical up, 5/19/23

Friday was a busy day for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates, so let’s get straight into the action!

Link to McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL) 2023

All positions listed are the positions played in this game.

AAA Sacramento (21-22)

The Sacramento River Cats defeated the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) 7-3
box score

Given the aggressive promotions of Casey Schmitt (No. 3 CPL) and Patrick Bailey (No. 10 CPL) to the majors, it’s fairly fair to look at midfielder Luis Matos (No. 4 CPL) and assume he’s only a few good players is weeks away from getting this exciting call.

This isn’t meant to put the cart before the horse, but it’s clearly the way the Giants are going about their top prospects. So it’s worth keeping an eye on Matos, and he rewarded those keeping an eye on his third AAA game by scoring with a triple and an outfield assist to make it 3-5.

After going unhit in his AAA debut, Matos adapted immediately and with 2 extra base hits is 5-9 in the next two games. Despite his impeccable plate discipline and contact form, Matos has only netted one strikeout in his 15 AAA plate appearances…he’s only netted 18 strikeouts in 148 plate appearances that year. Elite and ridiculous considering he turned 21 less than four months ago.

But while Matos had the most exciting day due to his talent status, the best day went to right fielder Clint Coulter, who hit two home runs to make it 2-5.

Coulter, a 12-year minor league veteran looking for his first MLB game, has cooled down significantly after his red-hot start to the year, so it’s nice to see he’s having a good game.

Also home was third baseman David Villar, who is looking to find his momentum again after a disappointing start to the year in San Francisco resulted in him being optioned.

2-hit days for third baseman Ford Proctor (who also had a walk) and catcher Ricardo Genovés, who is currently the only catcher on the roster after Bailey’s promotion (third catcher, Brett Cumberland, is in 60-day IL) .

RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 30 CPL) took the mound, giving up just 2 runs in 5 innings, allowing 5 hits and 1 walk while notching 4 strikeouts. He will surely return to San Francisco at some point this season.

Another fine performance for LHP Erik Miller, who went two no-hit innings with a walk despite not having a strikeout. He has a 3.86 ERA and 3.35 FIP since being promoted earlier in the season.

AA Richmond (18-18)

The Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 11-9
box score

A lot of attacks came from the River Cats, and most of them came from two players. First baseman Riley Mahan had a day and batted 2-5 with both hits being homers.

Mahan hasn’t had a particularly good year with the racquet (.695 OPS, 81 wRC+) but days like this certainly do a lot to change that.

The other star was left fielder Carter Aldrete, who also made it 2-5 with a home run and a double. Aldrete has a strong offensive season (.786 OPS, 116 wRC+) while playing the corners in both the infield and outfield.

Those were the stars, but there were other good days too. Right fielder Carter Williams scored 3-5 while continuing to find his rhythm. In his last 7 games, Williams has gone 8-21 with 1 home run, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts.

And third baseman Brett Auerbach (No. 38 CPL) and hitter designated Andy Thomas both went 1-3 with 2 walks. Thomas has 20 walks and 31 strikeouts this year.

Notable: It wasn’t the star-studded day in Richmond that we expected as shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) and recently activated outfielder Vaun Brown (No. 5 CPL) had days off for Matos and Bailey, two of the top -Team’s candidates for the start of the year, have moved on.

But RHP Landen Roupp (No. 20 CPL) pitched! Roupp started the year injured, making his season debut in late April and promptly re-injuring himself. This was only his third appearance of the year and he did well, scoring twice in two perfect innings.

Roupp has only given up 2 hits, 2 walks and 1 run in 6 innings this year, including 10 strikeouts. Not bad for someone who should still be trying to shake off the rust.

RHP Carson Seymour (No. 28 CPL) had a fun outing that was either good or bad depending on your point of view. He pitched 3.2 innings and gave up 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter and 5 runs, but only 1 run was earned and he had 5 strikeouts.

It was nice to see him having a good strikeout game…after Seymour had 108 strikeouts in 80.2 high-A innings last year (with 2 franchises), he’s only had 16 in 29.2 in Richmond so far innings

Very tough assignments for LHPs Juan Sanchez and Raymond Burgos who otherwise had really nice years.

High-A Eugene (20-16)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 5-3 (10 innings)
box score

Not a particularly good day for the Emeralds. The offensive didn’t bring much with the bats, but much with their eyes, because they scored 10 walks.

This campaign was led by center fielder Grant McCray (No. 6 CPL), who scored 0-2 but completed three walks, taking his OPS to .708 and WRC+ to 90. He also stole his 14th and 15th bases of the year! Talk about a guy with a lot of tools.

The best offensive day belonged to left fielder Jared Dupere, who went 2-4 with a double and a walk and increased his OPS to .740 and wRC+ to 98. Not a great season for him when you combine those numbers with a 43.7% strikeout rate.

Also three times catchers Adrian Sugastey (No. 22 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a walk, and Luis Toribio, who hit 1-3 with 2 walks. Shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No.7 CPL) doubled and grabbed a walk, although he’s still looking for his swing in High-A (.624 OPS, 68 wRC+).

Another really nice relief performance from RHP Jose Cruz (No. 35 CPL), who batted four batters in 1.2 innings without hitting, despite giving up a walk and batting one. Cruz, who was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason, now has 17 strikeouts and just 6 hits allowed in 12.1 innings, but he has run 6 batters and batted 4.

And nice to see Mat Olsen making a nice showing, struggling to regain his electrifying form from a year ago. He knocked out two batters in a perfect inning.

This is also amazing:

Low-A San Jose (23-14)

The San Jose Giants defeated the Stockton Ports (A’s) 14-4
box score

Holy heavens, what an offensive day for the Baby Giants, who hit 19 hits that day…including 10 extra base hits and 6 homers.

We could spend all day talking about the great games, so let’s try to go through them quickly. First baseman/left fielder Matt Higgins had the best day, scoring two big flies in a 4-6 win.

With an OPS of .899 and a WRC+ of 143, the undrafted Higgins has done everything the Giants asked of him and we’ll have to see if he plays at a higher level.

Catcher Zach Morgan and designated hitter PJ Hilson (No. 37 CPL) had identical days, going 3-4 with a home run and a walk.

Morgan hasn’t shown much strength this year, with a batting ratio of just .351. But his disc discipline – he has a 22.5% walk rate and only a 16.7% strikeout rate – has given him a .743 OPS and a 114 WRC+ in his first full season. Those numbers could look really good once his .250 BABIP stabilizes.

Hilson, who is only 22 despite being in his sixth year with the organization, is trying to get back on his feet after missing part of the year through injury. He has an OPS of .714 and a WRC+ of 88.

Also successful were third baseman Thomas Gavello, who made the 4-1 win with a walk, and shortstop Jose Ramos, who made the 5-1 win.

Gavello’s first full season was magical as he has an OPS of 1.055 and a WRC+ of 180. Ramos on the other hand had a brilliant start to the year but was left freezing. In his 9 games prior to this one, he had gone 4-33 with no extra base hits, 4 walks and 11 strikeouts. Hopefully the homer gets a great season back on track.

But you don’t have to hit home runs to have good attacking days, and that’s proven by right fielder/midfielder Carter Howell, who went 3-6 with 2 doubles and a triple, raising his OPS to .824 and his wRC+ to .824-128 A fine first full season for the undrafted hitter.

Another really nice start for RHP Hayden Birdsong (No. 6 CPL), who had four scoreless innings with one hit and six strikeouts. The only downside of the day was the issue with the free pass as he had two walks and hit a batter. Birdsong, who has a 1.65 ERA and a 2.79 FIP, has 45 strikeouts in just 27.1 innings despite giving up 14 walks and 3 hit batters. The organization holds him in high esteem, and it’s easy to see why.

RHP Luis Moreno, making only his second appearance of the year through injury, performed well, scoring five in 2.1 scoreless innings but allowing three and a walk. RHP Sam Delaplane, who is only pitching for the third time this year — and only his seventh since 2019 due to injury — was shaken, giving up 1 hit, 3 walks and 4 runs while recording just 1 out.

home runs

AAA Clint Coulter, 2 (3)
AAA David Villar (2)
AA Riley Mahan, 2 (6)
AA Carter Aldrete (5)
Low-A Thomas Gavello (7)
Low-A Matt Higgins, 2 (5)
Low-A PJ Hilson (2)
Low-A Zach Morgan (2)
Low-A Jose Ramos (1)

saturday schedule

Sacramento: @ the Reno Aces, 4:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. the Akron RubberDucks, 3:05 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. the Hillsboro Hops, 6:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ the Stockton Ports, 7:05 p.m. PT

Reminder: All minor league games can now be viewed with an MLB TV subscription.

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