Minor League round up, Aug. 3

A round up of the San Francisco Giants Minor League affiliates.

Lots of action on the San Francisco Giants farm, with seven of the eight teams in action.

Let’s jump right in.

Link to the 2021 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

AAA Sacramento (33-45)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) 6-5
Box score

The River Cats blew a 4-2 lead to fall behind 5-4, but used an eighth inning rally to win the game, with right fielder Joe McCarthy smacking a double that took them from down a run to up a run, and settled the final score. It was McCarthy’s second hit of the day, giving him a .953 OPS and keeping him locked in as a solid depth option in the outfield and at first base should the Giants need him.

He was one of four Giants who had multi-hit days. Second baseman/first baseman Jason Vosler was fantastic, hitting 2-2 with 2 walks and a double. Shortstop Mauricio Dubón, whose bat had started to slow down after a strong initial performance post-optioning had a stellar day, hit 3-4 with a triple to raise his OPS to .938. And first baseman Brandon Belt smacked a pair of singles as he starts to wind up his rehab assignment and prepare to rejoin the MLB team.

RHP Tyler Beede started and once again struggled, allowing 4 hits, 3 walks, and hitting a batter while giving up 3 runs in just 2 innings. Some serious hiccups are expected when a pitcher returns from Tommy John, but Beede is up to a 6.07 ERA, with 49 strikeouts to a whopping 39 walks in 46 innings since starting his rehab. With the Giants having a mega 40-man roster crunch, it’s fair to wonder what the future holds for the former first-round pick.

On the other side of things, RHP Reyes Moronta had a clean inning as he continues his rehab, lowering his ERA to 1.93.

The game ended in excitement, with a bootylicious defensive play by second baseman Jason Krizan.

AA Richmond (40-39)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies) 4-2
Box score

Richmond grabbed a win thanks in large part to a tremendous start from RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 11 CPL), who allowed just 1 hit, 2 walks, and 0 runs in 7 strong innings, though he only struck out 4 batters. Starts like these certainly seem to enforce the notion that Hjelle could be a quality backend starter, but that he needs to take a leap if he wants to be anything better than that. The 24 year old now has a 3.15 ERA, with 69 strikeouts to 19 walks in 65.2 innings.

Offensively, the day revolved almost entirely around center fielder Simon Whiteman and right fielder Diego Rincones (No. 37 CPL). They had 4 of the team’s 5 hits, both of the team’s extra-base hits, 3 of the 4 RBIs, and 3 of the 6 walks. Whiteman went 2-3 with 2 walks and a double to raise his OPS to .738, and Rincones went 2-3 with 1 walk and a double to raise his OPS to .839.

High-A Eugene (45-34)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 11-4
Box score

It was a strong offensive day for the Emeralds, who had 3 home runs and saw 8 of their 13 hits go for extra bases. It wasn’t all good though, as they drew just a single walk while striking out 16 times. Yikes.

To the surprise of no one, second baseman Brett Auerbach had a strong day, hitting 2-4 with a home run and a double, raising his OPS to .963. I am very curious to see where he ends up on next year’s CPL after this brilliant debut season following going undrafted in 2020’s truncated draft.

Auerbach was part of a dominant top of the lineup, hitting second while sandwiched between center fielder Ismael Munguia and left fielder Armani Smith (No. 44 CPL), who both hit 3-5, with the former finishing a homer shy of the cycle.

The biggest hit, however, came from third baseman Sean Roby, who washed off an otherwise dismal day (he finished 1-5 with 3 strikeouts) with a seventh-inning grand slam.

RHP Ryan Murphy made his first start for Eugene following a promotion after a brilliant debut season in San Jose (2.96 ERA, 116 strikeouts to 18 walks in 76 innings). The 2020 fifth-round pick was strong, allowed 3 hits, 2 walks, and 3 unearned runs in 5.1 innings, while striking out 8.

Low-A San Jose (51-28)

San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 8-7
Box score

The Baby Giants were done in by the late innings, giving up 2 runs in both the eighth and the ninth to blow a 7-4 lead that had been 5-0 entering the fifth inning.

But honestly, results don’t matter much at the Low-A level. What matters is the performances of the exciting prospects, and San Jose came through on that front, with home runs from shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL) and center fielder Luis Matos (No. 5 CPL).

Matos added a single to raise his OPS to .859, and Luciano had a walk to raise his OPS to .930.

But it wasn’t enough, as the Giants were done in by 3 errors that led to 4 unearned runs. RHP Wil Jensen was most hurt by them, as he gave up 7 hits, 0 walks, and 4 runs (1 earned) in 5.2 innings, with 4 strikeouts. He has a 3.11 ERA and 86 strikeouts to 15 walks in 75.1 innings.

ACL Orange (13-13)

ACL Giants Orange beat the Angels 12-0 (7 innings)
Box score

A dominant performance on both ends for the Giants Orange team. The pitchers were fantastic, combining to throw a 1-hit shutout, admittedly in a 7 inning game. All four pitchers were brilliant, but especially the last two that the Giants used. RHP Blake Rivera (No. 22 CPL, 23, 2018 4th round), making his season debut after an injury, struck out the side in his inning of work, though he issued a pair of walks.

LHP Nomar Medina (18, 2020 J2) followed him up by striking out 7 batters in 3 innings, while allowing 0 hits and 1 walk. Medina has allowed 7 hits, 6 walks, and 1 earned run in 12.1 innings with 18 strikeouts.

The offense was nearly as dynamic, with 13 hits, 4 of which were home runs, including the first of the season for designated hitter Grant McCray (No. 26 CPL, 20, 2019 3rd round) and left fielder Garrett Frechette (No. 27 CPL, 20, 2019 5th round). First baseman Logan Wyatt (No. 19 CPL, 23, 2019 2nd round) had a 3-hit day to help break out of a slump.

ACL Black (15-11)

ACL Giants Black beat Royals Gold 3-2 (7 innings)
Box score

It was a less dominant Arizona Complex League performance for Giants Black, but they still got the job done, thanks in large part to a pair of strong pitching performances.

RHP Lisander De La Cruz (19, 2019 J2) started, and allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs in 3 innings, while striking out 5. It lowered his ERA to 1.74, and gave him 13 strikeouts to 8 walks in 10.1 innings.

RHP Jose Cruz (21, 2017 J2) finished the game, allowing just 1 hit, 0 walks, and 0 runs in 2 innings, with 4 strikeouts. He now has a sterling 1.29 ERA, with 23 strikeouts to 4 walks in 14 innings.

The best offensive performances came from first baseman Jean Pena (20, 2017 J2), who was 1-2 with a walk and a double, and third baseman Yorlis Rodriguez (22, 2017 J2), who was 1-2 with 2 walks.

DSL Orange (5-9)

DSL Giants Orange beat the Dbacks2 3-2 (7 innings)
Box score

The Giants had a nearly non-existent offensive game, but still managed to win in dramatic fashion, scoring all 3 runs in the final inning, albeit with great aid from an error, as 2 of the runs were unearned.

That was enough for victory despite the team having just 5 hits (all singles), and 2 walks. Catcher Freddy Tremaria (18, 2019 J2) was the only player to reach base twice, with a hit and a walk.

RHP Miguel Mora (19, 2019 J2) had a strong start, allowing just 2 hits, 0 walks, and 1 unearned run in 4 innings, with 5 strikeouts. He’s allowed a lot of runs this year (5.25 ERA), but has 18 strikeouts to 2 walks in 12 innings.

Home runs

High-A Sean Roby (10)
High-A Brett Auerbach (9)
High-A Heath Quinn (6)
Low-A Marco Luciano (18)
Low-A Luis Matos (9)
ACL Kwan Adkins (5)
ACL George Bell (3)
ACL Garrett Frechette (1)
ACL Grant McCray (1)

News

LHP Mac Marshall, a 2015 4th-round pick who was struggling in AA, has retired.

AA RHP R.J. Dabovich, who is having a strong debut season, was pulled during Tuesday’s game after suffering an injury.

And Marco Luciano has been promoted.

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: Off
Richmond: vs. Reading Fightin Phils, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Tri-City Dust Devils, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Fresno Grizzlies, 6:50 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: Off
ACL Black: Off
DSL Orange: Off
DSL Black: Off