Weekend Minor League roundup, 4/11-13: Excitement abounds!

The weekend action on the farm.

We have a whole lot of Minor League Baseball games to cover today, so I’ll try to run through it all as quickly as possible. In the future I’ll try to do Saturday roundups but, since I didn’t this week, that means we need to cover not just the weekend games, but Friday’s games, as well. And since two of the San Francisco Giants affiliates had Saturday doubleheaders, that means we’ve got a whopping 14 games to get through. Time to speed through it as quickly as possible!

Link to the 2025 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

High-A Eugene RHP Shane Rademacher was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Northwest League! Congrats to Shane, and more on his excellent performance later in this article.

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AAA Sacramento (8-7)

Friday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) 3-1 [box score]
Saturday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainiers 10-9 [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainiers 6-2 [box score]

A rather standard weekend for the River Cats, but it was nice to see left fielder Marco Luciano continue to take some strides forward. Luciano, who had a standout day on Thursday, started the weekend slowly, going 0-5 with a strikeout on Friday. But he turned it on in a hurry on Saturday, hitting 2-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, and a strikeout, while driving in 5 runs.

Luciano ended the weekend quietly as well, hitting 1-4 with a strikeout in Sunday’s series finale, but I remain encouraged by the quality of his contact. He’s regularly hitting the ball with very hard exit velocities, and usually good results will follow that, though his season numbers are still quite disappointing, as he has a .646 OPS and a 64 wRC+.

Someone whose numbers aren’t disappointing is first baseman/third baseman/designated hitter David Villar, who has done nothing but rake since clearing waivers and getting outrighted. He was a hit machine this weekend, going 7-13 with a double and 2 strikeouts, pushing him to a .914 OPS and a 140 wRC+ in 11 games. The power that defined Villar as a prospect hasn’t quite shown up — he has just 1 home run and 1 double in 48 plate appearances — but his strikeout rate is highly encouraging, as it’s all the way down to 16.7%. Last year it was 25.7% in AAA, and 35.1% in the Majors.

Shortstop/second baseman Brett Wisely also had a nice weekend, hitting 2-9 with a home run, a stolen base, and 3 strikeouts. His homers (of which he has 3) have been crushed this year, though he has just a .713 OPS and an 80 wRC+.

His fellow infielder, third baseman/shortstop Sergio Alcántara had a very strong weekend as well, hitting 3-8 with 2 doubles, 3 walks, 1 stolen base, 1 strikeout, and 1 error. It’s hard to see a path to the Majors for Alcántara this year, seeing as how the Giants not only have a pair of young, optionable backup middle infielders in San Francisco, but also a pair of young 40-man middle infielders in Sacramento, but he remains a quality depth piece.

A rough weekend for center fielder Grant McCray, who went 0-8 with 1 walk, 1 stolen base, and 4 strikeouts, before getting Sunday off. It’s been a slow start to the year for him after such a strong spring.

The pitching was up and down. The star was Friday’s starter, RHP Carson Ragsdale (No. 19 CPL), who was called into action a day early when the Giants held LHP Kyle Harrison back in case the poor whether in New York warranted a doubleheader and an additional arm. Ragsdale was quite strong, giving up just 1 hit in 5 innings of work, though that hit was a home run and he walked 3. Still, 1 run in 5 innings, with 5 strikeouts is a solid day at the office, and Ragsdale will take it after back-to-back poor outings to open the year.

Speaking of poor outings, Harrison got pushed to Saturday and struggled. He lived in the strike zone, with 52 of 75 pitches being strikes, and struck out 5 in 3 innings without a walk, so there were positives. But he also gave up hits to 7 of the 17 batters he faced, including a home run and a double, and that tagged him for 6 runs in 3 innings, ballooning his ERA to 5.73, albeit with just a 4.32 FIP. It wasn’t the best day for his fastball velocity, which was mostly sitting 93, but he had a handful of 94s and even some 95s.

LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 2 CPL) rounded out the star-studded weekend of starts, but he, too, struggled. Like Harrison, Whisenhunt did a fairly decent job of throwing strikes, with 53 of his 79 pitches being strikes, and just 1 walk in 3.1 innings. But he gave up 8 hits, including a quartet of doubles, which put 4 runs on his ledger to go with his 3 strikeouts.

RHP Trevor McDonald, Sunday’s piggy-backing starter, did a bit better, striking out 6 batters in 4 innings, while allowing 4 hits, 0 walks, and 2 runs, and tossing 44 of 62 pitches for strikes. It’s been a decent start to the year for McDonald, who has a 4.15 ERA and a 3.93 FIP.

Solid relief outings for 40-man RHPs Tristan Beck and Sean Hjelle, while RHPs Justin Garza and Miguel Díaz, and LHP Helcris Olivárez kept their 0.00 ERAs in check.

AA Richmond (2-7)

Friday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 2-1 [box score]
Saturday, Game 1: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators 3-2 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday, Game 2: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Harrisburg Senators 2-1 (7 innings) [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Harrisburg Senators 8-6 [box score]

A trio of losses by a combined 4 runs! What a painful way to do business!

There were no superstar performances over the weekend, just plenty of Flying Squirrels who had a solid series, especially on the offensive end of things. First baseman/designated hitter Victor Bericoto (No. 24 CPL) slowly worked his way up throughout the weekend: he hit 2-11 with a walk and 3 strikeouts on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday exploded for a 3-5 game in which he smacked his first 2 home runs of the season.

After leading the organization with 27 homers in 2023, while sporting a .239 ISO, Bericoto had a disappointing 2024, which was spent in Richmond. The righty slugger had a .693 OPS and a 99 wRC+, with just 11 home runs, and saw his ISO drop nearly in half, to .124. After his double dinger day, he looks more like his 2023 self, with an .830 OPS, a 144 wRC+, and a .212 ISO. Equally encouraging is his 17.5% strikeout rate.

The only other Squirrel to homer over the weekend was catcher Adrián Sugastey (No. 38 CPL). I’m wondering if Sugastey is a little banged up or under the weather, because he was behind the dish for the back half of the doubleheader, but didn’t play this weekend otherwise, even at DH. But he made the most of his limited time, hitting 1-3 with a solo bomb.

Third baseman/designated hitter Sabin Ceballos (No. 18 CPL) continued his strong season (and strong performance, in total, since joining the Giants organization at last year’s trade deadline), as he got on base at an amazing clip over the weekend, hitting 4-12 with 1 double, 3 walks, 2 hit by pitches, and 3 strikeouts. He was also quite consistent, hitting 1-3 in all 4 games! And second baseman/shortstop Diego Velasquez (No. 16 CPL) hit nicely as well, finishing the weekend 4-13 with 2 walks, 1 stolen base, and 1 strikeout.

The pitching didn’t stand out too much, and it’s not the most star-studded rotation, especially compared to Sacramento’s. Each of the 4 starters showed some good things with a far-from-perfect performance. On Saturday it was LHP John Michael Bertrand, who gave up 7 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs in 5 innings of work, while striking out 4. The best start came in the opening act of the doubleheader, when RHP Nick Sinacola struck out 4 batters in as many innings, allowing just 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run. He was followed in the back of the doubleheader by RHP Manuel Mercedes, who gave up 6 hits, 2 runs, and 1 earned run in 4 innings, with 3 strikeouts against no walks. And rounding it out on Sunday was LHP Jack Choate (No. 29 CPL), who pounded the strike zone for better and for worse, throwing 44 of 66 pitches for strikes, while giving up 8 baserunners and 5 runs in just 3 innings of work, though he struck out 5 batters.

Excellent relief outings from RHPs Nick Morreale, Cameron Cotter, Nick Garcia, Dylan Cumming, and Trent Harris (No. 20 CPL).

High-A Eugene (4-5)

Friday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 7-6 [box score]
Saturday Game 1: Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils 7-4 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday Game 2: Eugene Emeralds lost to the Tri-City Dust Devils 7-0 (7 innings) [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds lost to the Tri-City Dust Devils 4-2 [box score]

The thrill and the agony. That’s what the weekend was for Eugene, in that order. It began with the thrill, as the Ems walked off the Devils on Friday thanks to a 2-run double from second baseman Quinn McDaniel.

And it ended with the agony, as center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 11 CPL) left Sunday’s game after injuring himself on the basepaths, and had to be helped off the field. Davidson hasn’t yet been placed on the Injured List, though that feels a little inevitable. Let’s hope it’s a minor injury.

And let’s stay on the topic of Davidson, because the lefty had himself a dynamic weekend, even if it ended very unfortunately. He’s one of the most intriguing players in the system, as we’re all dying to know if the undrafted free agent who utterly dominated Low-A last year can keep it going at higher levels. The doubleheader wasn’t kind to Davidson, who went 0-6 with 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and a caught stealing on Saturday. But the full games that bookended it? My goodness, his star potential was on full display.

It was a Bondsian performance on Friday, as Davidson hit 3-5 with 2 home runs, 1 double, and 1 strikeout. And on Sunday, before exiting the game, he was one of the few Emeralds who could hit, going 2-3 with a double. It’s extremely early days, but Davidson is following his breakout campaign with an .879 OPS and a 125 wRC+ in Eugene, and he is as exciting as ever.

There were a few other standout performances by the hitters, though, with the exception of Davidson and shortstop Cole Foster (who hit 3-4 in the series finale), all the good performances stopped before Sunday. Left fielder/center fielder Jonah Cox (No. 26 CPL) hit 4-11 with 1 triple, 1 double, 1 walk, 4 stolen bases, 1 outfield assist, and 3 strikeouts on Friday and Saturday, before an 0-4 on Sunday. All 4 of his stolen bases came on Friday, which was fun. First baseman/third baseman Charlie Szykowny (No. 43 CPL) hit 3-9 with a home run, a double, 2 walks, a hit by pitch, and 4 strikeouts in the opening trio of games, before going 0-4 with a strikeout hat trick in the series finale. And right fielder/left fielder Scott Bandura skipped the opening part of the doubleheader, but hit 2-3 with a double and 3 walks on Friday and Saturday, then went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout on Sunday.

After a mild injury delay, shortstop Zane Zielinski made his professional debut on Friday. Last year’s 9th-round pick looked right at home, though he followed the footsteps of his teammates, hitting 4-7 with 2 stolen bases and a strikeout on Friday and Saturday, but going 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts on Sunday. So it goes, but welcome to the pros!!

The star on the mound was RHP Josh Bostick (No. 27 CPL) wha was absolutely fantastic on Friday, striking out a whopping 9 of the 16 batters he faced. Bostick also only gave up 1 hit in his 4 innings of work, though that hit was a home run which, when paired with 1 of the 2 walks he gave up, tagged him for 2 runs. Giving up more runs than hits is a recipe for an ERA that doesn’t adequately display your performance and, indeed, Bostick has just a 4.91 ERA but a 3.31 FIP through 2 starts this year. He’s very exciting.

RHP Shane Rademacher, an undrafted pitcher entering his 3rd season of professional baseball, didn’t have the electric stuff of Bostick, but he had amazing control and even better results. The 24-year old gave up just 2 baserunners — a single and a walk — in 5 shutout innings on Sunday, while striking out 3. Through a pair of starts, Rademacher has allowed only 5 baserunners in 9 innings. That’s mighty impressive!

LHP Esmerlin Vinicio started the 2nd game of the doubleheader and showed off some big strikeout stuff, K’ing 7 batters in just 4 innings, though he allowed 2 hits, 3 walks, 4 runs, and 3 earned runs. Encouraging stuff nonetheless.

The bullpen really struggled. Removing the 1st game of the doubleheader, there were 9 relief appearances, and 8 of those 9 gave up runs (though LHP Tommy Kane’s lone run allowed was unearned, and he pitched very well in 1.2 innings). The only reliever in those games to not allow a run was LHP C.J. Widger, who only faced 1 batter on Sunday … and who got rocked on Friday. But the opening act of the doubleheader featured fantastic bullpen appearances, with RHP Brayan Palencia allowing just 2 hits in 3 shutout innings, with 2 strikeouts, while RHP Marques Johnson gave up 1 hit in a scoreless inning, with 2 strikeouts.

Low-A San Jose (6-3)

Friday: San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide (D-Backs) 3-1 [box score]
Saturday: San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide 11-4 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide 3-2 [box score]

They’re cold and then they’re hot! The Baby Giants started the year by getting swept in a rare 3-game MiLB series, and then turned around and swept Visalia in a standard 6-game series! A 6-game sweep sure is fun, unless you’re on the receiving end of it!

Lots of exciting performances, as one would expect when outscoring an opponent 17-7 over the weekend. First baseman/third baseman Robert Hipwell (No. 25 CPL) had a fun weekend, hitting 2-6 with 2 doubles, 1 walk, 2 hit by pitches, 1 stolen base, and 1 strikeout, before getting Sunday off.

Catcher Drew Cavanaugh also got Sunday off, and went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts on Friday, but was spectacular on Saturday, hitting 3-4 and finishing a triple shy of the cycle, while throwing in a walk for good measure. Cavanaugh, the team’s 17th-round pick in 2023, has been sensational this year, as the lefty is sporting a 1.271 OPS and a 215 wRC+. He’s tied for the organizational lead in home runs, with 3, which is more than he had in his entire career entering this year. What a fun story he’s been in the opening weeks of the season!

Left fielder/right fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 17 CPL) also got in on the long-ball party, hitting 4-12 with a 2-run blast, a hit by pitch, 3 stolen bases, and 3 strikeouts. The 19-year old had a breakout year in the ACL last season, and held his own following a midseason promotion to San Jose, where he caught fire at the end of the year. Were Eugene’s outfield not so full, there’s a chance Diaz could have drawn an opening assignment in High-A, but if he keeps putting together performances like this one, he’ll surely be there before too long.

Speaking of very exciting players, center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 8 CPL) — to me the singular most exciting player in the system not named “Bryce Eldridge” — had a solid weekend after resting on Friday, going 1-4 with a double, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts. The sensational athlete has been fantastic in 8 games this year, sporting a 1.090 OPS and a 189 wRC+, with 2 stolen bases. Most importantly, though, his strikeout rate is “just” 27.0%. That’s still a fairly high number, but represents significant growth given the contact issues he had in college ball, and that’s encouraging … this is putting the cart ahead of the horse, but if Jordan can be even competent at suppressing strikeouts, I don’t see anything that will keep him from being a star in the Majors. But of course, that’s a big “if,” especially for a player with just 10 professional games played. Notably, even with a standout defensive outfielder like Jose Ortiz (No. 22 CPL) on the roster, the Giants have played Jordan exclusively in center field this year.

And finally, right fielder/left fielder Carlos Gutierrez continues to look super comfortable, despite missing virtually all of the 2024 season. He went 4-13 with a triple, a double, a walk, a stolen base, and 2 strikeouts, and has hit safely in 7 out of 8 games so far this year. Not bad for a 20-year old who entered the year with just 25 career games in the pros, 22 of which came in the DSL!

There were a pair of starting pitcher performances that were exciting. On Friday it was LHP Greg Farone, who gave up just 3 hits — all singles — and 2 walks in 4 scoreless innings, while striking out 8 Visalia batters. 8 strikeouts in 4 innings! Farone was the team’s 7th-round pick last year, and made his debut last week. If you want a reason for excitement, 14 strikeouts against 3 walks in 7.2 innings is a good way to provide it!

And on Sunday it was RHP Gerelmi Maldonado (No. 36 CPL) who rebounded from a tough season debut to remind us why he’s one of the most exciting arms in the system. A 21-year old who is still touching 100 even though he just returned from Tommy John surgery, Maldonado put his electricity on display in the series finale, giving up just 3 hits and 1 walk in 3 shutout innings, while striking out 7 of the 13 batters he faced, and throwing 36 of 49 pitches for strikes. Wowzers! That’s a nice performance!

It didn’t go nearly as well for the starter that Farone and Maldonado bookended, as LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 31 CPL) showed off his angel numbers, allowing 4 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs in 4 innings (though he sadly had just 3 strikeouts, instead of 4).

A lot of good relief outings, but none as good as Sunday’s performance from RHP Evan Gray, the team’s 2024 15th-round pick. Gray, pitching in just the 3rd game of his career, allowed only a hit batter in his otherwise perfect 2 innings, and struck out 4. He’s faced 19 batters in his debut season and has struck out 8 of them!

And that concludes a busy weekend in the Minors!

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Home run tracker

AAA Marco Luciano (3)
AAA Brett Wisely (3)
AA Victor Bericoto, 2 (2)
AA Adrián Sugastey (1)
High-A Bo Davidson, 2 (2)
High-A Charlie Szykowny (1)
Low-A Drew Cavanaugh (3)
Low-A Lisbel Diaz (1)

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Upcoming schedule

Sacramento: Off-day on Monday, Tuesday vs. Salt Lake, 6:45 p.m. PT
Richmond: Off-day on Monday, Tuesday vs. Chesapeake, 3:05 p.m. PT
Eugene: Off-day on Monday, Tuesday at Vancouver, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: Off-day on Monday, Tuesday at Rancho Cucamonga, 11:00 a.m. PT

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Injury report

Every Monday I’ll try to get to the injury reports for all the affiliates, so you can see what’s going on with some players who aren’t on the field.

Sacramento

LHP Raymond Burgos — Development List
RHP Ryan Watson — Development List
LHP Enny Romero — Restricted List
LHP Reggie Crawford (No. 10 CPL) — 60-Day IL
RHP R.J. Dabovich — 60-Day IL
LHP Juan Sánchez (No. 33 CPL) — 60-Day IL
LHP Ethan Small — 7-Day IL
RHP Cole Waites (No. 32 CPL) — 7-Day IL
LHP Chris Wright — 7-Day IL

Richmond

2B Nate Furman — 60-Day IL
RHP Ryan Murphy — 60-Day IL
RHP Mat Olsen — 60-Day IL
1B Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) — 7-Day IL
CF Turner Hill — 7-Day IL
LHP Nick Zwack — 7-Day IL

Eugene

C Thomas Gavello — Development List
OF Alexander Suarez — 60-Day IL
LHP Dylan Carmouche — 7-Day IL
LHP Hayden Wynja — 7-Day IL

San Jose

RHP Sam Bower — 60-Day IL
C Ty Hanchey — 60-Day IL
RHP Spencer Miles — 60-Day IL
SS Maui Ahuna (No. 23 CPL) — 7-Day IL
INF Zander Darby — 7-Day IL
INF Jeremiah Jenkins — 7-Day IL
RHP Darien Smith — 7-Day IL