Yesterday’s action on the farm.
Six of the San Francisco Giants seven Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action on Wednesday, with only the DSL Giants Black team having the day off. Lots of action to get to!
Link to the 2024 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
All listed positions in the roundup are the positions played in that particular game.
News
There’s big news on the farm, even beyond the electric MLB debut of RHP Hayden Birdsong (No. 9 CPL) on Wednesday night. Birdsong wasn’t the only top prospect to get promoted, as first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 3 CPL) received the call to take his journey up the coast from Low-A San Jose to High-A Eugene, per Roger Munter. Eldridge, a 6’7 19-year old left-handed hitter who was the team’s 1st-round pick in 2023, is the top prospect in the system in many people’s eyes. Seeing him move up a level is very exciting.
AAA Sacramento (45-32)
Sacramento River Cats beat the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 9-5
Box score
With Birdsong’s rapid ascension and the prospect pedigree of LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 4 CPL), it can be easy to have RHP Carson Seymour (No. 22 CPL) fly under the radar. It’s probably even easier to have him fly under the radar — or maybe just to get confused — now that RHP Carson Ragsdale (No. 32 CPL) has been promoted to Sacramento, giving the River Cats 3 exciting starting pitchers named Carson.
Anyway, back to the one we’re here to talk about: Seymour. He took the mound on Wednesday and had a really fantastic game, giving up just 4 hits (all singles) and 1 walk in 5.1 innings, allowing only an unearned run (admittedly on his own error), and striking out 4.
Since a blowup start in late May, Seymour has really been settling into a tidy ERA: in his last 5 starts, he’s pitched 24.1 innings and allowed 18 hits, 13 walks, 7 runs, and just 3 earned runs, while striking out 21 batters. Needless to say, the Giants will need to see those walk numbers come down … the 3.99 ERA is a delight in the Pacific Coast League, but the 5.28 FIP offers some pretty clear warning signs.
Still, as I mentioned yesterday when Whisenhunt had a rough outing, we shouldn’t let things like Birdsong’s amazing rise cloud our vision. Development takes time, and players are in AAA to learn how to pitch better, not to just show that they’re ready for the next level. That’s often lost on people talking about prospects, especially as they get closer to the Majors. Sacramento isn’t just the final test for players; it’s the final class, and the semester is sometimes very long!
Seymour, by the way, is up to a 56.3% groundball rate, which is 3rd-highest out of 25 PCL hitters with at least 50 innings thrown this year. Does anyone know if the Giants like groundball pitchers???
Some fun offense for Sacramento, a day after getting shut out. First baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. made his 3rd rehab appearance and his 2nd in the field, and hit 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout, before leaving the game late. The Giants just said that Wade will likely be activated on Friday, so that’s exciting.
Right fielder Grant McCray (No. 12 CPL) had a very Grant McCray game, hitting 1-5 with a home run and 3 strikeouts.
grant mccray goes all the way with the kitties THIRD 2 run HR of the night! pic.twitter.com/XpDUEDyNfH
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) June 27, 2024
That’s been pretty emblematic of McCray’s season, as the defensive wizard has seen 25 of his 46 hits this year (across 2 levels) go for extra bases, but has struck out 82 times in 258 plate appearances. I’m still a little confused by his quick promotion, which represents a dramatic shift for an organization that usually makes players really improve strikeout rates before promotions.
Shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 16 CPL) continued his slightly odd run of recent play, hitting 1-5 with a home run and 2 strikeouts.
we love 2 run HRs so much we did it again, fitzgerald bringing the kitties to 4-0 pic.twitter.com/oEajuQmAki
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) June 27, 2024
Since returning to Sacramento in early June, Fitzgerald has struggled with contact … but has made impressive contact when he does hit the ball. He’s just 10-40 with 15 strikeouts, but 5 of those 10 hits have gone for extra bases. Oddly enough, Fitzgerald joins the growing list of players who have stopped stealing bases: between Sacramento and San Francisco, he’s only stolen 2 bases in his last 35 games. It’s fair to wonder if, between his cooled down play, his mistakes in San Francisco, and the emergence of Heliot Ramos as an everyday center fielder and Brett Wisely as a could-be-everyday shortstop, if Fitzgerald missed his chance to cement a role on the MLB roster.
And finishing off the home run party was catcher Logan Porter, who smacked his 1st dinger since joining the Giants organization, en route to a fantastic day: he hit 2-3 with 2 walks. It’s worth noting that Porter was putting up outrageous numbers for the Royals’ AAA squad before the Giants acquired him, so this isn’t just a random all-glove catcher having a rare good day at the plate.
logan porter putting the kitties in motion with a 2 run HR pic.twitter.com/s2MrReaePW
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) June 27, 2024
Left fielder/first baseman Blake Sabol had a strong day as he continues to hit better, going 2-4 with a double and a walk, though he also struck out twice and committed an error. Second baseman Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) got on base a bit but is still struggling to hit, as he went 0-2 with 2 walks, a hit by pitch, and a strikeout. He’s now 7-40 with 1 double, 8 walks, and 19 strikeouts since returning from the IL, and the Giants are playing him quite a bit at second base now. Not sure if that says more about Luciano or Wisely…
AA Richmond (34-37)
Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 4-3
Box score
A great bullpen performance after a tough start by LHP John Michael Bertrand, who gave up 4 runs in 5 innings, though he struck out 7 batters. LHP Nick Swiney, once one of the more highly-regarded relievers in the system, had perhaps his best outing of the year, pitching 3 shutout innings with just 1 hit allowed, while striking out 3. A Compensatory Round pick in 2020, Swiney has had a tough couple of years, struggling in AAA Sacramento last year, and struggling again this year after beginning the year back in Richmond, where he has a 4.46 ERA and a 4.61 FIP.
But things have been steadily moving in the right direction for Swiney, who has been improving his run prevention and his free passes (walks + hit batters).
April: 5.73 ERA, 13 strikeouts to 7 free passes in 11 innings
May: 4.15 ERA, 11 strikeouts to 7 free passes in 13 innings
June: 3.86 ERA, 17 strikeouts to 7 free passes in 16.1 innings
Also having a good appearance in an up-and-down season was RHP Eric Silva (No. 41 CPL), who pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Renewed life in his pitches was one of the big storylines at Minor League Spring Training this year, and explained why Silva got an opening assignment in AA despite struggling in High-A last year. That hasn’t quite turned into results this year, as the 2021 4th-round pick has a 5.40 ERA and a 5.11 FIP. But the process is currently better than the results, and lately the results have been trending in the right direction: over his last 3 outings, Silva has pitched 5 innings and given up 4 hits, 2 walks, 0 runs, and struck out 6.
Another nice day for first baseman Victor Bericoto (No. 19 CPL) who seems to be emerging from his early season slump, as the righty hit 3-4. As was the case last year with Bericoto, who initially struggled following a mid-season promotion to Richmond before catching fire, the upward trend of his offensive numbers is almost exactly an inverse image of his strikeouts. As the latter goes down, the former goes up (which is the case for most hitters, obviously, but it’s been fairly extreme in Bericoto’s young career).
Just look at how much things have changed over the last few weeks:
Through June 5: 33-163, 9 extra-base hits, 12 walks, 50 strikeouts
Since June 5: 27-68, 8 extra-base hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
If his career trend is any indication, I’d expect that we’re going to see Bericoto have an absolutely fantastic summer.
Third baseman Will Wilson keeps getting on base too, as he hit 2-3 with a walk. Like Bericoto, Wilson had a slow start to the season but has been much better lately. He already has more hits in June than he had in April or May, and has finally gotten his wRC+ above average (102).
Will Wilson pokes one the other way and we’re within a run pic.twitter.com/5avAHAJj7y
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) June 27, 2024
High-A Eugene (35-35)
Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 10-2
Box score
Well this was a fun game, and the tone was set by the 2 Emeralds at the top of things: the leadoff hitter, second baseman Quinn McDaniel, and the starting pitcher, RHP Manuel Mercedes (No. 37 CPL).
McDaniel, whose bat has really been coming alive lately, had a sensational game, hitting 2-4 with a pair of home runs and a walk. What a day!
It’s been a good June for McDaniel, who is 18-73 with 7 extra-base hits, 15 walks, and 27 strikeouts. The Giants surely want to see the contact improve … that’s not a great batting average and it’s a terrifying strikeout rate, but McDaniel is certainly showing a lot of the reasons for why the Giants used a 5th-round pick on the righty last year. He’s sitting on a .765 OPS and a 125 wRC+ in his 1st full season.
And Mercedes matched McDaniel’s brilliance, putting forth his best start of the year, with 6 shutout innings in which he gave up just 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 6. The strikeouts were quite noteworthy, as Mercedes is sitting at just 6.9 Ks per 9 innings … which, if you’ll believe it, is a sizable improvement over his work with Low-A San Jose last year. But he remains one of the elite groundball pitchers in the Minor Leagues, as his career-worst 59.9% groundball rate ranks 11th out of 651 Minor League pitchers with at least 40 innings thrown this year. He only has a 4.71 ERA and a 4.29 FIP, but he’s also only 21 years old.
While those were the stars, there were other good days too, particularly on offense. Left fielder Alexander Suarez only hit 1-4 with a strikeout, but his hit was a home run. Suarez is another player who has been significantly improving through the year:
Through May 19: 11-50, 1 home run, 2 doubles, 1 walk, 20 strikeouts
Since May 19: 19-70, 6 home runs, 4 doubles, 4 walks, 22 strikeouts
The strikeout and walk rates are still terrifying for the 22-year old righty … among 56 Giants prospects with at least 100 plate appearances, Suarez’s strikeout rate (32.8%) is 49th, and his walk rate (3.9%) is 55th. But after a pair of tough seasons in Low-A San Jose, Suarez has a .764 OPS and a 119 wRC+ in Eugene, so there’s a lot to love, too.
Center fielder Jonah Cox is having no problems getting on base at the next level, as he hit 0-1 but drew 3 walks and was hit by a pitch in his 2nd game since a promotion. He is learning that it’s harder to steal bases at this level, though, as he got caught stealing. After swiping 38 bags in 41 attempts with San Jose, Cox is just 1-for-3 in Eugene.
And a great day for first baseman Matt Higgins, who hit 3-4 with 2 doubles. After a tough May, Higgins has been sensational in June, sporting a .931 OPS. That’s brought his overall OPS up to .769, and his wRC+ up to 128.
Low-A San Jose (41-29)
San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 8-4
Box score
Where one great prospect leaves, another arrives. Well, not always. Not even usually. But it just might be happening in San Jose.
First baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 3 CPL) played his final game with the Baby Giants before his promotion, and hit 1-4 with a double and a strikeout. He finishes his time in San Jose with an .801 OPS and a 110 wRC+, which may not be overpowering numbers, but are mighty impressive when you consider that he is just 19 years old, playing his 1st full season of professional baseball, and receiving rave reviews for his swing decisions and control of the strike zone. He leaves San Jose with a .215 isolated slugging that ranks 8th out of 103 California League hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. He is legit.
B1: Giants 2 | Fresno 0
Watch him run! Eldridge reaches 3rd and scores the first two runs of the game.@MiLB | @SFGiants pic.twitter.com/evswh8MpgY
— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) June 26, 2024
And sliding right into the “exciting and very young prospect in San Jose” void is left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 42 CPL), who played in his 2nd game since a fairly surprising (but extremely deserved) promotion.
The 18-year old right-handed hitter added a data point to the “extremely deserved” claim, as he hit 2-4 with a home run and a strikeout. Yep, he has wasted no time fitting in, and I’m very curious to see where he ends up on prospect lists as the season (and offseason) move on. He’s hitting for average, hitting for power, and showing a control of the strike zone that most older prospects would do bad things for. And every successful game in San Jose only makes his prospect shine shinier, as he’s more than 3 years younger than the average California League hitter.
B6: Giants 7 | Fresno 2
WELCOME TO THE CAL LEAGUE LISBEL DIAZ @MiLB | @SFGiants pic.twitter.com/hfNvJYQpBJ
— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) June 26, 2024
Also homering was right fielder Cesar Quintas, who hit 1-4 with a strikeout and a solo shot, which was part of a 6-run 1st inning. It seems pretty clear that the Giants have been working with Quintas to change his swing for more power, with mixed results. A year after having a staggering .372 batting average but with just a .101 isolated slugging percentage in the ACL, the 21-year old righty has just a .214 average, but with a .155 isolated slugging. Hopefully he can find a healthy middle ground between those approaches.
B1: Giants 4 | Fresno 0
QUINTAS BRINGING THE HEAT TO THE DAY GAME pic.twitter.com/P4KrIWA9Qp
— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) June 26, 2024
Shortstop Cole Foster (No. 30 CPL) continues to show improvements. Last year’s 3rd-round pick only hit 1-4 with a strikeout, but his hit was a double, which gives him 6 extra-base hits in his last 5 games. He’s starting to find some rhythm!
A so-so start for LHP Esmerlin Vinicio, who gave up 5 hits, 2 walks, 1 hit batter, and 2 runs in 5 innings of work, with 3 strikeouts. While not extremely effective, Vinicio was extremely efficient … if the scorekeeper is to be believed, he needed just 57 pitches to get through 5 innings, despite facing 20 batters. Part of that was that he induced 3 double plays!
RHP Ryan Vanderhei made his San Jose debut after a recent promotion and it went well, as he pitched 2 shutout innings with 1 hit, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. It’s the debut season for last year’s 10th-round pick, who has only pitched 10.2 professional innings. Keep up the great work, Ryan!
ACL Giants (20-20)
ACL Giants beat the ACL D-backs 15-4
Box score
Despite the infusion of so much offense, let’s start with the exciting pitching. The day began with a pair of rehabbing RHPs: Landen Roupp (No. 18 CPL) followed by Spencer Miles. Roupp was exactly as dynamic as you would expect of someone you’ve seen flummox MLB hitters already this year … he pitched 2 perfect innings and struck out 4 batters. Hard to be better than that!
Roupp is now 3 games into his rehab assignment and has struck out 12 batters in 5 shutout innings … with just 2 hits and 0 walks allowed. Hopefully he’s back in Sacramento soon … and then maybe San Francisco again!
Miles was less dominant, which is not surprising since he’s A) coming off a worse injury, B) coming off a much longer absence, and C) not yet the pitcher that Roupp is. But still great to see him healthy. He gave up 3 hits and 1 run in 2 innings in this game, with 1 strikeout.
RHP Johan Rodriguez (21 years, 2023 international signing) got beat up a bit, but fantastic appearances from RHPs Christian Avendano (20 years, 2022 international signing) and Keyner Martinez (19 years, 2023 international signing). Avendano, who is the player the Giants signed to pitch after the Cardinals had originally signed him as a center fielder, pitched 1.1 shutout innings with 1 hit, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. It’s been a tough debut stateside season, but his strikeout stuff is playing. And Martinez pitched a perfect inning as he continues to shine … even though this is his debut professional season, he’s sitting at a 3.20 ERA, albeit with a 5.13 FIP. He doesn’t have good strikeout or walk numbers (13 Ks to 11 BBs in 19.2 innings), but he does have a 53.6% groundball rate, and has been excellent in his last 5 games: 7.2 innings, 4 hits, 4 walks, 1 run, and 5 strikeouts.
Despite the 15 runs, there were no superstar days on offense. Designated hitter Maui Ahuna (No. 27 CPL, 22 years, 2023 4th-round) hit 2-5 with a double and 5 runs batted in, which is certainly a great day. I recently wrote about how Ahuna had been removed from the IL, and been assigned to the ACL, where he had been rehabbing. I labeled this a demotion (he’d been struggling in Low-A), but Roger Munter pointed out on his site that Ahuna still isn’t playing the field, so this is likely still just a glorified rehab assignment until he’s back to full health.
Third baseman Dario Reynoso (19 years, 2023 international signing) and catcher Juan Perez (19 years, 2022 international signing) both reached base twice, doubled, and struck out twice. Reynoso has a .726 OPS and a 105 wRC+ in his debut stateside season, while Perez has a .786 OPS and a 118 wRC+ in his 2nd pass through the level, after a disastrous 2023. It’s been a good year for both players, but they also have sky-high strikeout rates.
Shortstop Walker Martin (No. 7 CPL, 20 years, 2023 2nd-round) hit 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts, as he continues to show some good things but also continues to strike out at an alarming rate. Right fielder Rayner Arias (18 years, 2023 international signing) hit 0-3 with a strikeout, but drew a walk, was hit by a pitch, and played a full game for the 1st time this year, which was great to see. Hopefully the exciting righty, who was playing in just his 4th game of the year, is at full speed soon.
In rehab news, left fielder Ryan McKenna hit 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout, while center fielder Wade Meckler (No. 11 CPL) hit 1-5 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Both players played full games.
DSL Orange (8-9)
DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Mariners 5-2 (7 innings)
Box score
A makeup game for the Giants Orange squad. Not too much to talk about in this game, but the 2 hitters at the top of the lineup certainly shined. Leading off was third baseman Franco Willias (19 years, 2023 international signing), who is playing in his debut season. And what a game he had! He hit 2-3 with a home run and a double, with his big fly not only being the 1st of his career, but leading off the game. How fun and memorable! That gives the righty a .970 OPS and a 157 wRC+, though he did commit his 6th and 7th errors of the year in the game.
And then it was designated hitter Yosneiker Rivas (18 years, 2023 international signing), who hit 2-2 with a double and a walk. The left-handed hitter only played 9 games last year, so take this with a grain of salt, but he currently has doubled his batting average (and quadrupled his number of hits, in just 6 more games). He’s sitting on a .993 OPS, a 157 wRC+, and a mighty impressive season.
Home run tracker
AAA Tyler Fitzgerald (9 total, 8 in AAA)
AAA Grant McCray (8 total, 2 in AAA)
AAA Logan Porter (7)
High-A Quinn McDaniel, 2 (7)
High-A Alexander Suarez (7)
Low-A Cesar Quintas (6)
Low-A Lisbel Diaz (5 total, 1 in Low-A)
DSL Franco Willias (1)
Thursday schedule
Sacramento: @ Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Somerset, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Tri-City, 6:35 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. Fresno, 6:30 p.m. PT
Reminder that most Minor League games can now be watched on MLB TV.