Minor League roundup, Sept. 5: Sabin Ceballos is on fire

Yesterday’s action on the farm.

The Minor League Baseball season is nearing an end, but it’s not over yet! Here’s what happened on the San Francisco Giants farm on Thursday.

Link to the 2024 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the positions played in that particular game.

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News

Just a tiny bit of news. AAA Sacramento LHP Raymond Burgos, who hasn’t pitched since July 1, has started a rehab assignment with Low-A San Jose. And AA Richmond outfielder Allan Cerda, who hasn’t played since June 5, has started a rehab assignment with High-A Eugene.

Also, AA Richmond announced their team awards. Outfielder Carter Howell was named Player of the Year, while LHP John Michael Bertrand was awarded Pitcher of the Year and the Community Service Award. Outfielder Turner Hill was given the Puritan Cleaners Dirty Squirrel Award which, in addition to being a fantastically-named award, recognizes the player who shows the most hustle and aggression on the diamond.

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AAA Sacramento (72-63)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 11-5
Box score

A pair of home runs highlighted a forgettable day for the River Cats, with one of those home runs coming from a likely source, and the other from an unlikely one.

The 1st dinger was a solo shot in the 2nd inning courtesy of third baseman David Villar, who finished the day 2-4.

While it certainly has not been the season that Villar was hoping for — which hurts doubly considering that this is his final year with an option — his 15 home runs are tops among all Giants Minor Leaguers not named Bryce Eldridge. There’s certainly still some pop in his bat, even if his .801 OPS and 100 wRC+ just aren’t quite enough for a corner infielder.

The 2nd dinger was a 2-run shot off the bat of left fielder Wade Meckler (No. 11 CPL), who went 1-4 on the day.

Meckler is showing some pop that we’ve frankly never seen from him before. When he made it back to AAA this year (after a lengthy rehab assignment), he had hit a mere 8 home runs in his professional career, in 714 plate appearances. And since rejoining Sacramento’s lineup, he’s already bopped 5 home runs in just 139 plate appearances.

Has he suddenly figured out a power swing? No, it’s almost surely just the park environments mixed with a little hot streak, but it’s fun to see nonetheless. He’s rebounded from a mini-slump, and now has an .883 OPS and a 116 wRC+ with the River Cats this year.

Speaking of rebounding from slumps, center fielder Hunter Bishop continued his hitting streak, as he went 2-4 and now has hit safely in the last 12 games that he’s started. Over that span (which includes a hitless game as a pinch-hitter), the lefty has gone 19-50 with 1 home run, 4 doubles, 2 walks, and 11 strikeouts. He only has a .718 OPS and a 77 wRC+ this year, but considering that he was pressed into AAA action after just 26 games in AA and a completely lost 2023 season — and considering that he’s blown past his career highs in games played and at-bats taken — it has to be considered a successful season for him. He’s at least put himself in position to audition for the Majors in 2025.

The pitching was a disaster. RHP Carson Ragsdale (No. 32 CPL) threw a wrench in the team’s plans by failing to make it out of the 1st inning, giving up 6 hits and 6 runs (though just 2 earned due to an error by catcher Blake Sabol), while recording just 2 outs. That meant bigger innings numbers for the bullpen, and they struggled with it. RHP Evan Gates allowed 4 runs in 2.1 innings, while RHP Drew Strotman somehow avoided runs despite walking 5 batters in 2.2 innings. LHP Kolton Ingram was the only arm to pitch well, tossing 1.1 no-hit innings, and the 9th was handled by second baseman Donovan Walton (who hit 2-4 with a double), and he allowed 1 run. It was the 10th time that Walton has been called in for mop-up duty this year, and only the 3rd earned run he’s allowed in 12 innings.

AA Richmond (60-69)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 7-6 (10 innings)
Box score

A 2nd straight 10th-inning walk-off win for the Squirrels! What fun! This time the winning hit came from right fielder Victor Bericoto (No. 19 CPL), who had a dynamic day, going 2-5 with a double, a walk, and the walk-off single.

It certainly hasn’t been the season that Bericoto was looking for, after the slugger had a breakout 2023, but he’s worked his numbers near average (.682 OPS, 95 wRC+), and is still just 22. It’s an exciting profile.

First baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 3 CPL), playing in just his 3rd AA game since his 2nd promotion of the year, had his best AA game yet, going 1-3 with a double, 2 walks, and a strikeout.

It should be noted that 1 of his walks was an intentional walk … I’m going to echo something Roger Munter said on Twitter: intentional walks should not be allowed in the Minors! The goal for both teams is to develop players, not win games!

Third baseman Luis Toribio had another nice game, hitting 2-3 with a triple, before getting lifted for second baseman Jimmy Glowenke (No. 39 CPL), who reached base in both of his plate appearances despite not hitting the ball (1 walk, 1 hit by pitch). Like Bericoto, it hasn’t been the season Toribio was hoping for, but he’s ending it on a high note. August was by far his best month of the year, and in his last 4 games he’s 8-13 with a triple, 2 doubles, and 2 walks.

RHP Nick Sinacola had a really nice outing in the start, giving up just 3 baserunners and 1 run in 5 strong innings, while striking out 4 batters. Sinacola, a 7th-round pick in 2021, has been up-and-down since getting promoted to Richmond earlier in the year, and has a 3.68 ERA and a 4.30 FIP. He’s not an overpowering pitcher, but he’s issued just 24 walks in 104 innings across 2 levels this year.

Contrasting games for 2 players who were formerly among the top pitching prospects in the system. LHP Seth Corry got rocked, giving up 4 baserunners and 4 runs in 1.1 innings. But RHP Will Bednar was absolutely electric. It wasn’t a game that will help his ERA too much, as Bednar did allow a run in 2 innings. But that run (a home run) was the only hit he allowed (though he did walk a batter), and 5 of his 6 outs were recorded via strikes. More importantly, the stuff under the hood was very exciting, and thanks to Roger, we have some data to back that up.

Don’t count him out yet, folks!

High-A Eugene (58-70)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 4-3
Box score

The revenge tour continues for third baseman Sabin Ceballos, who didn’t exactly put up eye-popping numbers for Atlanta after they drafted him in the 3rd round last year …. but has absolutely excelled since being traded to the Giants organization at the deadline. It was another dominant day for Seballos on Thursday, as he hit 2-4 and knocked in all 3 of the team’s runs with a 5th-inning home run.

With Atlanta’s High-A affiliate, the recently-turned 22-year old sported a .706 OPS, a 109 wRC+, and 3 home runs in 377 plate appearances. With San Francisco’s High-A affiliate? He’s at a .911 OPS, a 149 wRC+, and already has 6 home runs in 126 plate appearances. And on top of that, he’s suppressing strikeouts better than you would expect a player to do in their 1st full season (19.1% K rate in Atlanta’s system, 23.8% in Eugene). He’s definitely emerging into a very exciting prospect.

Left fielder Allan Cerda played for the first time in 3 months, as the AA outfielder began a rehab assignment. He hit 1-3 with a double and a walk. Right fielder James Tibbs III and shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 14 CPL), who had both been playing well in the last few games, had tough days; the former went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts, while the latter went 0-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts, and each committed an error.

LHP Hayden Wynja pitched in his 2nd game since returning from a lengthy injury absence. It went quite well, as he gave up just a hit in 2 scoreless innings, while striking out 2 batters. Welcome back, Hayden!

Nice relief performances from RHPs Austin Strickland and Tyler Vogel: Strickland pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, with 3 baserunners and 3 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 5.46 and his FIP to 5.11, while Vogel retired all 4 batters he faced with 2 strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 4.94 and his FIP to 5.09.

Low-A San Jose (72-56)

San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 5-4 (10 innings)
Box score

Well, let’s start with the best pitching performance of the day on the farm, as RHP Cale Lansville was beyond impressive for the Baby Giants. Lansville, who was taken in the 14th-round of last year’s draft, was unhittable. Quite literally!

The 21-year old pitched 6 no-hit innings, and a walk was his only mistake of the day. Even more impressively, that walk came to the very 1st batter he faced, after which he buckled down and couldn’t be stopped. Because baseball is cruel, Lansville still gave up a run, though it was unearned: that walk he issued ultimately scored in part due to an error.

Lansville only has a 4.36 ERA and 4.21 FIP in his debut full season, but in his last 6 starts he’s given up just 5 earned runs in 28.1 innings. Excited to see him in High-A next year.

RHP Cameron Pferrer, pitching in just his 5th pro game after going undrafted, retired all 4 batters he faced, and 3 by way of strikes. Pferrer now has 11 strikeouts to 1 walk in 8.1 innings. That works!

A pair of standout offensive games, courtesy of shortstop Walker Martin (No. 7 CPL) and first baseman Guillermo Williamson.

Martin is coming to life after a fairly disappointing debut season, and Thursday was the latest sign of it. He hit 1-3 with a home run and 2 walks, though he also had a strikeout and committed 2 errors. It’s time to upgrade the splits for him since last year’s 2nd-round pick got promoted to San Jose:

First 13 games in Low-A: 7-54, 0 home runs, 1 triple, 1 double, 5 walks, 37 strikeouts
Next 10 games in Low-A: 12-36, 1 home run, 1 triple, 2 doubles, 14 walks, 14 strikeouts

Progress is perhaps the biggest thing you can ask for out of a prospect, so this is wonderful to see.

As for Williamson, he hit 3-5 and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Williamson, who doesn’t turn 21 until Spring Training and who has some fantastic raw power, has overcome a rough start to the season to finally get his numbers above average (.755 OPS, 103 wRC+) in his debut year of full-season ball.

Strikeouts remain an issue for Williamson, but he’s really ending the season on a high note. In his last 17 games, the lefty slugger is 22-64 with 5 home runs, 4 doubles, 5 walks, and 15 strikeouts.

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Home run tracker

AAA David Villar (16 total, 15 in AAA)
AAA Wade Meckler (6 total, 5 in AAA)
High-A Sabin Ceballos (9)
Low-A Guillermo Williamson (12)
Low-A Walker Martin (7 total, 1 in Low-A)

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Friday schedule

Sacramento: at Salt Lake, 5:35 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Akron, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: at Vancouver, 1:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: at Fresno, 7:05 p.m. PT

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