Minor League round up, July 26

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

The San Francisco Giants AA, High-A, and Low-A affiliates had Monday off, but AAA was in action, as were the Arizona Complex League and Dominican Summer League teams.

Let’s jump into the action.

Link to the 2021 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List.

AAA Sacramento (30-41)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainers (Mariners) 7-4
Box score

Despite having just 4 runs on the day, there were some exciting offensive performances for the River Cats. Second baseman Jason Krizan had the best day, going 2-3 with a walk, a double, and a home run.

The Giants have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to infield depth, and with Evan Longoria and Tommy La Stella nearing returns, and Mauricio Dubón currently optioned, it’s hard to see a path where they dip into infield options that aren’t on the 40-man roster. But if it comes to that, there’s quite a battle going on between Krizan and Arismendy Alcántara, with Peter Maris (who came off the bench Monday to hit 2-2 with a double) throwing his name in the ring as well.

Speaking of those depth options, Dubón went just 1-5, but had a home run. His OPS is sitting at .950 as he gets the chance to play every day.

La Stella and designated hitter Jaylin Davis went hitless in their rehab assignments.

Center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 3 CPL) had his first extra-base hit since earning a AAA promotion, with a double. His OPS is just .579, but he’s only 6 games into the promotion.

It was a rough pitching day for Sacramento, and they only struck out 5 Tacoma batters. RHP Matt Frisbee (No. 39 CPL) struggled to find the strike zone, and allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, and 4 earned runs in 5 innings, with just 3 strikeouts. LHP Conner Menez continued his trend of pitching worse in AAA than in the Majors, with 4 baserunners and 3 earned runs in an inning of work.

ACL Orange (8-10)

ACL Giants Orange beat the Cubs 7-3
Box score

The Giants Orange team scored 5 runs in the final 3 innings to steal a win, despite registering just a single extra-base hit on the day.

Third baseman Anthony Rodriguez (18, 2019 J2) went 1-3 with a double and a pair of walks, and right fielder Edison Mora (20, 2018 7th round) had a 3-hit day. Both hitters stole bases as well. First baseman Garrett Frechette (No. 27 CPL, 20, 2019 5th round) had a 2-hit day to raise his OPS to .855.

But the star came on the pitching front, in the form of RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 23 CPL, 20, 2019 11th round), who pitched 5 innings and allowed just 4 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run, while striking out 6.

ACL Black (10-9)

ACL Giants Black lost to the Rockies 7-4 (7 innings)
Box score

Farhan Zaidi and Scott Harris won’t be stoked looking at the box score of this game, as Giants Black struck out 10 times, without drawing a walk. Whoops.

There were still some nice performances, as second baseman Dilan Rosario (20, 2019 6th round) hit a home run, and first baseman Jacob Gonzalez (23, 2017 2nd round) had a 2-hit day, bringing his OPS to 1.078 since getting demoted from High-A to the Complex League.

LHP Nick Swiney (No. 17 CPL, 22, 2020 2C round) pitched! It’s easy to forget about Swiney, as the 2020 class has already had many intriguing storylines, and he’s been injured. The lefty made a lone appearance for Low-A San Jose in May, and was brilliant, with 4 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 0 runs, and 6 strikeouts. But he hadn’t pitched since then due to an injury. He made a rehab appearance with Giants Black, and pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out 1.

I’m no great prospect analyst, but if he keeps up his 0.00 ERA at the professional level, he could have a long career ahead of him.

DSL Orange (3-6)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the Mariners 14-2
Box score

You can probably guess by the final score that this wasn’t a good game for Giants Orange. The first three pitchers the Giants used got beat up, with RHP Mikell Manzano (18, 2019 J2) allowing 6 runs (5 earned) in 3.1 innings, LHP Pavel Duarte (17, 2020 J2) allowing 4 runs (1 earned) in 1.1 innings, and RHP Juan Morillo (18, 2019 J2) allowing 4 earned runs in 0.1 innings.

No one had a good offensive day, with third baseman Derwin Laya (17, 2020 J2) going 1-4 with a double to move his OPS to .653, and center fielder Saul Bautista (17, 2020 J2) to move his OPS to .755 going 1-3 with a walk constituting as the best performances.

DSL Black (5-6)

DSL Giants Black beat the Brewers1 8-7 (7 innings)
Box score

The Giants Black squad managed 7 runs in as many innings despite having just 6 hits, 5 of which were singles. They did, however, draw 7 walks, while having the same number of strikeouts. And their opponent committed 3 errors, which always helps matters. On top of that, the Giants pitchers registered just 3 strikeouts all game.

How, exactly, did they win this one? Don’t look at me, I just work here.

Center fielder Mauricio Pierre (17, 2020 J2) had the lone extra-base hit, a double, to move his OPS to .980. Shortstop Yeison Lemos (18, 2019 J2) had the only 2-hit game, with a pair of singles and a pair of RBI.

The best pitching performance came from RHP Samir Chires (17, 2020 J2), who allowed 3 hits, 0 walks, and 0 runs in 2.1 innings, but also didn’t record a strikeout.

Home runs

AAA Jason Krizan (7)
AAA Mauricio Dubón (2)
ACL Dilan Rosario (2)

Schedule

Sacramento: @ Tacoma Rainers, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Bowie BaySox, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: @ Everett AquaSox, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. Inland Empire 66ers, 6:30 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: vs. Athletics (doubleheader)
ACL Black: vs. D-backs
DSL Orange: vs. Mariners
DSL Black: vs. Brewers1