Minor League roundup, Sept. 11: The season is winding down

Yesterday’s action on the farm.

Just two games for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates on Wednesday, as High-A Eugene’s season is over, and Low-A San Jose had a day off before resuming their postseason series. Let’s dive into it.

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

Two small pieces of news. RHP Hunter Dula was promoted from High-A Eugene to AA Richmond, while AAA Sacramento LHP Raymond Burgos was activated off the 7-Day IL.

---

AAA Sacramento (75-65)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Round Rock Express (Rangers) 6-5
Box score

Despite the loss, the River Cats had a delightful pitching day. Unfortunately, RHP Drew Strotman just didn’t get the memo, as he allowed 8 baserunners and 5 runs in just 1.2 innings of work. That set the table so that a lone run allowed by RHP Clay Helvey (who gave up just 2 baserunners in 2.1 innings, with 4 strikeouts) was enough for Round Rock to escape with a victory.

It was an electric, if short-lived start, with RHP Carson Ragsdale (No. 32 CPL) getting the call. Ragsdale was fantastic, giving up just 2 hits (admittedly both doubles) and 1 walk in 3 shutout innings, though he only struck out 1 batter.

So why did he only pitch 3 innings? Don’t worry, it doesn’t seem to be an injury or anything of that nature. It’s just that time of year. The Giants haven’t been as conservative with starting pitcher prospect innings this year, but it’s definitely time to start letting off the gas and coasting to the finish line. While Ragsdale has impressed with his pitches this year, the most notable thing about his season is that he’s pitched 117.2 innings …. after throwing just 27.2 innings last year, and 5.2 innings the year before. There’s simply no need to ride him hard through the very end of the season.

Finishing the game was just-activated LHP Raymond Burgos, who gave up 1 hit in a scoreless inning, while striking out 2 (the 3rd out came when he picked off the hit he did allow). Burgos has impressed this year, and could be a part of the MLB bullpen at some point next season if he re-signs.

A well-balanced attack on offense, with 7 hits and 10 walks. A trio of players stood out, though, so let’s get to them. Center fielder Wade Meckler (No. 11 CPL) has gotten back to his zone-controlling ways, as he went 1-2 with 3 walks and a strikeout. After struggling a bit at lower levels as he shook off the rust of a Spring Training injury, Meckler has been quite solid in AAA, sporting an .891 OPS and a 119 wRC+. That said, those numbers are much more solid than issue-forcing, especially with the struggles of his 2023 MLB debut still fresh in everyone’s minds.

He remains an exciting prospect, but his path back to the Majors is getting difficult as we look towards 2025. The Giants already have 2 starting outfielders written in pen for next season, in Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee. They’ll likely have a 3rd, either from a large offseason acquisition or from re-signing Mike Yastrzemski. And it’s clear from the team’s personnel decisions over the last few weeks that Grant McCray, Luis Matos, and Jerar Encarnación are ahead of Meckler on the depth chart. So he’ll have work to do to earn the 2025 chances that he looked destined to get in 2024 after a strong Spring, and before a tough injury. Given what we’ve seen the Giants prioritize this year, it seems like Meckler could work his way into playing time by improving his defense or turning his excellent speed into more stolen bases … in addition to showing an ability to hit off-speed pitches.

Right fielder Hunter Bishop had another nice day, hitting 2-5 with a double. Bishop really impressed when called into emergency AAA action, but then went ice cold for the summer. But he’s been heating up again lately, and has hit safely in his last 16 starts. Over his last 17 games (those 16 plus a pinch-hit appearance), the lefty is 25-70 with 1 home run, 5 doubles, 2 walks, and 12 strikeouts. After struggling with Ks for much of the year, Bishop has really cut back lately: in his last 6 games, he’s 9-28 with just 1 strikeout.

It’s not accurate to say that Bishop has regained the prospect status that made him a 1st-round pick back in 2019, but it is fair to say that he’s showing why he was once one of the team’s top prospects … and perhaps all he needed was some good health. It will be fascinating to see what 2025 has in store for him.

And shortstop Donovan Walton hit 1-2 with a double and 2 walks. Walton doesn’t really seem to fit into the Giants long-term plans at all, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he signed with a different team this offseason. But he’s had a solid year and is pretty decent emergency depth.

AA Richmond (63-71)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 8-7
Box score

It was a doubles party for the Squirrels, as 5 of their 14 hits were 2-baggers.

First baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 3 CPL) didn’t have the best day, but he is the best prospect, so we’ll start with him. He got in on the party, hitting 1-5 with a double. It’s probably inaccurate to cast Eldridge’s short stint in AA as electric, but he’s definitely fitting in. His at-bats look fantastic, with a great blend of patience and aggression. He has 4 extra-base hits in 8 games. And after striking out 5 times in his 1st 4 games, he’s only struck out twice in the 4 games since. His .760 OPS and 107 wRC+ aren’t jumping off the page, but when you combine it with his newness to the level, his approach, and the fact that he’s still just 19 (a whopping 4.6 years younger than the average Eastern League hitter), you have a very, very encouraging picture. With apologies to Bo Davidson and Jhonny Level, I don’t think you can make a case for anyone in the system having nearly as good of a year as Eldridge …. and that’s exactly what you want to be able to say about your top prospect. So the Giants are surely thrilled.

But the best day belonged to another player who looks primed to rise up prospect lists this offseason: shortstop Diego Velasquez (No. 21 CPL), who hit 3-4 with a double and a walk.

The concerns with Velasquez are obvious. He’s never hit much for power: his .136 isolated slugging with Low-A San Jose last year was a career-best, and he has just 27 extra-base hits in 471 plate appearances this year between High-A and AA. He’s almost surely not a shortstop long-term, and his defense at second base is probably more Brett Wisely than Thairo Estrada. All of that paints a picture of someone whose destiny might be Ehire Adrianza unless he can be the rare player who maintains a .300 batting average.

Which brings us to the excitement with Velasquez. He’s hitting .311 in Richmond which, while a career high, isn’t exactly an outlier in his contact-driven profile. He has just a 17.6% strikeout rate, which is 35th-lowest out of 186 Eastern League prospects with at least 100 plate appearances. And, as a 20-year old, he’s still 3.6 years younger than the average player on that leaderboard. And on top of that, he’s an up-the-middle switch-hitter.

It’s hard to not be excited about a 20-year old at a premier defensive position who has a .748 OPS and a 119 wRC+ (47th out of those 186) in AA. He seems very likely to start 2025 — his age-21 season — in AAA. But again: there are warning signs, which, in Velasquez’s case, is really just a fancy way of saying the margin for error is slim. With his current profile, it’s hard to imagine him being a starter in the Majors if he’s not at or near .300 … a mark that only 7 qualified hitters have reached this MLB season. So he’ll either need to keep that up, or find a way to add some power to his game, without sacrificing bat speed or defense.

Either way, he’s worth being very excited about. Don’t let the concerns ruin that … every prospect has concerns!

Right fielder Jairo Pomares (No. 29 CPL), second baseman Justin Wishkoski, and third baseman Andrew Kachel all had 2-hit days with a double, with Kachel throwing in a hit by pitch. Each have had encouraging seasons in their own ways: Pomares because he finally seems healthy and is showing some signs of why his bat was once considered one of the best in the system, and Wishkoski and Kachel because, despite both being 16th-round picks (Wishkoski in 2023 and Kachel in 2022), they’ve already made it to AA, where they’re both hitting better than league average.

RHP Nick Sinacola got rocked in his final start of the year (barring a surprising promotion to AAA when the year ends). He gave up 10 baserunners, 6 runs, and 5 earned runs in 4.2 innings, though he struck out 6 batters and had an absolutely fantastic defensive play.

His debut AA stint ends with a 4.08 ERA, a 4.12 FIP, and 7.8 strikeouts to 2.4 walks per 9 innings. A very solid year for the 2021 7th-rounder, who began the season in High-A.

RHP Cameron Cotter, who has had a phenomenal year, also got rocked, but LHP Nick Swiney continued his strong end to the year, tossing 1.1 no-hit innings with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Swiney has tossed 5 shutout innings in September, with 3 baserunners and 6 strikeouts.

---

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: at Round Rock, 5:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: at Altoona, 3:00 p.m. PT
Eugene: Season over
San Jose: at Modesto, 7:05 p.m. PT

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