The latest action on the farm.
For the final time this year, all seven of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action. But now the ACL season is over, and the DSL season will soon follow. Let’s dive into the last fully-loaded roundup of the season!
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
The Giants have yet to announce the players who will get a chance in A-Ball now that the ACL season is over, but there were still a handful of transactions at higher levels. Most notably, RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 20 CPL) has been promoted from AA Richmond to AAA Sacramento. McDonald, who was added to the roster this offseason as a Rule 5 protection (and is the only healthy player on the 40-man roster to not play for the Giants this year), got a very late start on the season due to injury, but is healthy and finding his form now.
Also notably, RHPs José Cruz and Kyle Cody have been promoted from AA Richmond to AAA Sacramento.
It’s an exciting move for Cruz, who was added to the 40-man roster in 2022 as a Rule 5 protection, but non-tendered and re-signed to a Minor League deal a year later after struggling in AA. His overall numbers this year have been shockingly bad — a 9.31 ERA and a 6.33 FIP, with 10.9 walks per 9 innings — but he’s found his strikeout stuff in a truly obscene way. Since May 16, the recently-turned 24 year old has struck out 34 batters in just 18.2 innings. If the Sacramento coaching staff can get Cruz back to his walk-avoidant ways (from 2021-2023 he walked just 39 batters in 95.1 innings across the ACL, Low-A, and High-A), then they’ll have quite a pitcher on their hands.
I missed this one last week, but AAA Sacramento LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 4 CPL) was placed on the 7-Day IL. Hopefully he’s OK.
AAA Sacramento (55-47)
Saturday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros) 4-1 [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 5-1 [box score]
I found it a little surprising when the Giants chose to call up Casey Schmitt instead of Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) when Thairo Estrada was placed on the IL a few days ago. Perhaps the Giants just preferred Schmitt, which looks good in small sample size hindsight: since returning to San Francisco, he’s 2-4 with a home run, a triple, and a walk. But it also might be a desire to keep Luciano playing steadily in AAA until they’re ready to give him a full-time job … which I still think is going to happen at some point this year.
Either way, Luciano is continuing to put his slow start to the season behind him, and the patience he’s been showing all year (and last year, really) is finally being married with power. Over the weekend he hit 2-6 with a home run, 4 walks, and just 1 strikeout.
a 2 run homer for #2
marco luciano extends the cats lead! pic.twitter.com/HoDweEz3p5
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) July 29, 2024
Over his last 18 games, Luciano is now 20-71 with 6 home runs, 17 walks, and 17 strikeouts, while getting steady playing time at both shortstop and second base (primarily the latter). Gotta think he’ll get his full-time chance here at some point.
It was a fairly quiet offensive weekend otherwise. Right fielder Jerar Encarnación continues to try to prove that he should get a chance in a potentially post-Conforto world by smacking yet another home run on Saturday — his 9th in 31 games since signing with the organization — though he finished just 1-5 with 3 strikeouts and didn’t play Sunday.
SOMEBODY STOP THIS GUY
Encarnación adds to his 16 game hitting streak with an opposite field pic.twitter.com/50v9kXkr1F
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) July 28, 2024
Shortstop Christian Koss also homered, though that was his only hit of the weekend. He’s still trying to find his rhythm in AAA after tearing up AA, but the Giants are surely thrilled with what they returned in a minor preseason trade, and don’t be surprised if Koss finds his way on the MLB roster at some point next season.
KOSS THE BOSS
christian koss with a solo HR gets the cats on the board pic.twitter.com/yTveTDuykv
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) July 29, 2024
Center fielder/right fielder Luis Matos had a mild-mannered weekend after recently being optioned, as he went 2-10 with a stolen base and a strikeout. Left fielder/DH Grant McCray (No. 12 CPL) played quite well, hitting 2-8 with a double, 3 walks, a stolen base, and a strikeout.
oppo double for McCray!
2 runners in position for the cats pic.twitter.com/YXKqEP29kD
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) July 28, 2024
The pitching was very strong, and led by returning arms. RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 20 CPL) started Saturday in his AAA debut. The Giants added McDonald to the roster over the winter as a Rule 5 protection even though he’d never pitched about High-A, and so they clearly viewed him as a player who could potentially help the MLB roster this year. But injuries sidelined him until mid-May, when he began a rehab assignment in the ACL. He made his AA debut on July 5, where he stayed for just 3 games before moving to AAA. And on Saturday he pitched for the River Cats for the first time, making it through 5.1 innings while allowing just 2 hits (both singles), 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and 1 run, with 5 strikeouts.
McDonald cheffing up in his debut
5 K
0 R
1 H
5 1/3 IP pic.twitter.com/45VMv3MBhZ— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) July 28, 2024
That’s exciting! The Giants clearly see McDonald as a starter if he can stay healthy, and his pitch count has been comfortably into the 80s on multiple occasions this year.
Starting Sunday’s game was another player rostered during the offseason: RHP Landen Roupp (No. 18 CPL). Roupp wasn’t a Rule 5 protection like McDonald, but added to the roster as the season began because he was that good in Spring Training. The MLB results have been mixed and he suffered an injury, but on Sunday he was back to his dominant ways, tossing 4 shutout innings with just 3 baserunners allowed, and 2 strikeouts. I’d expect to see him in San Francisco again this year.
And while we’re on the subject: RHP Kai-Wei Teng (No. 23 CPL), another player rostered over the offseason (as a Rule 5 protection with McDonald) made his AAA return. Teng’s season has been confusingly bad: after being a high-walk, high-strikeout guy for a long time now, Teng’s strikeouts completely dropped off, and the ERA climbed massively. He was placed on the IL in early July, and after a pair of rehab outings returned to Sacramento on Sunday, where he, thankfully, looked much more like his 2023 self: he tossed 3 scoreless innings with just 1 hit and no walks, while striking out 4 batters. Still plenty of time to end the year on a high note.
AA Richmond (45-51)
Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets) 4-3 (10 innings) [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies 4-2 (10 innings) [box score]
The pitching on Sunday is pretty much the only thing worth talking about here in what was a fairly uneventful weekend for a team that, quite frankly, has been fairly uneventful this season. Well, that and winning Saturday’s game on a walk-off catcher’s interference.
WALK-OFF CATCHER’S INTERFERENCE
SQUIRRELS WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/4B6LDdY4cF
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) July 28, 2024
RHP Will Bednar was the opener and had a much-needed great outing, tossing 2 no-hit innings with just 1 walk allowed, while striking out 2. Bednar is finally healthy and the life and velocity on his pitches is reflecting that, but the results have been mostly rough since getting promoted about a month ago. It was his first game since his final outing with High-A Eugene on June 27 that he didn’t issue multiple walks. Bednar still has a great chance to finish the season strong and open 2025 with AAA Sacramento.
It also feels noteworthy that he started this game, as he’s done most of the year. Even though he’s been limited to 2 innings this year, the fact that he’s been starting — even in front of traditional starters — suggests to me that the Giants still view him as someone who could be a starter, and want to get him familiar with that routine for when they’re ready to ramp up his innings, likely next year. Not all that dissimilar from the approach with LHP Reggie Crawford (No. 8 CPL).
After Bednar was a delayed start from RHP Dylan Cumming, who was fantastic. Cumming went 6 innings and gave up just 6 baserunners (4 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter) and 2 runs, while striking out 9 batters. Despite the high strikeout number, he needed just 80 pitches to get through those 6 innings. After dominating High-A, Cumming has been up-and-down in AA following a late-May promotion, but he definitely shows some exciting signs.
Finishing things off was RHP Eric Silva (No. 41 CPL) who got the loss and was tagged with 2 runs (just 1 earned, as the other was the Manfred Man), but who allowed just 1 hit, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts in 2 innings.
Eric Silva punches out the side in order in the ninth pic.twitter.com/RGfGKCv9UP
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) July 28, 2024
Silva’s numbers were rough for a while, but he’s really put in some work on them, and is down to a 4.35 ERA and a 3.95 FIP. How did he make that happen? By having this game be his first run allowed since June 14! During that span, Silva has now pitched 14.2 innings and allowed just 6 hits, 3 walks, 0 hit batters, 2 runs, and 1 earned run, while striking out 22 batters. Talk about turning a season around! Suddenly Silva seems like a lock to start 2025 in AAA, and quite possibly end 2024 there, too.
Much less to see on offense. Right fielder Turner Hill had a nice weekend, hitting 4-8 with 2 doubles and a strikeout. He’s been completely unfazed by a recent promotion, and has a .782 OPS and a 130 wRC+ in Richmond, which is based largely on his contact skills: he has a .309 batting average and just an 11.1% strikeout rate, though he has just 5 extra-base hits (all doubles) in 81 plate appearances.
A tough weekend for center fielder Wade Meckler (No. 11 CPL), as he’s still trying to work his way into his pre-injury form that he showed last year. He went 1-6 with 4 strikeouts, including 3 strikeouts on Sunday. It’s the 3rd time this year he’s had a strikeout hat trick in 41 games … last year he also had the hat trick only 3 times in the Minors, but in 83 games.
Also a tough weekend for shortstop/second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 21 CPL), who went 0-8 with 2 strikeouts. That’s kind of what you expect when a young player (he’s still just 20) is promoted in season, but the switch-hitter set the bar high on Thursday and Friday, when he went 3-5 with a home run and 2 walks in his first pair of AA games.
High-A Eugene (46-49)
Saturday: Eugene Emeralds lost to Spokane (Rockies) 6-4 [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds lost to Spokane 2-0 [box score]
Really not much in these games!
Saturday’s game did have some well-struck balls, with catcher Onil Perez (No. 24 CPL) and second baseman Thomas Gavello both smacking home runs.
For Perez, it was his only hit of the weekend — he went 1-8 with 2 strikeouts. It was also his first home run of the season for Perez, who continues to have a profile the opposite of what we all grew up expecting from catchers: he has barely any power, but a ton of contact skills and a lot of stolen bases. Even though it was his first homer of the year, in late July, Perez’s .665 OPS is good for a 95 wRC+. That’s not a mark that will drop any jaws, but still exciting for a 21 year old who earns strong reviews for his defense and leadership behind the dish.
As for Gavello, it was part of a 2-4 day before sitting on Sunday, and he continues a second-half surge. Look at his splits!
Through June 12: 17-117, 1 home run, 3 doubles, 14 walks, 50 strikeouts
Since June 12: 16-57, 4 home runs, 4 doubles, 11 walks, 22 strikeouts
Shortstop Cole Foster (No. 30 CPL) had another hard-to-watch go of it, as he continues to look fairly lost since getting promoted. He went 0-7 over the weekend with 4 strikeouts, and since moving to High-A, last year’s 3rd-round pick is 4-49 with 28 strikeouts. Hopefully it’s just a very steep learning curve!
Speaking of strikeouts, center fielder Vaun Brown (No. 17 CPL) is still struggling with them even after his reset time on the Development List. Brown only played in 1 of the weekend’s games, but went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts. Brown has a completely reworked swing, and looked a lot better in his 6 games in the Complex League, so he deserves a little grace, but it’s been a struggle since heading to Eugene: he’s gone 1-12 with 8 strikeouts.
Strong relief outings from RHPs Cameron Cotter, Trent Harris, and Julio Rodriguez, as they continue their excellent seasons. Cotter gave up 2 hits and 1 run in 2.1 innings, with 4 strikeouts, and now has a 2.41 ERA, a 2.38 FIP, and 44 strikeouts to 9 walks in 41 innings; Harris pitched 3 shutout innings with just 1 hit and 4 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 1.93 and his FIP to 3.05, and giving him 30 strikeouts to 8 walks in 23.1 innings; and Rodriguez pitched a shutout inning with a hit and 2 strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 2.19 and his FIP to 2.99, and giving him a stellar 46 strikeouts to 12 walks in 37 innings. Over his last 8 games in High-A (which were interrupted by a pair of emergency AAA appearances), Rodriguez has pitched 10.2 innings and allowed just 6 hits, 5. walks, and 1 unearned run, with 11 strikeouts.
Low-A San Jose (57-38)
Saturday: San Jose Giants lost to the Modesto Nuts (Mariners) 13-9 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants lost to the Modesto Nuts 12-7 [box score]
As you can probably surmise from the 15 runs, the pitching was not good for the Baby Giants this weekend. But I’ll highlight a pair of players. On Saturday, LHP Ethan Small made a rehab appearance — his 4th of the year, and his 1st with San Jose after 3 in the ACL. Small, who is on a Major League contract, pitched a shutout inning with 1 hit and 2 strikeouts. And on Sunday, RHP Elijah Pleasants made his 2nd appearance since getting promoted, and pitched 2 no-hit innings with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.
On offense, it was a tremendous weekend for right fielder Bo Davidson, even though he only played in Saturday’s game. That was more than enough for him to do all kinds of damage, with the left-handed hitting going 3-4, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, and adding a walk and a stolen base for good measure. What a day!
That’s that me grand slam Bo
Bo Davidson hits an extra-sweet homer for the Churros (@SJGiants). @SFGiants | @SFGProspects pic.twitter.com/9wMVP0JLeb
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 28, 2024
Davidson has had a tremendous 1st full season after being undrafted last year, with an .818 OPS and a 118 wRC+ … but critically, he’s been on another level since returning to San Jose following an injury and a stint in the ACL (where he tore up the league). In 7 games since his return, Davidson is 10-25 with 2 home runs, 5 doubles, and 6 walks. Yeesh!
Second baseman Jean Carlos Sio continued his recent strong play, going 3-7 with 2 walks and 2 hit by pitches, though he struck out twice and was caught stealing. Sio, a left-handed hitter who only turned 20 in April, has posted a 1.018 OPS in July. And left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 42 CPL) collected some hits, going 4-11 with 4 RBI and 3 strikeouts.
ACL Giants (eliminated)
Saturday: ACL Giants lost to the ACL Dodgers 7-1 [box score]
And so the ACL season ends for the Giants, who were eliminated in their only postseason game. They did get a little spark courtesy of third baseman Jose Ramos (21 years, 2019 international signing), who went 1-3 with a walk and matched his regular-season total with a home run … too bad postseason stats don’t show up on a player’s stat line!
First baseman Derwin Laya (20 years, 2021 international signing), who finished his 3rd ACL season with a .777 OPS and a 106 wRC+, hit 3-4 in this game.
RHP Kanoa Pagan, who is rehabbing, gave up 3 baserunners in 1.1 innings, but kept runs off the board, while RHP Mauricio Estrella (20 years, 2022 international signing) had one of his best outings in what was a very tough year, striking out a batter in 2 perfect innings.
DSL Black (28-10)
Saturday: DSL Giants Black beat the DSL Pirates Gold 8-7 [box score]
The Giants Black squad popped off for 8 runs despite having just 6 hits, and no extra-base hits! But they walked 10 times, and that’ll do it. No spectacular days, but a pair of players reached base twice: left fielder Angel Guzman (18 years, 2023 international signing), who hit 2-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts, and catcher Fernando Pena (17 years, 2024 international signing), who hit 1-2 with 2 walks and a strikeout. Guzman has been having an outrageous year, with a 1.085 OPS and a 186 wRC+, numbers that rank 4th and 3rd, respectively, out of 310 DSL hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this year. Seems safe to assume he’ll be in the states come 2025! Pena has only played in 12 games, but is 5-24 with a whopping 8 walks (albeit with 10 strikeouts).
RHP Jose Meza (18 years, 2023 international signing) continued his odd debut season, with 2.1 no-hit innings in which he issued 2 walks and struck out a batter. Meza only has 9 strikeouts to 10 walks in 20.1 innings, but has only allowed 15 hits and 6 earned runs.
DSL Orange (18-21)
Saturday: DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Mets Blue 9-3 (7 innings) [box score]
Again it was 2 hitters worth highlighting: shortstop Keiberg Camacaro (17 years, 2023 international signing), who hit 1-2 with a double and 2 hit by pitches, and third baseman Albert Jimenez (17 years, 2024 international signing), who went 3-4. Injuries have limited Camacaro to just 16 games this year, and while he’s had a drop-off in power he’s more than made up for it by bumping his walk rate from 11.6% to 19.0%, while dropping his strikeout rate from 30.3% to 17.5%. All that has seen his wRC+ rise from 101 last year to 112 this year, despite actually having a worse OPS. As for Jimenez, he has a .747 OPS, a 104 wRC+, and an 18.1% strikeout rate …. not stellar numbers, but pretty darn good ones for a debuting 17-year old.
Nice outings from RHPs Randry De Leon (19 years, 2023 international signing) and Omar Calcurian (19 years, 2024 international signing). De Leon pitched 2 shutout innings with 2 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 3.76 and his FIP to 4.22 … huge improvements over his rough debut last year. Calcurian hasn’t pitched much, but has a 2.35 ERA and a 2.91 FIP with 7 strikeouts to 1 walk in just 7.2 innings. A nice debut for him.
Home run tracker
AAA Jerar Encarnación (9)
AAA Marco Luciano (8)
AAA Christian Koss (6 total, 2 in AAA)
High-A Thomas Gavello (5)
High-A Onil Perez (1)
Low-A Bo Davidson (6 total, 4 in Low-A)
ACL Jose Ramos (2)
Injury report
Here are all the Minor Leaguers currently on the Injured List or any other unable-to-perform list.
Sacramento
OF Yusniel Díaz — Full-Season IL
RHP Blayne Enlow — Full-Season IL
LHP Chris Wright — Full-Season IL
INF Dariel Lopez — 60-Day IL
OF Chase Pinder — 60-Day IL
LHP Thomas Szapucki — 60-Day IL (on a rehab assignment)
RHP Cole Waites (No. 34 CPL) — 60-Day IL
LHP Reggie Crawford (No. 8 CPL) — 7-Day IL
RHP R.J. Dabovich (No. 40 CPL) — 7-Day IL
RHP Tommy Romero — 7-Day IL
LHP Juan Sánchez (No. 36 CPL) — 7-Day IL
RHP Cody Stashak — 7-Day IL
LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 4 CPL) — 7-Day IL
Richmond
RHP Blake Rivera — Full-Season IL
LHP Nick Zwack — Full-Season IL
RHP Michael Stryffeler — 60-Day IL
RHP Matt Frisbee — 7-Day IL
RHP William Kempner — 7-Day IL
RHP Ryan Murphy — 7-Day IL
RHP Nick Sinacola — 7-Day IL
Eugene
RHP Brett Standlee — Full-Season IL
SS Aeverson Arteaga (No. 14 CPL) — 60-Day IL (on a rehab assignment)
RHP Tyler Vogel — 7-Day IL (on a rehab assignment)
LHP Hayden Wynja — 7-Day IL
San Jose
RHP Gerelmi Maldonado (No. 26 CPL) — Full-Season IL
RHP Sam Bower — 60-Day IL
RHP Marques Johnson — 60-Day IL
RHP Spencer Miles — 60-Day IL
INF Maui Ahuna (No. 27 CPL) — 7-Day IL
OF Scott Bandura — 7-Day IL (on a rehab assignment)
INF Javier Francisco — 7-Day IL
OF Nadir Lewis — 7-Day IL
RHP Kanoa Pagan — 7-Day IL