Oct. 28

1958 — Construction began on the new ballpark for the Giants in San Francisco. The rocks in the area resembled candlesticks.

1968 — Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals won his first Cy Young Award. Gibson was a unanimous choice after dominating hitters with a 22-9 record and an ERA of 1.12.

1981 — Behind the solid pitching of Burt Hooton and Steve Howe and the bat of Pedro Guerrero, the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a comeback from 0-2 to win the World Series in six games with a 9-2 win over the New York Yankees. Hooton pitched 5 1-3 innings, allowing two runs for the win, and second-year relief ace Steve Howe got the final 11 outs for the save. Guerrero hit a two-run triple in the fifth inning and added a two-run single in a four-run sixth inning that put the game away He hit a home run in the eighth inning to close out the scoring.

1989 — The Oakland Athletics, behind the pitching and hitting of Mike Moore and the bat of Rickey Henderson, beat the San Francisco Ginats 9-6 and sweep the World Series.

1995 — The Braves won their first World Series since moving to Atlanta with a 1-0 win over Cleveland in Game 6. Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers combined on a one-hitter and David Justice homered in the sixth inning.

2001 — Randy Johnson shut down the New York Yankees with a three-hitter for a 4-0 win and moved his Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

2007 — The Boston Red Sox swept to their second title in four years with a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in Game 4 of the World Series. Jon Lester pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and Jonathan Papelbon closed with his third save of the Series.

2009 — Chase Utley hit two solo homers off CC Sabathia to help the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Yankees 6-1 in Game 1 of the World Series.

2011 — The St. Louis Cardinals won a remarkable World Series they weren’t even supposed to reach, beating the Texas Rangers 6-2 in Game 7.

2012 — Marco Scutaro singled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 to complete a four-game sweep and win their second World Series title in three years.

2013 — Jon Lester got the better of Adam Wainwright once again and journeyman David Ross hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning as the Red Sox downed the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 to take a 3-2 edge in the World Series.

2014 — Kansas City broke open the game with a seven-run second, battering Jake Peavy and the San Francisco Giants 10-0 to force a Game 7 in the World Series.

2015 — Johnny Cueto pitched a two-hitter, Eric Hosmer drove in two more runs and the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Mets 7-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

2016 — Cody Allen escaped a ninth-inning jam and the Cleveland Indians pitched their fifth shutout this postseason, holding off the Chicago Cubs 1-0 for a 2-1 lead as the World Series returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since 1945.

2017 — Cody Bellinger lined a go-ahead double in the ninth inning, four Dodgers pitchers combined on a two-hitter and Los Angeles rallied past the Houston Astros 6-2 to tie the World Series at 2-all.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Oct. 28

1958 — Construction began on the new ballpark for the Giants in San Francisco. The rocks in the area resembled candlesticks.

1968 — Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals won his first Cy Young Award. Gibson was a unanimous choice after dominating hitters with a 22-9 record and an ERA of 1.12.

1981 — Behind the solid pitching of Burt Hooton and Steve Howe and the bat of Pedro Guerrero, the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a comeback from 0-2 to win the World Series in six games with a 9-2 win over the New York Yankees. Hooton pitched 5 1-3 innings, allowing two runs for the win, and second-year relief ace Steve Howe got the final 11 outs for the save. Guerrero hit a two-run triple in the fifth inning and added a two-run single in a four-run sixth inning that put the game away He hit a home run in the eighth inning to close out the scoring.

1989 — The Oakland Athletics, behind the pitching and hitting of Mike Moore and the bat of Rickey Henderson, beat the San Francisco Ginats 9-6 and sweep the World Series.

1995 — The Braves won their first World Series since moving to Atlanta with a 1-0 win over Cleveland in Game 6. Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers combined on a one-hitter and David Justice homered in the sixth inning.

2001 — Randy Johnson shut down the New York Yankees with a three-hitter for a 4-0 win and moved his Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

2007 — The Boston Red Sox swept to their second title in four years with a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in Game 4 of the World Series. Jon Lester pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and Jonathan Papelbon closed with his third save of the Series.

2009 — Chase Utley hit two solo homers off CC Sabathia to help the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Yankees 6-1 in Game 1 of the World Series.

2011 — The St. Louis Cardinals won a remarkable World Series they weren’t even supposed to reach, beating the Texas Rangers 6-2 in Game 7.

2012 — Marco Scutaro singled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 to complete a four-game sweep and win their second World Series title in three years.

2013 — Jon Lester got the better of Adam Wainwright once again and journeyman David Ross hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning as the Red Sox downed the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 to take a 3-2 edge in the World Series.

2014 — Kansas City broke open the game with a seven-run second, battering Jake Peavy and the San Francisco Giants 10-0 to force a Game 7 in the World Series.

2015 — Johnny Cueto pitched a two-hitter, Eric Hosmer drove in two more runs and the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Mets 7-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

2016 — Cody Allen escaped a ninth-inning jam and the Cleveland Indians pitched their fifth shutout this postseason, holding off the Chicago Cubs 1-0 for a 2-1 lead as the World Series returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since 1945.

2017 — Cody Bellinger lined a go-ahead double in the ninth inning, four Dodgers pitchers combined on a two-hitter and Los Angeles rallied past the Houston Astros 6-2 to tie the World Series at 2-all.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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For the final time this year, three San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action on Thursday. Going forward the eight-team system has been whittled down to just two.

Let’s jump into the action.

Link to the 2023 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

News

Itty bitty news, but AAA Sacramento moved LHP Chris Wright and RHP Miguel Yajure to the Development List. This is surely just logistical puzzle pieces, as they had to make room for RHP Joe Ross to be activated, and third baseman Casey Schmitt to be optioned.

AAA Sacramento (63-77)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros) 4-1
Box score

It hasn’t been the year that RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 30 CPL) envisioned, after making his MLB debut in 2022. The hope was that Hjelle would be an impact player at the MLB level and, when not doing that, look really good in AAA.

Unfortunately, neither of those things have happened, as Hjelle has struggled a bit at each level, and will enter the offseason with his 40-man roster spot in peril.

But Thursday he reminded the team as to why he’s such an intriguing prospect. Hjelle was initially slated to start the game, but when veteran RHP Joe Ross was activated from the IL, Hjelle moved into a bulk-innings relief role. He entered in a messy 3rd inning and got out of the jam he didn’t make, then settled into an absolutely delightful outing: 5.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, 1 run, and 2 strikeouts.

Hjelle lived in the strike zone, throwing 53 of 81 pitches for strikes, and despite the low strikeout numbers, batters looked quite uncomfortable taking at-bats against him all night long. Such is the inherent advantage of being a pitcher who would be one of the tallest players in the league if he played in the NBA.

With a handful of notable pitchers being Rule 5 eligible this offseason, it won’t be easy for the Giants to find a way to keep Hjelle, considering that he has a 6.03 ERA and a 5.94 FIP this year in AAA, to go with his 8.59 ERA and 4.80 FIP in the Majors. But you can certainly understand why they might prioritize him more than the raw numbers would suggest. There’s definitely something there.

As mentioned, Ross got the start, his first with AAA after spending the year injured and then making 5 rehab appearances. He looked a little rusty, as expected, but was good overall, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings with 2 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. This short stint in Sacramento is important for Ross as he tries to get back to the Majors — if he looks good, he could certainly factor into the team’s plans for 2024.

Shutting the door in the 9th inning was LHP Erik Miller, who struck out a batter and walked a batter in a no-hit inning. By now you all know the drill with Miller, who has obscenely high strikeout and walk rates: among 165 Pacific Coast League pitchers with at least 30 innings thrown, Miller’s 12.8 strikeouts per 9 innings ranks 8th, while his 7.2 walks per 9 ranks 150th.

But while those are the numbers that jump off the page, it’s something a little quieter that might be the most stunning. Since getting tagged for 5 runs in 0.2 innings in his final appearance in July, Miller has been almost literally unhittable. In 16 games since, Miller has thrown 14.2 innings and allowed …. wait for it …. 1 hit. And that hit was a single. Needless to say, he hasn’t given up a run, and he has 24 strikeouts to 10 walks in that time frame.

I think it’s safe to say that the Giants are going to protect Miller from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. Southpaws who can go nearly 7 weeks of 1-hitting opponents in the Minor League equivalent of Coors Field don’t exactly grow on trees.

A fairly pedestrian day on offense, though shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 18 CPL) certainly didn’t get that memo. He had another delightful game, hitting 2-4 with an opposite-field home run.

The home run was notable for Fitzgerald because it gave him a 20-20 season in Sacramento. He’d already blown past having a 20-20 year across 2 levels, but fun to see a 20-20 season in AAA.

The Giants have had just 4 20-20 seasons in the Minors over the last 2 years: Grant McCray last year, Vaun Brown last year, and Fitzgerald both this year and last year. That’s really cool, so congrats on the accomplishment, Tyler!

It’s hard to know what to make of Fitzgerald’s power and overall offensive performance. On the one hand, an up-the-middle player with a lot of home run power is obviously a very exciting thing. On the other hand, the Giants are pretty wary of prospects who rely on home runs for offensive success. We’ve seen firsthand what happened when David Villar and Jaylin Davis were given opportunities in the Majors and didn’t sustain their PCL home run rates and had limited offensive tools to fall back on.

The unfortunate place where that comparison breaks is in the fact that Villar and Davis used homers to boost their delightful statlines, while Fitzgerald has used his to tread water offensively. Villar’s 27 homers in Sacramento last year resulted in a 148 wRC+, while Davis’ 25 homers across a pair of AAA teams in 2019 left him with a sky-high, very nice 169 wRC+.

It’s been a different story for Fitzgerald, whose 20 homers in Sacramento this year have given him a 103 wRC+, while 21 big flies in AA Richmond a season ago left him with a distinctly-average 100 wRC+. Seen through that lens, it’s a little more understandable that the Giants don’t seem to be as high on Fitzgerald as most fans are, but it’s still exciting to think of a player who plays a quality shortstop, second base, and center field having that type of power.

Also a 2-hit day for catcher Joey Bart, which was nice to see, while left fielder Trenton Brooks was the other player to reach base multiple times, hitting 1-2 with a walk.

Not a notable day for the players trying to get back to the Majors this year, as designated hitter Heliot Ramos (No. 12 CPL) hit 0-4 with 2 strikeouts, while Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) and Wade Meckler (No. 42 CPL) both had the day off.

AA Richmond (73-62)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 7-3
Box score

With their 10th win in their last 11 games, the Flying Squirrels have done something that looked impossible when the month began: punched a ticket to the postseason. And with 3 games remaining, no less!

Driving the critical win was LHP John Michael Bertrand, whose final regular season appearance of his first full season put a bow on an absolutely delightful year. A 10th-round pick in 2022, Bertrand started this game and tossed 6 scoreless innings, giving up just 4 hits and 2 walks. Delightful!

He also only struck out 2 batters, but that’s part of the Bertrand experience. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but he has fantastic command and control, and limits hard contact, which is what has allowed him to fly through the system: after throwing just 8 innings in his debut season last year, and starting 2023 in Low-A, he ends the regular season having made 11 starts in AA.

Among 56 Giants pitchers with at least 50 innings thrown this year, Bertrand is 4th in walks per 9 innings (2.7), 7th in home runs per 9 innings (0.5), and 4th in ground ball rate (56.4%). That’s allowed him to be 14th in ERA (3.65) and 9th in FIP (3.61), while mostly trailing relievers, despite being 54th of those 56 in strikeouts per 9 innings (7.0).

In that type of old school pitcher enough for Bertrand to have a future as a starter in the Majors, or will he end up being a Scott Alexander-esque reliever? I’m sure the Giants would be happy with either!

The standout player on offense was someone who has been standing out most of the year, right fielder Victor Bericoto. Playing in his 49th game since a midseason promotion, Bericoto hit 1-3 with a walk, and added to his organizational lead with a solo home run to open up the 6th inning.

Despite a very slow start after his promotion, Bericoto has seen his AA numbers rise up to a .777 OPS and a 107 wRC+. Still just 21, the Giants have to be mighty impressed by the righty’s ability to adjust. He joined Richmond in early July and posted a .464 OPS in the month. But in August that number rose all the way to .888, and so far in September it’s sitting at .854.

I’m curious to see if the Giants start Bericoto in AAA next year. I’d guess they’ll be a little more cautious and have him begin the year in AA, and promote him early and aggressively if he performs well, primarily because his strikeout rate has spiked in Richmond, jumping from 19.4% in High-A to 27.0% in AA.

The only player other than Bericoto to reach base twice was shortstop Will Wilson (No. 21 CPL), who hit 2-4 as he tries to find some silver linings at the end of a disappointing season. And the biggest hit came courtesy of first baseman Brady Whalen, who only hit 1-4 but that hit was a bases-loaded double.

Low-A San Jose (eliminated)

San Jose Giants lost to the Modesto Nuts (Mariners) 13-4
Box score

And with that, the season is over for the Baby Giants. This game kind of mirrored their year, as they scored 4 runs early on, then gave up 13 unanswered. That’s fitting for a team that was seemingly unbeatable for the first two months of the year, then fell apart.

The pitchers struggled struggled mightily, with the first 5 arms the Giants put on the mound getting lit up. Then LHP Esmerlin Vinicio showed up and saved the day, striking out all 3 batters that he faced in the 8th inning. I have no idea how accurate the following graphics are, but if they are accurate they certainly provide some insight into just how deceptive Vinicio’s pitches are.

That’s a lot of pitches that are clearly in the strike zone and aren’t being swung at.

The raw numbers don’t stand out much for Vinicio, who posted both a 4.91 ERA and FIP in San Jose, with 83 strikeouts to 42 walks in 77 innings (worth noting that Thursday’s game, being the postseason, doesn’t count in his stat totals). But there’s clearly a ton of talent in his arm, and he won’t celebrate his 21st birthday until 2 weeks before pitchers and catchers report.

A few recent draftees ended their debut seasons with strong performances in the batter’s box. Third baseman Charlie Szykowny and right fielder Scott Bandura both doubled, with the former adding a single and the latter a walk. Szykowny, a left-handed hitter taken in the 9th round, struggled a bit after moving from the ACL to Low-A, but ended the year on a 5-game hitting streak (including the playoffs), where he hit 7-17 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and just 2 strikeouts. Bandura, a left-handed hitting 7th-round pick, had pretty good numbers during his San Jose stint. Including the playoffs, he hit 22-87 with 2 homers, 1 triple, 8 doubles, and 16 walks, albeit with 29 strikeouts.

Also reaching base twice were center fielder Turner Hill who singled, walked, and stole a base, and 2 recent draftees: first baseman Justin Wishkoski and designated hitter Bryce Eldridge. Wishkoski, a right-handed hitting 16th-rounder, hit 2-4 and, like Szykowny, found a way to overcome a slow start to the level and end the year strong. In his first 8 games in Low-A, Wishkosi hit just 2-28 with 0 extra-base hits, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. In his next/last 6 games, he hit 10-24 with 1 home run, 2 doubles, 5 walks, and just 3 strikeouts. What an end to the year!

Eldridge, a tall and powerful lefty slugger who was the team’s 1st-round pick, ended his San Jose tenure hitting 18-65 with 1 home run, 2 doubles, 13 walks, and 20 strikeouts, after posting a 1.040 OPS and a 139 wRC+ in the Complex League. Pretty darn good for an 18 year old if you ask me! He’s definitely near the top of players I’m excited to watch in 2024, and I’m already sad that I have to wait half a year for that.

Enjoy the offseason, Baby Giants!

Home runs

AAA Tyler Fitzgerald (20 in AAA, 22 total)
AA Victor Bericoto (11 in AA, 27 total)

Friday schedule

Sacramento: vs. the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, 6:45 p.m. PT
Richmond: @ the Erie SeaWolves, 3:05 p.m. PT

Reminder that Minor League games can now be watched on MLB TV.

Read more

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WASHINGTON — The Miami Marlins scored two runs in the ninth inning to beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 on Sunday and secure a four-game sweep at Nationals Park.

The Marlins (70-67) won the first three games of the series 6-1 on Thursday, 8-5 in 11 innings on Friday and 11-5 on Saturday.

With the game tied 4-4 after eight innings, the Marlins got runners on first and second with one out in the ninth against Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan on singles from Luis Arraez and Jake Burger. Jazz Chisholm Jr. then hit a groundball that resulted in a forceout at second base but Washington shortstop CJ Abrams’ throw to first base for a potential double play was off target. Arraez scored the go-ahead run on the throwing error. Chisholm then stole second and scored on a Bryan De La Cruz bloop single to give Miami an insurance run.

Tanner Scott tossed a scoreless ninth inning for the save to back an eight-inning performance from Sandy Alcantara.

Miami scored its first three runs in the first inning on an Arraez home run and back-to-back bases-loaded walks from Jesus Sanchez and Jon Berti and tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth on a Nationals fielding error.

The four-game win streak is Miami’s longest since the All-Star Break.

And the series sweep did wonders to keep Miami’s playoff hopes alive. With the win Sunday,the Marlins found themselves tied with the Cincinnati Reds at just a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League’s third and final wild card spot through Sunday’s afternoon games.

Here are four takeaways from the four-game series.

Sandy Alcantara pitches deep

Alcantara kept his pitch count down and maneuvered through one rough inning to pitch eight innings on Sunday, holding the Nationals to four runs (two earned runs) despite scattering nine hits and issuing a pair of walks.

Lane Thomas hit a solo home run in the first inning and Washington tagged Alcantara for three runs in the fifth on an Alcantara throwing error, a Dominic Smith RBI double and RBI singles from Jacob Young and Thomas.

But Alcantara minimized the damage by getting three double plays from his infield. He threw no more than 20 pitches in any inning and had five in which he needed 12 or less to get three outs — including each of his final three innings after the three-run fifth.

Sunday marked the sixth time this season Alcantara has pitched at least eight innings in a game.

Luis Arraez heating up

Before the series against Washington (62-76) began, one had to go back to Aug. 13 for Arraez’s last multi-hit game. Opponents had held the Marlins’ All-Star second baseman to no more than one hit per game over 14 consecutive starts, dropping his batting average nearly 20 points in the process.

In four games against the Nationals, Arraez hit 10 for 18 (.556) with one home run, one double, three RBI and six runs scored. He had multiple hits all four games of the series, the first time he had a stretch of at least four consecutive multi-hit outings since he had five from June 3-7.

His MLB-leading batting average on the season is at .356 with 25 games left to play.

Slugging without Soler

The Marlins hit eight home runs and 14 total extra-base hits over the four-game series against the Nationals.

And all of it came without All-Star designated hitter Jorge Soler playing in a single game.

Soler, who leads Miami in home runs (35), RBI (71) and runs scored (70), has not played since leaving Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays with right hip tightness. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker has said Soler has been available off the bench but has not been used.

Even in his absence, Miami had home runs from Burger (three), Chisholm, Garrett Hampson, De La Cruz, Sanchez and Arraez in their series at Nationals Park. Those eight home runs accounted for 15 of the Marlins’ 31 runs over the past four games.

Another rough patch of schedule ahead

After an off day Monday, the Marlins will play 16 games in 16 days without a day off.

The first 13 of those games are against teams currently in the playoff field: Three at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers, three on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies, four on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers and three at home against the Atlanta Braves.

Miami needs to figure out a way to stay afloat during this stretch before it closes out the season with nine of 12 games against teams out of postseason contention (six against the New York Mets and three against the Pittsburgh Pirates with another three against the Brewers in there as well).

©2023 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Copyright 2023 Tribune Content Agency.

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Image credit:
David Esquer (Photo by Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Reports for the last three weeks have persisted saying that the ACC was considering adding California, SMU and Stanford. Now, the ACC is set to enact such a plan.

Cal and Stanford were two of the four teams left standing following the dramatic moves by the Big Ten (adding Oregon, Southern California, UCLA and Washington) and the Big 12 (adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah). As they moved to explore their options in the wake of the departures, the ACC emerged as a possible home. After a few stops and starts—and the inclusion of SMU, currently a member of the American Athletic Conference that doesn’t play baseball, an agreement reportedly was reached Friday.

All 10 schools are slated to depart the Pac-12 effective July 1, 2024, meaning this is the last year of the conference as we know it. As of now, when the next academic year begins, only Oregon State and Washington State will remain in the conference.

The latest moves aren’t as dramatic as the previous departures but there’s still plenty of fallout. Here’s a Q&A to try to make sense of it all.

Does this make sense?

While Cal, SMU and Stanford aren’t natural fits in the ACC, the plan is mutually beneficial. The ACC is dealing with some very public, very loud complaints from cornerstone members like Florida State about how the conference is falling behind financially in comparison to the Big Ten and SEC. The addition of the three new schools—all at initially reduced rates of revenue distribution—will allow for more money to be distributed to schools that were already in the conference. That seems to be the best plan right now for increasing revenue for the conference. For Cal and Stanford, while they will now have a massive increase in travel, they will remain in a major conference. They seem to view (probably correctly) having a home in a league with teams like Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, etc., is better for their national championship aspirations than being in a league that more closely resembles the current makeup of the American or Mountain West.

It’s not the most straightforward move, but conference composition is well beyond tradition at this point. The ACC is just the latest league to stretch from coast to coast. The Big Ten goes from Piscataway, N.J., to Los Angeles. The Big 12 stretches from Salt Lake City to Orlando. Conference USA goes from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Albuquerque, N.M. Chalk this one up as just another strange marriage that we’ll have to get used to starting next fall.

Stanford baseball comes out of this looking pretty good, right?

Yes. This move isn’t without drawbacks for the Cardinal, but I think it’s the best possible outcome for them on the diamond. Stanford now moves into the second-best baseball conference and will fit right in. The Cardinal have been to the last three College World Series and being in a conference of the ACC’s stature makes it all the easier to continue to compete at that level.

While I’ve previously argued that Stanford could make it work if it ended up in a smaller conference because of its unique recruiting profile, now we won’t have to put that hypothesis to the test. Stanford will be in a league that’s full of major powers and national championship contenders. It won’t have to rethink its scheduling strategy to overcome a worse conference RPI or fight against any perception issues from playing outside a major conference. It also shouldn’t hurt Stanford much that it will now be playing on the West Coast less often. The majority of its roster is from California, but the Cardinal has long been a program that recruits nationally. Its fall roster includes players from 10 different states (plus Australia). It’s a strong brand and an elite degree and besides, if you’re a West Coast native who wants to play baseball in a major conference, you now either need to go cross country for school or get comfortable with playing a bunch of conference games in another time zone. This is admittedly the most dramatic of the options (the Big 12 is still mostly west of the Mississippi and the Big Ten at least has four schools on the West Coast, which are likely to annually play each other), but all of these teams have a lot of travel time in their future.

What about Cal?

Cal doesn’t have it quite as good as Stanford. It already isn’t a consistent NCAA Tournament team in the Pac-12 and now it’s going to be playing in a tougher conference. Unlike the Cardinal, the Golden Bears don’t recruit nationally—all but two of their players on last season’s roster were from California.

I still think this a win for Cal, however, and that’s all down to money. Its athletic department is not in a strong financial position. It has a lot of debt to pay off on its football stadium and it was little more than a decade ago that the school cut baseball before reversing course at the 11th hour. If Cal is making this move, it must think this is the best financial proposition. While the Golden Bears might have had a better chance at making the NCAA Tournament in a different league, this is probably better for long-term stability.

The ACC was already the second-best baseball conference. Does this move the needle at all?

Honestly, probably not. I’d argue this makes the ACC a better, deeper league, but at best it’s just offsetting the SEC’s strengthening through next year’s additions of Oklahoma and Texas. Maybe this provides some further separation from the Big 12 and Big Ten, but what is that worth? It’s hard to see the ACC getting more credit in the selection committee room just because it’s clearly the second-best conference, if that is how it plays out.

So, what is ACC baseball getting in this move?

Stanford is a two-time national champion and has been to Omaha 19 times. It’s won the Pac-12 three times in the last five years and routinely produces All-American talent. Cal hasn’t been quite as successful, but it has Omaha pedigree and has produced three first-round picks in the last five years. The ACC is a better baseball conference with those teams in it.

The most significant on-field ramification is that there will be some fun series to come out of it. Stanford playing Louisville or Virginia or Wake Forest should make for a fun series. Cal taking on Pitt, as it did this spring in non-conference action, may not move the needle as much, but there could be seasons when a Cal-Clemson or Cal-Louisville showdown is meaningful.

How does this impact the players?

As I wrote a couple weeks ago, the breakup of the Pac-12 does create real concern for players. We don’t yet know what the ACC will do with its scheduling model, but it probably won’t appreciably change. And that means that every year Cal and Stanford are looking at four or five cross-country trips, depending on whether they host the rivalry series or not. With a few exceptions, ACC schools are generally located close to major airports, and it seems likely that Cal and Stanford will have to charter flights more often going forward. But even a flight between San Francisco and Chicago is 3.5 hours. It’s five hours to Boston or Miami.

All that travel, missed class and altered sleep schedules will have some impact. There’s also the fact that now more games will be further away from home for most of the Cardinal and Golden Bears, which makes it harder for family and friends to see games. What that does for a player’s mental health will vary, but many will no doubt feel its effects.

What about Oregon State and Washington State? What do they do now?

Oregon State and Washington State have been very public in the last couple weeks about their desire to hold the four remaining Pac-12 schools together and reform the conference. They’ve also been pretty open about understanding that the ACC possibility had to resolve itself before that could truly take shape. Now, they have clarity about the future of Cal and Stanford.

Anything Oregon State and Washington State do now will likely put them in a conference that looks like the American or Mountain West. They may still call it the Pac-12 for financial reasons, but it’s not going to be the same.

For Washington State, this is particularly bad news. The Cougars, like Cal, have a tough financial situation already and they will see their revenue fall in a new conference. Oregon State will also have to deal with less revenue but is coming from a completely different place in baseball with its three national championship trophies and strong fan base.

I’ve argued that Oregon State can continue to play high-level baseball no matter what conference it ends up in—if it continues to make the investment needed to retain a premier coaching staff and recruit at a high level. Coastal Carolina, Dallas Baptist and East Carolina are examples of schools that are consistently achieving at high levels outside the power conference structure. While it’s true that between them, they only have one CWS appearance (Coastal, 2016), they also don’t have Oregon State’s history. The Beavers have already proven they can win and produce big leaguers. It should be easier for Oregon State to convince players that they can still do all of that regardless of their conference affiliation than it was a decade ago for a school like DBU.

The margin for error will be smaller—just ask any Big West school—but if Oregon State decides it wants to continue to be a baseball power, I believe it can still be that kind of program.

Other than Oregon State and Washington State finding a home, is this the end of the realignment/consolidation chaos?

For now, probably. Some ACC schools probably still aren’t thrilled with their situation (North Carolina made a public statement Thursday night opposing it), but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has gone out of his way to make it clear the conference wants to onboard Oklahoma and Texas before looking at anything else. The Big Ten just went through an expansion process over the last 12 months and only seemed to add Oregon and Washington because of the perilous nature of the Pac-12. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has said it’s no longer looking at Connecticut and Gonzaga, previous expansion targets.

Unless Florida State or some other ACC school finds a way to get out of or challenge the grant of rights (which ties up its conference TV payout through 2036), this should be the end of the major changes in the immediate future.

This current format itself will probably only be temporary—conferences change far more often than we’d like to think—and potentially major changes are on the horizon. But this should carry college sports through this decade, at least.

The post How Will Cal, Stanford Shifting To The ACC Influence Faculty Baseball? — Faculty Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The Giants will donate resources, support mental health efforts, and increase awareness for prison reform.

San Quentin team to be renamed San Quentin Giants.

SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (August 24, 2023) – Pollen Initiative – an organization dedicated to cultivating rehabilitative programs inside prisons across the U.S. – today announced a new partnership with the San Francisco Giants to provide philanthropic support to San Quentin Baseball, the official baseball team of San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQRC). In an effort to support meaningful prison reform initiatives and powerful rehabilitation programs, the program will strengthen one of the prison’s longest running and most successful restorative initiatives. As part of the partnership, the team will also be renamed the San Quentin Giants.

For more than 70 years, the San Quentin Baseball team has helped the incarcerated population at SQSP develop valuable skills, including teamwork, discipline, and effective communication – crucial tools for success inside prison walls and upon reentry into the broader society.

“We are proud to work alongside the Pollen Initiative to support the impactful rehabilitative programs at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, while bringing greater awareness to prison reform within our community at large,” said Shana Daum, San Francisco Giants senior vice president of communications and community relations. “Through the power of baseball, the San Quentin Giants will be equipped with the tools and resources needed for future success.”

For decades, the Giants have worked closely with San Quentin Baseball on impactful prison reform efforts, and today’s announcement elevates the Giants contributions to a new level. As part of this new partnership, the Giants will provide uniforms and equipment as well as mental health and physical performance support to the team at SQRC.

Personnel from the Giants will also participate in discussions at the prison to help foster a constructive dialogue about prison reform and social justice issues confronted by those who are incarcerated. The program will serve as a foundation for future

collaborations as SQRC looks to expand its life-affirming, transformational opportunities for participants.

“I am grateful for the long-standing support, that the San Quentin baseball team, and administration has received from the San Francisco Giants organization. I’m especially excited about the reinvigorated collaboration moving forward,” says Ron Broomfield, director of CDCR’s Division of Adult Institutions. “Sports can create hope in a place associated with hopelessness and despair. It is one of the most powerful means of breaking down language, social and racial barriers. That along with the mental health aspect of this partnership makes it that much more powerful and impactful. I am confident that the San Quentin baseball team will continue to thrive, providing the incarcerated population with opportunities for recreation, personal growth, and rehabilitation.”

“We are proud to help facilitate this meaningful partnership that will mean more individuals can experience the positive and restorative benefits of sports through this transformational program,” said Branden Terrell, advisor at Pollen and lead coordinator for the partnership. “Support from the San Francisco Giants will help raise awareness for valuable restorative programming that makes communities safer, and

have a remarkable impact on those incarcerated at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. We look forward to bringing more valuable programs like this to this prison, further reducing recidivism and improving our Bay Area community.”

# # #

We aim to turn the stigma of incarceration into a catalyst for growth, community impact and transformation. The Pollen Initiative – formerly known as the Friends of San Quentin News – is an organization dedicated to cultivating rehabilitative programs inside prisons across the U.S., with a special focus on media centers inside prisons and jails. Through hands-on journalism and audiovisual training, as well as leadership programs that facilitate personal growth and transferable skills, the projects led by incarcerated writers and media producers contribute to more balanced, grounded narratives both inside and outside. We support a collection of hand-picked existing prison newsrooms, like the historic San Quentin News, as well as emerging newsrooms, media projects and other rehabilitative programs.

One of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball, the 140-year-old franchise moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958. After playing a total of 42 years in Seals Stadium and Candlestick Park, the team moved to the privately constructed, downtown ballpark on the corner of 3rd and King in 2000. The organization is widely recognized for its innovative business practices and baseball excellence having been named in the past decade the Sports Organization of the Year by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, Organization of the Year by Baseball America and ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year. Oracle Park is also the only ballpark in the country to have earned Silver, Gold and Platinum LEED certification for an existing building.

Since opening its gates, Oracle Park has become internationally-renowned as a premier venue in the world of both sports and entertainment. On the diamond, more than 67 million spectators have witnessed countless magical moments, including three World Series Championships (2010, 2012 & 2014), the raising of four National League Pennants and eight playoff appearances. The ballpark has also hosted some of music’s biggest acts, including Lady Gaga, Beyoncé & Jay Z, Ed Sheeran, the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, Green Day and Billy Joel.

Contacts:

San Francisco Giants | Sophie Lair

 slair@sfgiants.com

FGS Global | Jeremy Pelofsky

 SanQuentinNews@fgsglobal.com

The post SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS AND POLLEN INITIATIVE SUPPORT SAN QUENTIN BASEBALL TEAM appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

All eight of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action on Thursday. Let’s dive straight into way too much action!

Link to the 2023 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

News

For those interested in scheduling (or for those who live in the PNW and want to go to a game), High-A Eugene has rescheduled last Tuesday’s game, which was postponed due to poor air quality. Eugene and Vancouver will play a doubleheader this Saturday the 19th. The regularly-scheduled game will begin at 5:00 p.m. PT, with the second game following.

RHP Ljay Newsome, a Minor League free agent with Major League experience who has spent the year rehabbing, has been moved from the ACL to Low-A as he continues to work his way back.

AAA Sacramento (49-67)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) 9-0
Box score

Another ugly loss for the River Cats, who have just 4 wins in their last 17 games. It’s ugly out there, folks! Despite the many losses, it’s been a good year for Sacramento, as they’ve created a lot of depth for San Francisco this season. But needless to say, a 9-0 loss was not a game that left anyone feeling like reinforcements for the struggling Major League team are on the way.

Despite the score, it was a very encouraging start for RHP Mason Black (No. 11 CPL). Black pitched 4 innings and got stretched out to 84 pitches, which is exciting to see. He allowed 5 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and 2 runs in those 4 innings, but also struck out 8 batters. For a 23 year old making just his 7th start in the offense-inflated PCL, that counts as a really awesome outing in my book.

Black hasn’t been elite since a midseason promotion, but he’s handling the move to AAA better than most pitchers. He has a 4.35 ERA and a 6.54 FIP, with 11.6 strikeouts per 9 innings — a mark that ranks 17th out of 141 PCL pitchers with at least 30 innings thrown. The 4.9 walks per 9 will need to come down before he gets a call from Farhan Zaidi, but given how many pitchers are struggling with walks in the PCL this year, it’s not a concerning number to my eyes.

LHP Darien Núñez gave up 2 runs in an inning of work in his 4th game with Sacramento since getting activated at long last. His performance on Thursday isn’t worth writing about per se, but I wanted to mention him so I could implore you all to read Andrew Baggarly’s article this morning about Núñez. Not only does it paint the picture of an exciting and easy-to-root-for pitcher, but it’s a thorough documentation about how the Giants essentially stole Núñez from the Dodgers 2 years ago and, as importantly, how angry the Dodgers are.

It features quotes like this:

What organization has space on their 40-man roster for a pitcher who can’t face a hitter for two years? What organization would commit thousands of dollars to fix someone else’s broken player? What organization would chase ambulances and turn over every word of transactional agate type? What organization peruses the waiver wire with all the glee of a septuagenarian geared up for a weekend of antiquing?

What organization employs Farhan Zaidi as its president of baseball operations?

“So the Giants picked him,” Rios said. “And the Dodgers were pissed.”

And also like this:

“Once he woke up, I said, ‘Do you want to stay a Dodger?’ He said, ‘Hell no, I want to be with a team that wants me.’ It was the best decision. He’s very happy. The Giants have been great, very professional.”

I love it. Read it. Here’s the link again.

A brutal outing for LHP Chris Wright, who gave up 8 baserunners and 5 runs in 1.1 innings of work. Usually walks are Wright’s Achilles heel, but this time he was just giving up contact all over the show. Before this game, his season high for hits allowed in a game was 4, and he’d only given up more than 2 hits 3 times in 34 games. He gave up 7 hits on Thursday.

Shake it off, Chris.

Speaking of LHPs who struggle with walks, Erik Miller pitched a scoreless inning without a walk, allowing just a hit and striking out 2. Miller, who has some of the most electrics stuff in the system, is starting to get his walks in check a little bit. Through 6 games and 5.2 innings in August, he’s issued 3 walks … and just 1 hit and 0 runs, with 8 strikeouts.

Also a nice game for RHP Drew Strotman, who struck out 4 in 1.2 scoreless innings. Really tough year for him though.

Well, I guess we have to talk about the hitting, but there sure isn’t much to talk about. The River Cats had just 3 hits and 3 walks on the day. Third baseman David Villar probably summed up their day best … he doubled for the team’s only extra-base hit … but struck out in his other 3 at-bats and was caught stealing.

Right fielder Luis Matos (No. 4 CPL) and center fielder Bryce Johnson (No. 43 CPL) were the only players to reach base twice. Matos singled and walked in his 2nd game since getting optioned, giving him a 1.066 OPS and a 152 wRC+, while Johnson walked, was hit by a pitch, and stole a base, bringing his OPS to .850 and his wRC+ to 103.

Round up on the rest of the 40-man players and potential depth pieces: second baseman Casey Schmitt (No. 3 CPL) hit 1-4 with a strikeout; left fielder Brett Wisely (No. 33 CPL) hit 0-2 with a hit by pitch; shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 18 CPL) hit 0-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts; and catcher Joey Bart and infielder Mark Mathias did not play.

AA Richmond (56-55)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 7-6
Box score

An exciting game! The Squirrels trailed the Senators 6-2 in the bottom of the 9th, before mounting a 5-run rally to walk it off. How fun! The 9th was an exercise in patience, as Richmond drew 3 walks and benefitted from 2 wild pitches … one of which scored the tying run.

It all set the table for left fielder Victor Bericoto, who hit 2-4, to knock home the walk-off run with a 2-out single.

Bericoto is still trying to find his groove after setting High-A Eugene on fire and earning an early July promotion. But he’s steadily improving, replacing a .464 July OPS with a .693 mark in August.

The best offensive day belonged to designated hitter Donovan Walton, who smacked a pair of doubles, including one in the 9th-inning rally. Walton has bounced all around the organization this year, and spent extensive time on the Injured List, but he’s been tearing things up since returning to Richmond earlier this month. He’s had a hit in 8 of his 9 games, going 11-32 with 3 doubles, 5 walks, and just 4 strikeouts in that time.

Shortstop Will Wilson (No. 21 CPL) also had a 2-hit day as he continues to benefit from moving down to AA every day.

Right fielder Shane Matheny reached base in both of his plate appearances after being a late substitution. Reaching base is all Matheny does these days: since July 25 he’s 24-69 with 4 homers, 2 triples, 5 doubles, and 21 walks. 21 walks!

Potentially concerning news: third baseman Sean Roby left the game after just 1 at-bat. Roby missed the first few months of the season and has been struggling in his week of returning to Richmond. Hopefully he’s OK.

RHP Hayden Birdsong (No. 36 CPL) was on the mound for Richmond. He was excellent, though his usage was unlucky: he pitched 2 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts, allowing just 1 baserunner on a single. It was a nice bounce back game for Birdsong, who only lasted 1 inning in his last game, needing 41 pitches to get through it. But unfortunately a lengthy rain delay after the 2nd inning capped Birdsong’s day after just 6 outs.

No other pitching performances of note, honestly.

High-A Eugene (57-53)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 11-4
Box score

What a fun game for the Ems! So many exciting offensive performances in this one, including stellar games by a pair of undrafted outfielders who impressed in Low-A and earned the chance to prove it against higher competition: right fielder Carter Howell and left fielder Matt Higgins.

Both players hit 2-4 with a home run, with Howell adding a double and Higgins throwing on a walk. Neither player has great numbers, but that’s to be expected when moving to a new level, especially Eugene, which frequently stymies hitters. Howell now has a .729 OPS and a 99 wRC+, while Higgins is at .695 and 91, respectively. That’s certainly holding their own plenty well enough.

Joining them in the homer party was second baseman Ghordy Santos, who pushed his OPS to .790 and his wRC+ to 111.

Santos has been catching fire lately: in his last 9 games, he’s hitting 10-32 with 4 home runs, 1 double, and 5 walks. Strikeouts remain a huge issue for Santos, who only has 3 games without a strikeout since June 24 (and one of those 3 games he came off the bench). His 36.7% strikeout rate is 3rd-highest out of 98 Giants hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this year, and 39th-highest out of 1,384 Minor League hitters with 200 plate appearances or more.

Catcher Onil Perez (No. 44 CPL) made his High-A debut after a late-season promotion that was half due to strong performance in Low-A, and half due to catcher Adrian Sugastey (No. 22 CPL) recently landing on the IL. Perez was a hit machine in San Jose, and he’s apparently a hit machine in Eugene, as he went 3-5 in his debut.

Third baseman Damon Dues continued his strong recent play, hitting 2-3 with a double and a hit by pitch, bumping his OPS to .808 and his wRC+ to 128. In his last 8 games, Dues is hitting a whopping 13-26 with 5 doubles, 4 walks, and just 4 strikeouts. Nice.

And the top prospects did really well too, as center fielder Grant McCray (No. 6 CPL) hit 3-4 with a hit by pitch, and shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 7 CPL) hit 2-4.

A trio of multi-inning pitchers but no bulk starter. The best pitcher by far was RHP Brett Standlee, who pitched 3.1 no-hit innings, giving up just 1 walk while striking out 5. A 17th-round pick in 2021, Standlee’s 2nd year in Eugene has been a bit of a struggle, as he has a 4.74 ERA and a 4.18 FIP. But this was a nice outing to see after getting really rocked his last time out. Save for a few brutal outings, he’s been pitching quite well lately.

LHP Matt Mikulski had one of his better games, giving up 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs, and 1 earned run in 3 innings of work, with 4 strikeouts. There’s really no way to sugarcoat how tough of a season it’s been for the 2021 2nd-round pick, who has ceded 47 walks and 10 hit batters in 53.2 innings to go with a 6.88 ERA and a 6.62 FIP. Here’s to things slowly turning around!

Low-A San Jose (61-50)

San Jose Giants beat the Stockton Ports (A’s) 7-6
Box score

The Baby Giants did just enough to hang on for a win … they took a 7-0 lead into the 8th inning, and gave away as much of it as they could without losing.

Almost all of that damage was done against RHP Tyler Vogel, but RHP Cameron Cutter, after flirting with disaster, was able to help the Giants emerge victorious. Cotter gave up 4 hits and 1 unearned run in 1.2 innings, but struck out 4 batters. In 17 games, the undrafted free agent has a 2.30 ERA, a 3.78 FIP, and a ridiculous 31 strikeouts to 3 walks in 31.1 innings.

It was a stellar start for RHP Manuel Mercedes, who pitched 5 scoreless innings of 1-hit ball, with 6 strikeouts (though he did walk 3). It’s exciting to see Mercedes have a good strikeout game, because it’s pretty rare. There’s so much to like about the 20-year old’s game: he has a 3.65 ERA, a 4.08 FIP, and a 63.9% ground ball rate, which ranks 3rd out of 914 Minor League pitchers with at least 50 innings thrown this year. He also hasn’t given up a home run in his 91.1 innings this year … no other pitcher in the Minors has pitched even 62 innings without allowing a homer. But of those aforementioned 914 pitchers, his 6.6 strikeouts per 9 innings is just 857th.

A good day for a pair of recent draftees, as shortstop Cole Foster and left fielder Scott Bandura both hit 2-4 with a pair of doubles. Bandura, a 7th-round pick who hits left-handed, has seamlessly transitioned to San Jose, where he’s 10-24 with 4 extra-base hits and 3 walks. Foster, a switch-hitter taken in the 3rd round, has struggled quite a bit in San Jose, so nice to see a good game from him. Also nice to see him not strikeout, as that’s been his big issue in the 1st month of his career: he has 25 strikeouts already, with just 1 walk.

Also nice days for a pair of players who have been hot lately: right fielder Tanner O’Tremba hit 2-4 with a hit by pitch, giving him an .821 OPs, a 129 wRC+, and a staggering 25 times being hit by a pitch; and second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 41 CPL) hit 1-3 with a double and a hit by pitch, moving his OPS to .854 and his wRC+ to 131.

ACL Orange (28-24)

ACL Giants Orange beat the ACL D-backs Black 11-2 (5 innings)
Box score

A short game, but the Giants Orange squad wasted no time making the most of it.

As a result of the shortness, RHP Alix Hernandez (19 years, 2022 IFA) got to pitch a complete game! Hernandez, who is in his debut season, and who only turned 19 last month, gave up 3 hits, 3 walks, and 2 runs in his 5 innings, while striking out 4 batters. His ERA (4.73) and FIP (5.68) aren’t very pretty, but his 12.1 strikeouts per 9 innings rank 32nd out of 147 ACL pitchers with at least 30 innings thrown … and he’s 1 of just 5 ACL pitchers with 50 innings thrown this year.

Some very nice games on offense. Shortstop Jean Carlos Sio (19 years, 2022 IFA) reached base in all 4 of his plate appearances, singling and drawing 3 walks. Sio is trying to bounce back from a cold stretch, which followed a very hot July … he has a .786 OPS and a 105 wRC+ in his debut stateside season.

No bouncing back required for first baseman Justin Wishkoski (22 years, 2023 16th-round), who has been on fire since getting drafted a little over a month ago. He hit 2-4 with a double, and has now reached base safely in all but 2 of his 13 pro games. And he continues to run my favorite stat: in 48 pro plate appearances, he’s yet to have a strikeout. Impressive as is, before you account for the 1.043 OPS and the 163 wRC+.

Justin Wishkoski was 2 for 4 with a double in Thursday’s victory over ACL Diamondbacks Black.

Wishkoski is off to a .359/.479/.564 (1.043 OPS) start in the ACL. pic.twitter.com/DQntUj6pvY

— SFGProspects (@SFGProspects) August 19, 2023

Catcher Javier Castillo (19 years, 2021 IFA) and designated hitter Garrett Frechette (22 years, 2019 5th-round) both had 2-hit days, with the latter also walking. They’re having so-so seasons. And second baseman Ramon Peralta (19 years, 2021 IFA) provided the big hit of the day, with a 2-run home run. His first stateside season is going swimmingly, with an .848 OPS and a 118 wRC+. The Giants will want the 27.8% strikeout rate to come down, but the 17.1 walk rate sure is pretty.

ACL Black (30-22)

ACL Giants Black beat the ACL Angels 13-3
Box score

Wow, lots of fun offensive performances in this game, but also hilarious overall performance. The Giants Black team had 13 runs in 7 innings … including 12 runs in the last 3 innings … despite a double representing their only extra-base hit.

But they drew 15 walks!! More than 2 per inning! Add in 3 hit by pitches, and who needs actual hits?

Second baseman Quinn McDaniel (20 years, 2023 5th-round), third baseman Elian Rayo (20 years, 2019 IFA), and first baseman Jediael Maduro (19 years, 2021 IFA) all had 3 walks and a hit. Rayo, whose hit was a double, is up to an .869 OPS and a 116 wRC+, though he has a pretty big strikeout issue. Maduro, who was also plunked, doesn’t have very good numbers, but has also been playing very sparingly — this was only his 3rd game of the month. And McDaniel has now drawn a whopping 16 walks in 53 plate appearances since getting drafted.

We don’t often get to highlight good days by shortstop Ryan Reckley (No. 31 CPL, 18 years, 2022 IFA), but he had a lovely game, hitting 1-2 with 2 walks, a hit by pitch, and a steal. There’s no denying that Reckley has been one of biggest disappointments on the farm this year, as his bat simply hasn’t shown up the way the Giants were hoping it would after giving him a signing bonus in excess of $2 million last year (his glove hasn’t, either, as he committed his 20th error in this game). But the dude can certainly get on base other ways.

Among the 98 Giants hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this year, Reckley’s batting average of .169 is dead last. His strikeout rate of 38.6%? Second to last. But his walk rate of 19.3%? 5th among those 98, trailing only a 20 year old in the ACL, and a trio of DSL hitters.

If his switch-hitting bat comes around to match his eye…

A great came for catcher Drew Cavanaugh (21 years, 2023 17th-round), who hit 2-3 with 2 walks. Cavanaugh only has 1 extra-base hit in his 9 games, but he’s 9-26 with 5 walks.

LHP Joe Whitman (21 years, 2023 2C-round) opened the game with a perfect inning, striking out 1 batter. It was just his 2nd pro appearance, but he’s been perfect in both. Calling it now: if he makes the pros as a pitcher who never allows baserunners, he’ll probably have a pretty good career.

Also pitching a perfect inning was CF-turned-RHP Christian Avendano (19 years, 2022 IFA), who struck out all 3 batters he faced. Avendano has a 5.11 ERA, a 4.70 FIP, and 20 walks in 24.2 innings in the ACL, in what is his 1st season in the organization, and 1st season as a pitcher. But he also has 35 strikeouts in those 24.2 innings, so there’s a lot to be excited about.

DSL Orange (29-21)

DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Cardinals 6-1 (7 innings)
Box score

Fantastic day on the mound for the Giants Orange team. It started with someone who has been red hot lately: LHP Jose Rengel (17 years, 2023 IFA), who struck out 5 batters in 3 innings, allowing just 3 hits, a hit batter, and a run. Rengel only has a 4.42 ERA on the year, but he has a 3.52 FIP, with 38 strikeouts to 12 walks in 38.2 innings. In his last 5 games, Rengel has thrown 19 innings and allowed just 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs, with 17 strikeouts.

Then it was the star, RHP Jorge Martinez (21 years, 2019 IFA), who struck out 6 batters in 3 scoreless innings … with the only baserunner coming on an error by his defense. Martinez is really putting it all together in his 3rd season in the DSL, where he has a 1.20 ERA, a 2.75 FIP, and 35 strikeouts to 10 walks in 30 innings.

Closing the door was RHP Angel Sanchez (20 years, 2021 IFA), who struck out 2 in a perfect inning. Hopefully we see more of that from Sanchez, who has just 15 strikeouts to 14 walks in 17.1 innings.

Tons of great days in the batter’s box, too. Center fielder Lisbel Diaz (18 years, 2023 IFA) and third baseman Jhosward Camacho (19 years, 2021 IFA) both homered for their only hits. For Diaz, a late signing, it was his 1st home run since hitting a pair of them in his debut on July 18 (fun/stupid fact: the box scores will forever show Diaz’s debut as coming on July 17, because that game was briefly started and delayed, and was actually played a few weeks later).

Yet despite that month without a homer, Diaz’s season remains so strong, as he has a .945 OPS and a 150 wRC+. That works. Camacho is struggling a bit in his 3rd season, with a .675 OPS and an 89 wRC+. But he’s a switch-hitter who draws a ton of walks, so there’s stuff to like.

Second baseman Jose Astudillo (19 years, 2023 IFA) hit 3-4, bringing his OPS to .926 and his wRC+ to 147 in his 3rd DSL season. Astudillo started the year strong, then was out for a month with an injury, returned in mid-July, and struggled through the end of the month. But he’s been absurd through 10 August games, hitting 14-39 with 5 extra-base hits, 3 walks, and just 2 strikeouts.

DSL Black (26-25)

DSL Giants Black beat the DSL Phillies Red 6-5 (7 innings)
Box score

The big hit in this one came courtesy of shortstop Keiberg Camacaro (16 years, 2023 IFA), who hit a 3-run home run to get the Giants back in the game after they trailed 4-0. Camacaro’s overall numbers are so-so, as he has a .751 OPS and a 104 wRC+. But he’s been hitting much better as of late: in August, the righty is 12-34 with 5 extra-base hits and 4 walks. He’s striking out quite a bit, but … league average numbers with some power for a shortstop who is the youngest player in the organization? Zero complaints over here.

Lots of other decent hitting days for the Giants Black team, as they finished with 6 hits, 5 walks, and just 8 strikeouts. But no one else really stood out.

The pitching was highly mediocre, with the exception of RHP Ismael Mota (22 years, 2019 IFA), who pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. He’s having a really rough season, but has been better lately. In his first 10 games of the year, he had just 12 strikeouts to 19 walks in 17.2 innings, with 13 runs (11 earned) allowed. In 4 games since, he has 6 strikeouts to 1 walk and 1 run in 3 innings. Small victories.

Home runs

High-A Ghordy Santos (12)
High-A Carter Howell (3 in High-A, 7 total)
High-A Matt Higgins (2 in High-A, 11 total)
ACL Ramon Peralta (5)
DSL Keiberg Camacaro (4)
DSL Lisbel Diaz (3)
DSL Jhosward Camacho (3)

Friday schedule

Sacramento: vs. the Tacoma Rainiers, 6:35 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. the Harrisburg Senators, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. the Vancouver Canadians, 6:35 p.m. PT.
San Jose: @ the Stockton Ports, 7:05 p.m. PT

Reminder that Minor League games can now be watched on MLB TV.

The post San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball roundup, 8/17/23 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Wow, so much going on for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates on Tuesday, with movement galore, and seven games (the DSL Giants Orange team had their game postponed due to weather).

Let’s jump into it.

Link to the 2023 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

News

Some very exciting promotions: shortstop Cole Foster, outfielder Scott Bandura, and RHP Cody Tucker have all been promoted from the ACL to Low-A San Jose. All three were recent additions, as Foster was a 3rd-round pick in July’s draft, Bandura was a 7th-round pick, and Tucker was signed after going undrafted. Needless to say, they’ve all been performing very well to start their exciting young careers.

Joining them in Low-A is RHP Mikell Manzano, who finished up his ACL rehab assignment.

On the other side of things, middle infielder (and occasional outfielder) Will Wilson (No. 21 CPL) has been demoted from AAA Sacramento to AA Richmond. Something had to give for a crowded River Cats roster that features Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL), Casey Schmitt (No. 3 CPL), Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 18 CPL), and Brett Wisely (No. 33 CPL) in the middle infield, with David Villar, Armando Alvarez, and even Ricardo Genovés playing the corners. And so Wilson joins Donovan Walton in clearing space by heading to the East Coast where he’ll hope to find his swing. Wilson has had a very bizarre year … he’s been one of the team’s most prolific power hitters, with 13 home runs, but has one of the worst BABIP marks in the league, leaving him with a .712 OPS and a 66 wRC+.

LHP Darien Núñez has been moved to AAA Sacramento. The Giants are officially calling it a rehab assignment, even though Núñez should be slotted in at Sacramento anyway, so …. not sure if that’s just a roster logistics thing or what.

AAA Sacramento (46-62)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 10-9
Box score

Sacramento’s inability to win a game might have reached a new low. The River Cats opened up the game by scoring 7 runs in the top of the 1st inning … and ended it by losing for the 8th time in their last 9 games. Yikes.

The biggest news in this game was that second baseman Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) was pulled from the action shortly after A.J. Pollock was removed from the Giants game due to side discomfort. Are those two things related? Hopefully, because otherwise Luciano probably left the game with an injury, but we’ll have to wait to find out more.

Update: Reporter Daniel Álvarez-Montes has reported that Luciano is being called up. No Giants beat reporters have said anything yet, but Álvarez-Montes is a rather credible reporter.

Luciano and Pollock play different positions of course, but right now the Giants are just desperate to get a bat that can give the team a spark in the lineup. With Luciano looking playable at second base, and Mark Mathias capable of playing the outfield, the fit could work.

A more natural fit to replace Pollock would be an outfielder. Someone like, say, I dunno, just to throw a random name out there … Wade Meckler (No. 42 CPL). And what did Meckler do on Tuesday, you ask? Oh, just hit 2-3 with a home run and a walk.

Jokes aside, the Giants are not going to call up Meckler, who was playing designated hitter in this game. Yes, they’ve been aggressive with promotions this year, and yes, they’ve been more aggressive with last year’s 8th-round pick than anyone else in the Farhan Zaidi era. He also has just 20 plate appearances in AAA. For that matter, he has just 381 plate appearances in his professional career, which is fewer than three different Giants players have this year.

Meckler’s not on the 40-man roster, so we can probably pause dreams of an MLB debut this year, unless he hits so well that the Giants are convinced he could seamlessly transition into the Majors. But so far he’s off to an amazing start in AAA: 4-13 with 7 walks and just 2 strikeouts.

Also homering was first baseman David Villar, though he finished the day just 1-5. Hard to see Villar getting another shot this year unless J.D. Davis (or maybe Wilmer Flores) gets injured. And I’ll be very curious to see what happens with him this offseason.

Updates on the other 40-man roster players in the lineup: right fielder Luis González hit 1-5 with a triple; catcher Joey Bart hit 2-4; left fielder/second baseman Brett Wisely (No. 33 CPL) hit 1-3 with a walk; center fielder Bryce Johnson (No. 43 CPL) hit 1-4 with an outfielder assist; shortstop Casey Schmitt (No. 3 CPL) hit 1-5; and right fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 12 CPL) came off the bench to hit 0-1 with a walk.

On the mound it was a disastrous day for RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 30 CPL), who gave up an ERA-busting 10 runs in just 3 innings of work, ceding runners everywhere: 10 hits, 3 walks, and 2 hit batters. Hjelle’s stuff has always seemed to play better in the Majors than the Minors, but even so, a 6.22 ERA, a 5.82 FIP, and just 6.6 strikeouts per 9 innings don’t really cut it. In his last 2 outings, Hjelle has given up 25 baserunners and 15 runs in just 7.2 innings, with just 4 strikeouts. Have to think he’s someone who might not be on the roster when everyone reconvenes in February.

The bullpen work was handled well by Sacramento’s trio of super-intriguing, walk-plagued LHPs: Nick Swiney (No. 26 CPL), Chris Wright, and Erik Miller, who are all Rule 5 eligible.

Swiney struggled a little, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks in 2 innings, but struck out 3 and didn’t allow a run. The 2020 compensatory round pick has a 4.06 ERA and a 5.61 FIP following an early season promotion, but has just 25 strikeouts to 20 walks in 31 innings.

Wright was fairly dominant, whiffing 5 batters in just 2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk. He has a 4.21 ERA and a 5.13 FIP, with staggering (for better and for worse) raw numbers: 53 strikeouts to 38 walks in 36.1 innings. Among 133 Pacific Coast League pitchers with at least 30 innings, Wright’s 13.1 strikeouts per 9 innings ranks 3rd (yes, LHP Kyle Harrison is No. 1). But his 9.4 walks per 9 innings is 2nd-worst. Living on the extremes.

And then it was Miller, who gave up a walk in a scoreless inning. Miller has a similar but slightly less extreme profile to Wright, as he has 12.0 strikeouts and 7.6 walks per 9 innings, to go with a 3.19 ERA and a 4.33 FIP in Sacramento. In 38 games across 2 levels this year, this was just the 6th time that Miller hasn’t recorded a strikeout

AA Richmond (53-50)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Bowie Baysox (Orioles) 10-2
Box score

Despite seeing the bulk of their best prospects move on, Richmond’s offense has been finding a lot of life lately, and that’s great to see.

But we also shouldn’t forget about the pitching, and that included another really nice outing from the reigning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, RHP Carson Seymour (No. 28 CPL). It wasn’t the dominant outing that Seymour had in his 1-hit showcase last week, but it was still a great game, as he allowed 7 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in 5 innings of work, while striking out 6 batters.

Sure, that’s more baserunners than is ideal, but whatever (also, for context, he was facing a team that included Orioles’ rehabbing All-Star Cedric Mullins, as well as the top prospect in baseball, Jackson Holliday). Only 1 of those hits was an extra-base hit, and the bigger news is the strikeouts. I’ve talked a lot this year about Seymour’s strikeouts, which magically seemed to disappear over the offseason. They’re coming back!

Through the end of June, Seymour — part of the J.D. Davis/Darin Ruf trade last year — had just 36 strikeouts in 57.2 innings, one of the lowest marks in the Minor Leagues. Since then? 43 strikeouts in 30 innings. That’s more like it!

There are still issues to work around, as evidenced by the 9 baserunners thing. But in his last 5 games, here’s Seymour’s line: 23.2 innings, 22 hits, 7 walks, 7 runs, and 33 strikeouts. I’ll take that line and that progress any day of the week.

RHP Blake Rivera pitched 2 scoreless innings, though he allowed 3 baserunners, which included a walk … he has 36 of them in 39.1 innings this year. And RHP Mat Olsen pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout as he bounced back from his worst outing of the year. Olsen is just 4 games into his AA tenure, so give him some time.

OK, to the offense. Let’s start with a truly blistering day courtesy of right fielder Victor Bericoto, who hit a brilliant 3-3 with a double and a walk.

Bericoto, a 21-year old right-handed hitter, became one of the breakout stars of the year after demolishing High-A Eugene for a few months. He graduated from the level with an .886 OPS, a 130 wRC+, a sub-20% strikeout rate, and the organizational lead in home runs.

But, as is the case with most prospects, hit hit a bump in the road when promoted, and really struggled out of the gates in Richmond following an early-July promotion. He homered in his 3rd and 4th games at the level, then finished the month hitting 2-29 with 0 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and 14 strikeouts.

Now he’s figuring it out. In 6 August games he’s already had multiple hits 4 times, and in the month is 9-24 with 1 triple, 2 doubles, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts. Keep it up, Victor!

First baseman Logan Wyatt had another delightful game, hitting 2-4 with a home run.

Like Bericoto, Wyatt started the year with excellence in High-A before a promotion. His overall numbers in Richmond aren’t great, as he has a .702 OPS and a 92 wRC+, but there’s a lot of reason for optimism, including his 12.2% walk rate, his 19.8% strikeout rate, and his .250 BABIP, which ranks 156th out of 181 Eastern League hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. Wyatt doesn’t have much speed, so he’ll probably never be a player with a great BABIP, but you can also expect that number to course correct a little bit.

With another home run, it’s time for a power update on Wyatt, a 2019 2nd-round pick who struggled with some injuries in his career:

2019-2022: 612 plate appearances, 5 home runs, 1 triple, 19 doubles
2023 so far: 360 plate appearances, 12 home runs, 0 triples, 15 doubles

Love to see that!

And center fielder/second baseman Shane Matheny had another nice game, as he seems reinvigorated after surviving the July cuts. He hit 1-3 with 2 walks and a stolen base, and now has a whopping 16 walks in his last 12 games (also 11 hits and 6 extra-base hits). He’s up to an .832 OPS and a 130 wRC+ since getting demoted from AAA … love to see that response.

Shortstop Will Wilson (No. 21 CPL) hit 1-5 with no strikeouts in his return to AA.

Unfortunately there was some bad news, and it was the same kind of bad news that seems to be happening daily on the Giants farm lately: second baseman Jimmy Glowenke was hit by a pitch and later left the game. He didn’t leave until a few innings later, for better or for worse. On that front, outfielder Vaun Brown (No. 5 CPL) hasn’t played in a game since getting hit by a pitch last Wednesday.

High-A Eugene (52-51)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 6-0
Box score

The 3rd shutout loss in the last 7 games for the Ems. Ouch.

Yet you wouldn’t know it was a bad offensive day if you looked at the 2 players on either side of second base. That includes, of course, the player who has almost single-handedly been their offense lately: shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 7 CPL), who hit 4-5 with 2 doubles and a stolen base. What a game!

Arteaga’s overall numbers are still very average, with a .742 OPS and a 97 wRC+, though it is worth pointing out that Eugene numbers are … you know … funky for hitters, as Luis Matos and Patrick Bailey will be quick to remind you. And those numbers are certainly exciting for a glove-first shortstop who is still more than half a year away from turning 21.

Arteaga has been red hot lately, and in his last 29 games is hitting 35-114 with 7 home runs, and 12 doubles. It’s not all roses and pantyhose, to quote the great Kacey Musgraves, as Arteaga has 35 strikeouts to 5 walks and just 2 stolen bases in that time. But there’s a whole lot more good than bad.

On the other side of the bag was second baseman Damon Dues, playing in just his 4th High-A game since hitting the Injured List at the end of May. He hit a perfect 3-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base. Dues, who admittedly is already 25, has been an on-base machine this year, sporting a .425 OBP in 54 games across High-A and his ACL rehab stint (and he had a .539 OBP last year in the ACL, Low-A, and High-A). He’s also been a menace when on base, swiping 20 bags in 23 attempts this season.

Anyway, Arteaga and Dues hit 7-8 with 3 doubles, 1 walk, and 2 stolen bases. The rest of the team hit 3-29 with 1 double, 2 walks, and 0 stolen bases. First baseman Sean Roby hit 2-5 with “just” 1 strikeout, bringing his OPS to .922 and his wRC+ to 141 in 20 games. But his strikeout rate of 28.7% probably doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence that his issues last year, when he had a 39.7% strikeout rate in AA, are fixed.

Tuesday was LHP Reggie Crawford (No. 8 CPL) day! Crawford had an almost identical performance to his last time out. Like, comically almost identical. Look at this:

August 3: 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 28 pitches, 20 strikes
August 8: 2 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 28 pitches, 20 strikes

Bravo for consistency, I guess! Crawford still needs to work on the control, which shouldn’t be surprising since he missed all of last year with an injury. He has 6 walks in 8 innings since getting promoted, and 10 walks in 19 innings across 2 levels. But he has 14 strikeouts in those 8 Eugene innings, and 32 strikeouts in 19 innings on the year, with just 15 hits allowed. There is electricity in that arm.

Crawford still hasn’t hit in nearly 2 months, and I’m guessing that’s the last we see of him in the batter’s box this year. Hopefully not ever.

The piggybacking starter was RHP Eric Silva (No. 13 CPL), who had a very rough go of it, allowing 7 hits and 4 runs in 3.2 innings without any strikeouts (or, on the plus side, walks). Silva’s season has been a pretty big bummer, and he’s up to a 5.77 ERA and a 5.13 FIP. But he’s certainly showing some improvement on the control front: through the end of June, Silva had walked 30 batters in 49.1 innings. Since then, he’s walked just 2 batters in 20 innings (which included a pair of tune-up outings in the ACL). That’s really nice to see!

Low-A San Jose (57-46)

San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 10-5
Box score

So, as mentioned in the news bit, the Giants made some pretty quick promotions to move recent draftees from the ACL to Low-A. One of those draftees was shortstop Cole Foster, the team’s 3rd-round pick. He made his A-ball debut and hit 0-5 with 4 strikeouts and an error because … that’s what happens when you’re a debuting player at a new level. Nothing to see here.

Except that the other recently promoted draftee, 7th-round left fielder Scott Bandura, didn’t get the memo. He didn’t get it at all. No, he didn’t get it even a little bit.

Bandura made his A-ball debut and hit 3-3 with a home run, 2 walks, and a stolen base.

That’s, umm …. really, really good. Through 6 career games, Bandura is now 9-18 with 2 homers, 1 double, and 7 walks. Is he Wade Meckler with power? Stay tuned.

A nice game for right fielder P.J. Hilson (No. 37 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a double and a stolen base.

It’s not been a very good year for him, as he has a .698 OPS and an 84 wRC+. But apparently all he needed to do was get to August to turn on the jets. Hilson has started the month with a 6-game hitting streak, and it’s not just a mild hitting streak, either. During that time he’s 11-26 with 4 home runs, 2 doubles, and just 2 strikeouts. WOW.

On the one hand, Hilson is already in his 6th season and still has below-average numbers in Low-A. On the other hand, he’s still a few weeks away from turning 23, has some of the best athleticism in the organization, and his 16.3% strikeout rate is 7th-lowest out of 42 Giants Minor Leaguers with at least 200 plate appearances this year.

2 of the 6 players with lower strikeout rates played in this game: center fielder Turner Hill, whose 10.8% rate is second to only Luis Matos, and catcher Onil Perez (No. 44 CPL), whose 10.9% rate is right behind. Hill hit 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 stolen bases, while Perez hit 2-4 with a walk and a stolen base. Predictably, neither of them struck out.

Hill, a 24 year old signed earlier in the year as an undrafted player, has a .746 OPS and a 109 wRC+, but is on fire: in his last 14 games, he’s 23-56 with 2 triples, 4 doubles, 13 walks, and, amazingly, just 3 strikeouts. He doesn’t have any home runs, but does have 22 stolen bases in 26 attempts.

Perez, a 20 year old who bucks everything you once knew about catcher profiles, is up to a .788 OPS and a 115 wRC+, with 21 stolen bases in 23 attempts. Between him and fellow 20-year old catcher Adrian Sugastey (No. 22 CPL), who is in High-A, the Giants certainly have some super intriguing prospects waiting in the wings to help out Patrick Bailey (and that’s without mentioning Ricardo Genovés, Zach Morgan, Andy Thomas, Thomas Gavello, or the recent crop of draftees).

Not a good outing for starting LHP Nomar Medina, who is struggling in his first pass through A-ball. He’s just 20, though. He was followed up by an encouraging performance from RHP Wilkelma Castillo, who gave up just 1 hit, 1 hit batter, and 1 unearned run in 3 innings of work, albeit with just 1 strikeout. Castillo is trying to get on track after starting the year in High-A, getting rocked, and heading to the ACL to work on things. In 7 games since moving to San Jose, he has a 1.84 ERA but a 4.87 FIP, with 13 strikeouts to 6 walks in 14.2 innings.

Another nice showing from RHP Cameron Cotter, an undrafted free agent from the start of the season. He gave up 3 baserunners in 2 scoreless innings, with 3 strikeouts. Most notable was that he walked someone — it was just his 3rd walk issued in 28.2 innings this year. He has a 2.51 ERA and a 4.05 FIP in his debut season.

ACL Orange (23-22)

ACL Giants Orange beat the ACL Cubs 4-3 (7 innings)
Box score

Hellooooooooooooo to right fielder Bryce Eldridge (18 years, 2023 1st-round). With the amount of power that the 6’7, left-handed hitting teenager has, we were all excited to see it start to play.

On Tuesday it played. Eldridge hit 1-2 in the game, drew a walk, and had his first extra-base hit as a pro: a home run that my imagination is telling me was gargantuan. What a lovely sight to “see.” Eldridge is “just” 4-15 to start his career, but he already has 6 walks to just 3 strikeouts. What an unbelievably exciting player.

Like Reggie Crawford, I would assume that we’ll have to wait until 2024 to see Eldridge get a chance to be a two-way player. Until then, enjoy the offensive show, folks.

A pair of recent draftees added to their stellar debuts: first baseman Justin Wishkoski (22 years, 2023 16th-round) hit 1-3 with a double, and is already 7-20 with 5 extra-base hits, 3 walks, and …. wait for it … keep waiting for it … 0 strikeouts. Catcher Jack Payton (22 years, 2023 11th-round) hit 2-3 with a stolen base, and is a delightful 7-16 to start his career. Way to go, draftees!

The big hit came from second baseman Jean Carlos Sio (19 years, 2022 IFA), who had a walk-off, 2-run single in the bottom of the 7th inning. Sio, who was also hit by a pitch, has an .800 OPS and a 106 wRC+ in his first stateside season.

LHP Carlos Molina (18 years, 2023 IFA), promoted to the ACL after just 3 career games in the DSL, had a so-so game, giving up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs in 5 innings, with 4 strikeouts. I’d say it’s been a very successful year for the debuting southpaw, who has a 3.68 ERA, a 4.17 FIP, and 28 strikeouts to 5 walks in 22 ACL innings. Those are pretty awesome numbers, especially when you consider that Molina is A) just 35 innings into his professional career, and B) half a year away from turning 19.

RHP Lisander De La Cruz (21 years, 2019 IFA) had a nice outing, giving up just a hit in 2 scoreless innings, with 2 strikeouts. De La Cruz is in his 3rd season in the ACL after skipping the DSL, and the Giants are hoping for more walkless outings like this one, as he has an ugly 28 strikeouts to 20 walks in 21 innings this year. But De La Cruz is firmly trending in the right direction on that front, and on all fronts. Look it his splits this year:

First 9 games: 9 innings, 8 hits, 15 walks, 11 runs, 7 earned runs, 10 strikeouts
Next 8 games: 12 innings, 4 hits, 5 walks, 1 run, 1 earned run, 18 strikeouts

Yep, that’s great to see.

ACL Black (27-20)

ACL Giants Black lost to the ACL Rockies 10-7
Box score

A pair of really great offensive performances in this one. It’s probably no surprise to anyone following the ACL that first baseman Guillermo Williamson (19 years, 2021 IFA) was one of them, with the lefty hitting 2-5 and bashing a pair of doubles. That brings him up to a .987 OPS and a 141 wRC+ in his second pro season, and his first in the states.

Among 113 ACL hitters with at least 100 plate appearances, Williamson is 7th in OPS, 13th in wRC+, 28th in batting average (.303), 26th in on-base percentage (.426), 6th in slugging percentage (.561), and 32nd in walk rate (16.3%). What a lovely year he’s having.

And center fielder Lazaro Morales (19 years, 2021 IFA) had a much-needed good game, hitting 2-4 with a home run. Morales is really struggling in his first ACL season, with just a .482 OPS and a 22 wRC+. His batting average of .158 is dead last among those aforementioned 113 hitters (and, unfortunately, his teammate Ryan Reckley [No. 31 CPL] is 2nd-to-last), and he has just 5 extra-base hits and 7 walks in 112 plate appearances. Here’s hoping this day jumpstarts things!

Third baseman Elian Rayo (20 years, 2019 IFA), and designated hitter Charlie Szykowny (23 years, 2023 9th-round) both hit 1-4 with a walk, with Rayo doubling and Szykowny tripling. Rayo has an .858 OPS and a 110 wRC+ in his 2nd year at the level, while Szykowny has a .726 OPS and a 102 wRC+ 8 games into his career.

Not a good rehab appearance for LHP Seth Corry, who gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs in 1.2 innings, with 3 strikeouts. Corry, who missed almost all of 2022, hasn’t seen too much of an improvement on his disastrous walk rate that plagued him in 2021, as he’s issued 12 of them in 23.1 innings across the ACL and Low-A. But I’d wait until the rust is actually off before drawing conclusions, and he does have 34 strikeouts, so that’s nice.

Also a tough day for RHP Ubert Mejias (22 years, 2023 IFA), who allowed 10 baserunners and 5 runs in just 4.1 innings, with 4 strikeouts. It was just his 12th career game, and his overall numbers are quite encouraging: 3.59 ERA, 4.86 FIP, and 46 strikeouts to 16 walks in 52.2 innings. The future is bright.

Oddly enough, after using just 3 of their 14 pitchers, the Giants Black team turned to outfielder Jediael Maduro (19 years, 2021 IFA) to finish the game. Maybe the had a strict regiment for who is pitching, and the poor performances messed things up a little? Maybe they were throwing Maduro a bone since he only had 2 at-bats this month? Who knows. But he pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, so … maybe try it again?

DSL Black (22-23)

DSL Giants Black beat the DSL Phillies White 2-1 (8 innings)
Box score

Funny game. It was scoreless at the end of the regulation 7 innings, only for the Phillies White to score the Manfred Man in the 8th … and the Giants Black to answer with 2 runs. Go figure.

An excellent pitching game was highlighted by the season debut of LHP Ricardo Estrada (21 years, 2021 IFA), who had been injured. He was excellent in taking the start, giving up just a hit and a walk in 4 scoreless innings, with 2 strikeouts. It’s his 3rd year in the DSL, and he’s hoping to do a lot better than last year, when he had a 5.40 ERA, and 38 strikeouts to 17 walks in 41.2 innings. I’d say this is a great start!

Then it was RHP Melvin Javier (20 years, 2021 IFA) who pitched 3 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts, giving up 1 hit and 2 walks. Javier has just a 3.62 ERA in his 2nd pro season, but his walk and strikeout numbers are concerning: he has 20 strikeouts to 16 walks in 27.1 innings this year, after having 14 strikeouts to 13 walks in 13.2 innings last year.

And finally it was RHP Carlos Gomez (18 years, 2022 IFA), who allowed the Manfred Man to score (an unearned run), but didn’t give up a baserunner in his inning of work. After a fairly poor debut season in 2022, Gomez is showing off this year: he has a 2.38 ERA, a 3.06 FIP, and 26 strikeouts to 10 walks in 22.2 innings. Nice!

A pair of good offensive games, but no great ones. Shortstop Keiberg Camacaro (16 years, 2023 IFA) hit 2-4 with a stolen base, giving him a .685 OPS, an 88 wRC+, and 10 stolen bases (admittedly in 15 attempts). Pretty good numbers when you weigh for his age and position. And left fielder Diego Villegas (19 years, 2021 IFA) hit 2-2 with a walk, giving him a .729 OPS and a 108 wRC+, to go with a 17.9% walk rate. Villegas was limited to just 10 games last year (and hit wonderfully in them), so while this is technically his 3rd pass through the DSL, it’s more like his 2nd.

Home runs

AAA David Villar (9 in AAA, 14 total)
AAA Wade Meckler (1 in AAA, 5 total)
AA Logan Wyatt (4 in AA, 12 total)
Low-A Scott Bandura (1 in Low-A, 2 total)
ACL Lazaro Morales (2)
ACL Bryce Eldridge (1)

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: @ the Las Vegas Aviators, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. the Bowie Baysox, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. the Everett AquaSox, 6:35 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. the Fresno Grizzlies, 1:00 p.m. PT

Reminder that all Minor League games can now be watched on MLB TV.

Video round up

Some highlights that weren’t posted in time to make it into the respective MiLB recaps.

Read more

The post San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball roundup, 8/8/23 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

What a day on the farm! Six of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action on Wednesday, so let’s dive into it.

Link to the 2023 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

News

The big news is another exciting promotion: RHP Hayden Birdsong (No. 36 CPL) is headed to AA. Birdsong, a 6th-round pick in 2022, has been one of the brightest stars of the 2023 season. The Giants really talked him up after his 10 innings of work last year, and so far the results have shown why. Birdsong dominated Low-A San Jose to start the year, and then was excellent in High-A Eugene, where he had a 3.25 ERA and a 3.64 FIP. His strikeouts dropped from San Jose to Eugene, as he went from 15.1 strikeouts per 9 to 11.5. But not only is 11.5 still a great number, but the walks also dropped significantly, from 4.8 per 9 to just 2.3. Birdsong is still a month away from his 22nd birthday, but now looks in line to end the year knocking on the door of AAA. What an amazing season!

In less happy news, the Giants released AAA Sacramento outfielder Michael Gigliotti. A 27-year old left-handed hitter in his second year with the organization, Gigliotti had a great ability to draw walks and limit strikeouts, but struggled to make good contact, and had just a .730 OPS and an 87 wRC+.

AAA Sacramento RHP Melvin Adón, who just returned to Sacramento after a stint at lower levels to work on mechanics, was placed on the 7-day IL.

AAA Sacramento (45-58)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) 9-6
Box score

A pretty blah game in Sacramento, where the River Cats are really piling up the losses.

A very tough change of pace for RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 30 CPL) — a day after being in San Francisco as a potential addition to the roster since Alex Cobb was sick, Hjelle was taking the bump for Sacramento and getting rocked, giving up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 1 hit batter in just 3.2 innings, totaling 5 runs (3 earned).

It’s just been a really tough year for Hjelle, who has a 5.12 ERA and a 5.51 FIP in Sacramento, with just 49 strikeouts in 65 innings. I wasn’t sure he’d survive the trade deadline, but he did, and now I’m wondering what his future is with the team. The tracking data has always suggested Hjelle would play better at the Majors than the Minor League numbers would lead you to believe, but he’s also clearly fallen behind RHPs Keaton Winn (No. 16 CPL) and Tristan Beck (No. 24 CPL) on the Giants pecking order. Winn’s injury opened the door for Hjelle to still play a role in San Francisco this year (hence being the insurance option on Tuesday), but the expected debut of LHP Kyle Harrison (No. 1 CPL) later this month will knock Hjelle down a peg.

Anyway, his bizarre strikeout trend continues. For his career, Hjelle has just 164 strikeouts in 215.1 innings in AAA. But in the Majors? 49 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. Go figure.

The bullpen struggled, too. Intriguing strikeout-heavy LHPs Chris Wright and Erik Miller continue to struggle with walks, with the former giving up 2 of them (plus a run) in 0.2 innings, and the latter giving up 1 in 0.2 innings, albeit with 2 strikeouts. Among 181 Pacific Coast League pitchers with at least 20 innings thrown this year, Wright is 7th in strikeouts per 9 innings with 13.0, and Miller is 18th with 12.2. But Wright is 176th out of those 181 pitchers with 9.6 walks per 9, while Miller is 165th with 7.8. Tons of potential, tons to work on.

The biggest news of the game was that Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) played a position other than shortstop for the first time in his career, as he spent the day at second base. Given that the Giants waited until they felt Luciano was ready to contribute at the MLB level with his bat to move him off shortstop, I believe their plan is still to have him be a full-time shortstop, probably starting on Opening Day in 2024. But with Brandon Crawford healthy, left-handed, and playing well, there was no room on the roster this year for Luciano unless he started to learn another position. So honestly, I take this more as a sign of support for his shortstop skills (and bat) than as a sign that the team is finally listening to Fangraphs and moving him off the position (also telling on that front that they’re trying him at second, not third, first, or the outfield).

Anyway, I watched the game and Luciano definitely looked like someone playing second base for the first time in his life, but that’s to be expected. Given how good he’s looked defensively this year, I’d anticipate that he’ll be up to speed in a week or so. He also had good at-bats, and finished 1-4 with a walk.

Also collecting a hit was designated hitter Thairo Estrada, playing in his second rehab game. He had a brief scare where he looked like he was in pain, but thankfully stayed in the game. He’s in line for a San Francisco return this weekend. Hooray!

In all, 6 of the players in the Giants lineup (plus their starting pitcher) have played in San Francisco this year, and Heliot Ramos wasn’t even in the lineup! The biggest swing went to recently-optioned third baseman Brett Wisely (No. 33 CPL), who bopped a powerful home run, and also drew a walk.

Giants fans have been pretty hard on Wisely this year, given how poorly he’s hit in San Francisco. But it’s worth reminding you that he entered the year with just 5 games in AAA, is tearing up Sacramento (.972 OPS, 138 wRC+), plays all over the infield and in center field, and is younger than Casey Schmitt and born in the same month as Patrick Bailey. You can see why the Giants are excited about and patient with him.

Right fielder Wade Meckler (No. 42 CPL) played in his second AAA game since a promotion, and once again had 2 walks and an outfield assist (though the assist in this case was really just a practice throw back to the infield to double off a careless runner).

Shortstop Mark Mathias, who came over in the A.J. Pollock trade, made his organizational debut and hit 1-4.

AA Richmond (51-47)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 7-0
Box score

A lovely game for the Squirrels, and needless to say, one that involved a lot of good pitching.

RHP Spencer Bivens kicked things off and had a funny, albeit fantastic, outing. Bivens gave up just 2 baserunners in 4 scoreless innings, though he didn’t record a single strikeout (as a team, Richmond finished their 9-inning shutout with just 4 strikeouts … a day after they were shutout despite only striking out 4 times).

Bivens, who was promoted early in the year, is settling in. He only has a 4.53 ERA and 7.6 strikeouts per 9 innings, but he has a 3.80 FIP, a 50.0% ground ball rate, and has allowed just 2 home runs in 47.2 innings.

RHP Parker Dunshee pitched very well, allowing 3 baserunners in 2.2 scoreless innings, with 3 strikeouts. He’s been strong since the Giants signed him during the season, posting a 2.95 ERA and a 4.38 FIP, with 11.5 strikeouts per 9 innings. And RHP Evan Gates pitched 2 perfect innings, which helped him bounce back from a miserable outing his last time out.

A scare on offense, as center fielder Vaun Brown (No. 5 CPL) left the game after getting hit by a pitch. Brown already had his season delayed by an injury, and has really been struggling lately, so let’s hope this isn’t another setback.

A fantastic game from third baseman Shane Matheny, who hit 4-5 with a triple and a stolen base. Matheny, who started the season in AAA Sacramento, struggled a bit, and was demoted, has been on a tear lately. Over his last 8 games, the play-anywhere hitter is 11-28 with 1 home run, 1 triple, 2 doubles, and 8 walks. That’s brought him up to an .808 OPS and a 122 wRC+ since returning to Richmond.

Designated hitter Carter Aldrete and right fielder Victor Bericoto both had wonderful games in which they hit 2-5, with the former doubling twice and the latter tripling. Bericoto has really been slumping since getting promoted following a blissful season in High-A Eugene, so maybe this is the start of him turning things around.

And another really good day for shortstop Jimmy Glowenke, who hit 2-4 with a double and a walk.

After a somewhat disappointing 2022, Glowenke started 2023 repeating High-A, and was unstoppable. That earned him a promotion, but he really struggled out of the gates in Richmond. The struggles are no more: since the start of July, Glowenke is 22-73 with 4 home runs, 6 doubles, 7 walks, and 19 strikeouts. Keep it up, Jimmy, and we’ll see you in Sacramento next year!

High-A Eugene (49-49)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 5-0
Box score

A second straight shutout loss for the Emeralds! Not ideal!

Nothing to highlight on offense. The Ems had 5 hits, 0 extra-base hits, and 0 walks. No player reached base twice. If you want to force highlights we can talk about center fielder Grant McCray (No. 6 CPL) and second baseman Brett Auerbach (No. 38 CPL), who both had a single and a stolen base, though the cold water is that the former was also picked off and struck out twice, and the latter struck out and is having a disastrous season.

The pitching wasn’t much better. RHP Eric Silva (No. 13 CPL) continues to have a pretty disappointing season. He made it through just 3 innings in this one, giving up 7 hits and 4 runs. The positive was 4 strikeouts to 1 walk, but … a bit of a reach, isn’t it? Silva didn’t have good numbers in 2022, but the peripherals and the scouting reports painted the picture of an exciting pitcher (say that five times fast). This year he still doesn’t have good numbers, but the peripherals and scouting reports are no longer shining bright.

An OK game for LHP Matt Mikulski, who is desperately trying to get his season back on track. He gave up 2 hits and a run in 2 innings, but didn’t allow any free runners, and struck out 2. That may not be great in a vacuum, but it’s certainly great relative to how the season has gone for the 2021 2nd-round pick.

You have to squint to find good things with Mikulski right now, but he has been a little better as of late. His last 3 games have shown some modest improvement, particularly on the command front.

First 21 games: 39 innings, 47 hits, 39 walks, 10 hit batters, 40 runs, 47 strikeouts
Last 3 games: 5 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, 0 hit batters, 2 runs, 6 strikeouts

RHP William Kempner pitched 2 scoreless innings, giving up 2 hits and a hit batter while striking out 3. Last year’s 3rd-round pick has been pretty decent since a midseason promotion, with a 3.52 ERA, a 4.54 FIP, and 22 strikeouts to 8 walks in 15.1 innings.

Low-A San Jose (55-43)

San Jose Giants beat the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) 11-3
Box score

Holy smokes! Talk about some offense! There was a whole lot of it!

Let’s start, as Julie Andrews would implore us to do, at the very beginning, where leadoff hitter Turner Hill went a dazzling 5-6 and finished a home run shy of the cycle.

Hill, a 24-year old left-handed hitting undrafted free agent who was signed in May, has been an absolute hit machine lately. This was his 3rd consecutive game with at least 3 hits, and the 6th time in his last 9 games that he’s had multiple hits.

His line during those 9 games? 21-38 with 1 triple, 4 doubles, 7 walks, and just 3 strikeouts. Yeeeeeeesh.

There’s still plenty of reason for pessimism about Hill. Hitting well in Low-A as a 24 year old requires a McDonalds supply order of salt, and Hill’s overall numbers are still fairly modest: .762 OPS, 112 wRC+. He still has a distinct lack of power, as this triple was his first time hitting anything more than a double in his 215 plate appearances.

But still. That’s the type of 9-game stretch that players dream about.

5 other players had multi-hit games, none more impressive than the day had by … you guessed it … second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 41 CPL). Velasquez continues to have one of the best seasons in the organization, and added to it in a big way on Wednesday, hitting 2-3 with a home run and 2 walks, which brings his OPS up to .854 and his wRC+ to 132.

Velasquez has been really good all year, but he’s been especially hot lately, and rocked a .923 OPS in July. Since July 8, the switch-hitter is 28-72 with 2 home runs, 1 triple, 8 doubles, 9 walks, and just 9 strikeouts. Wow.

It might be time to see what Velasquez, who plays shortstop as well, and is just 19, can do in Eugene. There are reasons for optimism that his success is sustainable: not only are scouts stoked about his swing, but his 10.8% walk rate is the median among 49 qualified California League hitters, and his 16.7% strikeout rate is 9th-lowest. He is riding a fairly high BABIP, but at lower levels that’s often just a sign of hitting the ball hard and being fast … and Velasquez is doing both of those things.

A similarly good day for right fielder P.J. Hilson (No. 37 CPL), who hit 2-5 with a big fly. It’s been a rough year for the 2018 6th-round pick, who has just a .629 OPS and a 67 wRC+, after a stellar 2022. But Hilson has shown some flashes lately, with 6 extra-base hits in his last 8 games, after just 9 in his first 49 games of the year. And the Giants have to be a little encouraged by the fact that, after posting a 35.5% strikeout rate in the ACL in 2021, and a 30.0% rate in his repeat season there last year, Hilson has just a 17.0% strikeout rate in Low-A this year.

Also a reminder that he’s still just 22, and that great athletes can take off on a moment’s notice.

Catcher Luke Shliger had a lovely day, hitting 2-4 with a double and a walk. A 6th-round pick a few weeks ago, Shliger is the only one of the Giants latest draft class to get assigned to A-ball. This was only his second game, but he sure looks like he deserves the assignment so far.

Also reaching base three times: first baseman Dilan Rosario, who doubled, singled, and was hit by a pitch, bumping his OPS to .680 and his wRC+ to 84, and shortstop Jose Ramos, who tripled and drew 2 walks, giving him a .623 OPS and a 75 wRC+.

ACL Black (25-17)

ACL Giants Black beat the ACL Angels 13-2
Box score

Wow wow wow, what a day in the Complex League, even if only 1 of the Giants 2 teams was in action.

You can’t put too much stock into how a player is doing after a few games, but if you could, you’d be left with no choice but to say that the Giants got an absolute steal with the 85th pick in July’s draft. Because it was another standout game for shortstop Cole Foster (21 years, 2023 3rd-round), who hit 2-4 with a home run, a double, and a walk. Foster is only 4 games into his professional career, but he’s 6-18 with 2 homers and 2 doubles. That plays.

You know what also plays? Hitting 3-4 with a home run. That’s the day that catcher Ty Hanchey (23 years, 2023 UDFA) had. Through 3 games he’s 4-9 with 2 walks and just 1 strikeout. Extremely early days, but certainly an “I should have been drafted” start to the career for the left-handed hitter from Florida A&M.

Second baseman Quinn McDaniel (20 years, 2023 5th-round) reached base 3 times, with a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch. It’s been a slower start for him, but hey … they can’t all be on fire out of the gates. Also reaching base 3 times was designated hitter Charlie Szykowny (23 years, 2023 9th-round), though he did it quite unconventionally, with a walk and 2 hit by pitches. In 18 career plate appearances, he’s reached base on freebies 7 times. That’s cool.

But it’s not just the new dudes! First baseman Guillermo Williamson (19 years, 2021 IFA) continued his dominant season, hitting 2-3 with a double and 2 walks. A left-handed hitter, Williamson is up to a .973 OPS and a 138 wRC+ in his second pro season, and first season stateside. This was his 3rd consecutive multi-hit day, and, remarkably, his 9th consecutive game with at least 1 walk drawn. Over his last 5 games, Williamson is 9-16 with 4 doubles and 8 walks. Might we see him in San Jose to end the year?

A quartet of pitchers took the mound, and all had noteworthy games. The Giants started with a trio of single-inning pitchers, before moving to a late-appearing starter role, held by RHP Nicolas Herold (24 years, 2023 UDFA). Herold went 6 strong innings, giving up just 6 baserunners (all hits) and 2 runs, while striking out 7 batters. Herold struggled in his first 4 games after signing, but over his last 3 games he’s pitched 14 innings and allowed just 9 hits, 5 walks, 5 runs, and 3 earned runs, with 18 strikeouts.

Now, for the 1-inning arms. First it was rehabbing LHP Seth Corry, who faced just 3 batters. One of the batters reached base on an error that Corry committed, only for Corry to get the out on a pick-off. He struck out the other 2 batters.

I sure hope that we get to see Corry stretched out, and back at an A-ball affiliate this year. He was such an exciting prospect in 2019, but the pandemic wiped out his 2020, he walked everyone in 2021, and injuries wiped out his 2022. Walks are the big issue with Corry, and lately he’s been showing improvement. This was his 3rd straight game without a walk, and in his last 6 games (3 each in the ACL and Low-A), Corry has issued just 5 walks in 15 innings.

Then it was another rehabbing arm, LHP Darien Núñez, who struck out the side in an inning, while allowing a walk. And then it was that same line — 1 inning, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs, 3 strikeouts — for RHP Josh Bostick (21 years, 2023 8th-round).

That was Bostick’s pro debut and uhh … yeah, that’s a good one! Bostick is a very exciting arm that scouts have raved about, and the Giants clearly view him highly, as his signing bonus was double the slot value, and in line with the slot value of a 5th-rounder.

DSL Orange (22-18)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Royals Blue 4-3
Box score

A makeup of a game that was postponed a few weeks ago.

Piggybacking rookie position players had the most notable games. Second baseman Dario Reynoso (18 years, 2023 IFA) started the game back in mid-July, and hit 1-1 with a walk and a stolen base. With a .986 OPS, a 152 wRC+, and a 21.9% walk rate, it’s been a brilliant debut season for Reynoso, and I can’t wait to see him in the states next year.

Unfortunately he’s been sidelined by an injury for the last week and a half, so replacing him when the game resumed was right fielder Lisbel Diaz (18 years, 2023 IFA), who hit 2-2. Diaz has only played 12 games since signing, but is 17-40 with 2 homers, 4 walks, and just 4 strikeouts in that time. What a debut!

A very nice outing from RHP Alfonso Perez (17 years, 2022 IFA), who bounced back after a few rough games. He took the mound for the resumption of the game and pitched 5.1 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run, albeit with no strikeouts. Perez has a paltry 20 strikeouts in 37.1 innings this year, but he has a 2.89 ERA, a low walk rate, and is just 17 years old.

Home runs

AAA Brett Wisely (5 in AAA, 7 total)
Low-A Diego Velasquez (7)
Low-A P.J. Hilson (5)
ACL Cole Foster (2)
ACL Ty Hanchey (1)

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: vs. the Reno Aces, 6:45 p.m. PT
Richmond: @ the Altoona Curve, 3:00 p.m. PT
Eugene: @ the Tri-City Dust Devils, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ the Inland Empire 66ers, 6:35 p.m. PT

Reminder that all Minor League games can now be viewed on MLB TV.

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Arizona Diamondbacks (57-50, third in the NL West) vs. San Francisco Giants (58-49, second in the NL West)

San Francisco; Tuesday, 9:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Diamondbacks: Zac Gallen (11-5, 3.36 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 143 strikeouts); Giants: Alex Cobb (6-3, 2.97 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 100 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Diamondbacks -121, Giants +101; over/under is 7 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Arizona Diamondbacks lead 1-0 in a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

San Francisco has a 30-24 record at home and a 58-49 record overall. The Giants have the third-ranked team ERA in the NL at 3.94.

Arizona has a 57-50 record overall and a 29-22 record in road games. The Diamondbacks have the fourth-ranked team batting average in the NL at .256.

The teams meet Tuesday for the ninth time this season. The Diamondbacks lead the season series 5-3.

TOP PERFORMERS: LaMonte Wade Jr has 13 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 29 RBI for the Giants. Wilmer Flores is 12-for-36 with three doubles, three home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.

Christian Walker has 32 doubles, 22 home runs and 68 RBI for the Diamondbacks. Emmanuel Rivera is 11-for-32 with a double and three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Giants: 4-6, .204 batting average, 3.90 ERA, outscored by 14 runs

Diamondbacks: 3-7, .244 batting average, 5.56 ERA, outscored by 20 runs

INJURIES: Giants: Mike Yastrzemski: 10-Day IL (hamstring), John Brebbia: 60-Day IL (lat), A.J. Pollock: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Anthony DeSclafani: 15-Day IL (elbow), Cole Waites: 60-Day IL (elbow), Thairo Estrada: 10-Day IL (hand), Thomas Szapucki: 60-Day IL (arm), Mitch Haniger: 60-Day IL (forearm), Roberto Perez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Luis Gonzalez: 60-Day IL (back)

Diamondbacks: Tommy Henry: 15-Day IL (elbow), Evan Longoria: 10-Day IL (back), Gabriel Moreno: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Zach Davies: 15-Day IL (back), Drey Jameson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mark Melancon: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Corbin Martin: 60-Day IL (lat)

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

© Data Skrive. All rights reserved.

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