The Phil Bickford Futures Game Firestorm
Not an impressive outing from Phil Bickford. Velo is down and his control/command is poor.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) July 11, 2016
Phil Bickford had a scoreless inning with two strikeouts, and everyone began to panic.
Okay, maybe everyone is an extreme, but one of the top tweeters about the Futures Game J.J. Cooper of Baseball America (whom, I might remind you, just put Phil Bickford as the highest-ranked of 5 Giants prospects on their midseason Top-100), tweeted that Bickford was not impressive. And the dogs of Twitter were on.
Start with the math of Funky Delivery = Injury Risk OR Actual Injury.
. @jjcoop36 Bickford has an elbow-y problematic arm action and some timing problem so u have to wonder if he's hurt. pic.twitter.com/Z6z5Fw93Ux
— Chris O'Leary (@thepainguy) July 11, 2016
And then, the guys who actually have seen Bickford chimed in.
@johnmanuelba @jjcoop36 Pretty much where I've had him all year. 90-93, minimal movement, 40 command. Living off life/deception.
— David Lee (@David11Lee) July 11, 2016
You know…that really doesn’t sound reassuring. Living off deception sounds a lot like the more people see him, the more they’ll get hit.
Bickford's velo so far is a little down from what we've heard for him this year. Sitting 90-92.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) July 11, 2016
What was his velo today? Has been 89-94 in his three dominant starts with San Jose. https://t.co/XG1sNMGO7U
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) July 11, 2016
So…what is there to say about Phil Bickford’s performance?
His first fastball was straight 91, and was lined to center for an out. He had a slider with slight break at 84-5, which he was hitting the bottom of the zone with. The one hit he gave up was a 93 MPH fastball, on the outside of the zone, and the hitter beat the pitch. It wasn’t an awful pitch, but it probably caught a bit too much of the zone. It’s notable that his next two pitches were fastballs to the outside, each one a bit further trying to take advantage of the outside of the zone. One was a pitcher’s strike, the other was too far out.
His slider looked very different out of the stretch. In his windup, the pitch was 85-86 with a slight break. But in the stretch, he was having problems controlling it low in the zone, with it breaking a lot more than out of the windup. However, his first strikeout came on what the broadcasters called a slider, but looked like a changeup that notched the inside corner on the hands at 81 MPH. The walk came on a slider that, once again, broke too much out of the zone.
Out of 20 pitches, the fastballs were 91-92, hitting 93 twice (including a swingthrough). He threw two changeups. One was in on the hands, and the other had a nice sinking motion on the outside corner, both 81 MPH. He had two sliders with not much motion out of the windup, at 84-85, but he located them perfectly at the bottom of the zone. He had 3-4 sliders out of the stretch, which weren’t in the zone at all and didn’t tease hitters.
Oh, and he was 21. Like, the Futures Game was on his 21st birthday. Perhaps the biggest stadium he’s ever played in, definitely his first nationally televised game, and who knows what other distractions a birthday can bring…
It’s hard to get a handle on one inning, with a lot of those intangibles, with a catcher and manager that don’t know much about his stuff. But here are my bullet points.
• His fastball is straight as hell. If he threw a two-seamer, I didn’t see it. The last guy I said this about? Tim Lincecum. That is neither a compliment or ominous, it just is.
• The slider is an obvious work in progress. Especially out of the stretch, there’s a different mechanic there. His changeup was better than I expected, and he located it extremely well, though in just two attempts.
• There’s not enough here to see much about command issues. His first couple of pitches were down the middle of the zone, but I think those were intended. He worked outside a lot with his pitches, and he really only wasted one out there. After the first two pitches, there were only two pitches that were near the middle of the zone, they were fastballs after breaking pitches, one got a foul, and the other a swing through. The only one that really seemed away from the target was the final pitch for the strikeout, the catcher stepped inside, and he went high and outside and the batter chased it and flailed…but the catcher didn’t set the target until after Bickford’s motion, so that could have been miscommunication rather than a control issue.
Bickford got beat on a decent pitch, lost a guy on a walk with the uncontrollable stretch-slider…and came back fearless with his fastball against the last batter. Something to be said about mental makeup. He held the other team scoreless. Which is more than quite a few pitchers in this game could say.
Obviously, Bickford has work to do to be a top-flight starter, and this game is the ultimate small sample size game, with one inning in a new situation with unfamiliar teammates and on a big personal day. Count me as those who worries about the fastball, but also knows that the things he needs to do, add a cut or a more prominent two-seam, can be taught. But, this isn’t a panic moment, in my mind. I’ll try to catch him in San Jose when I’m a bit healthier.
Fangraphs also had a nice little piece on him and another non-Giants prospect, Eric Longenhagen, which has a discussion about his velocity and his control.
Mejia Pitched Too! Really!
All the much that was ado about Bickford left Adalberto Mejia kind of ignored. It didn’t help that Mejia threw the bottom of the 9th, after the U.S. team fell behind big in the top half, and the game had pretty much no pressure left. Also, Madison Bumgarner was on full "Watch Me" mode on national television. Even J.J. Cooper didn’t tweet about him. He got his one inning of work with 12 pitches, including one strikeout.
In some ways, his low arm action reminded me of Madison Bumgarner’s. His fastball was 91-93, and the near-sidearm gave it a lot of lateral movement. He had at least one instance where he just lost it outside. He also had a 83-84 changeup, good arm action that looked a lot like the fastball, and plenty of sink. His one "wild" pitch that the catcher couldn’t get was a change, which, like the fastball he lost, just went straight instead of the cutting action.
His curve came in at 81-83. Big break on his curve, and he got the strikeout swingthrough on one that flew across the zone and in on the hands of a right-handed hitter. However, I can see it being a pitch that could hang, bigtime, if he loses it.
One thing I’m disappointed that I didn’t see Mejia in the stretch. Maybe it was the center field camera, but with how high Mejia holds his glove, it was really easy to see what pitch he was about to throw. I’d like to see his adjustment in the stretch, and whether his motion adapts as well to it.
He also had a very interesting post-game celebration move. It caught the final batter by surprise, and he looked in for a moment but eventually seemed unperturbed. Of course, Mejia was closing out a game but is usually a starter, so I don’t expect a Romo/Wilson-esque celebration to come out of him.
It’s easy to see why people like Mejia, and he looked good in this even smaller sample size. Notably, the game commentators mentioned the World Manager Moises Alou had been holding Mejia back in case the game was going to go extra innings, but the big scoring 9th must have made an obvious change in that plan.
For what it’s worth, Bleacher Report had one of the longest write-ups of the Futures Game, but looking at the Giants’ innings, you wonder if they were paying attention. In particular, calling Bickford’s scraping of 93 on his fastball "Mid-90’s" seems suspect. Also was calling one of Mejia’s offspeed pitches a slider, I’m not sure which one, but neither looked like sliders to me, either in grip, movement or speed. However, they gave both Bickford and Mejia an "A" for their innings. If you want to read it, here it is.
Also, finally, the full box score for the Futures Game, if you want.
Ty Blach’s Triple-A All-Star Moment
Ty Blach, the only Sacramento River Cat to make the PCL All-Star team, also pitched a big inning in his appearance…and much like Cueto, it wasn’t pivotal in a good way. Blach took 16 pitches to get through 6 batters, giving up the tiebreaking run on a pair of hits and a walk.
So how did he look?
Blach’s fastball was sitting 90-91, and he was throwing a changeup around 78-80. He was also throwing a third pitch in the 86-88 MPH range, which was probably a slider. The camera angle in the game was not a great one, and it masked some of the motion from Ty’s left-handed delivery, but the slider did not have a lot of vertical movement, but might have had a decent cut horizonatally. The changeup did, however, and for the most part, he was effective at locating it at the bottom of the zone. The only points where he got it up were part of the only walk, which was given to the batter which the commentators joked "doesn’t walk".
One of the hits came off a fastball low in the zone, a groundball back up to the middle that bounced through an open part of the defense, hit by the only left-handed batter that Blach faced. The other was a double, off of that apparent-slider, which was located pretty well low and inside on the batter. The batter just fought it off the other way, down the right-field corner. It wasn’t a bad pitch, it was more of a good piece of hitting.
The changeup, when it was low in the zone, as well as that slider, otherwise got weak ground balls for the outs.
All this is pretty much right to Blach’s scouting report. He’s got a textbook motion and follow-through, not overwhelming velocity or an out pitch, but the control to work the right part of the zone, and his changeup being his best pitch.
Tyler Beede’s Rough AA All-Star Start
Tyler Beede started the All-Star Game for the Western Division of the Eastern League, and…well, he pitched, and we got to see it (if you have MiLB.tv, at least). So, what did I see on the pixellated and compressed web stream?
Beede’s fastball has a nice over-the-top and downward motion. His curve was a slower, 12-6 curve, which he missed inside to a RHB on his first attempt throwing it. Those were the only two pitches he appeared to throw, and the majority of those were fastballs. There was no velocity on the broadcast, but we did get this bit of info:
#SFGiants Beede was 93-95 with his fastball in the first inning.
— Bernie Pleskoff (@BerniePleskoff) July 13, 2016
Beede didn’t show much for control, especially when he first moved to the stretch after a two-out single. He walked the next batter on four pitches, none of which were particularly close to the zone. In fact, after the single, he threw five straight balls, and then grooved a fastball middle-in to Rhys Hoskins of the Reading Fighting Phils. That went out for a three-run home run, something that Hoskins did against Beede back on July 5th in a non-exhibition game.
Other AA All-Star Notes for the Giants
I've always liked the bat of #SFGiants Christian Arroyo. He just smoked a double down the left field line off #Yankees Holder.
— Bernie Pleskoff (@BerniePleskoff) July 14, 2016
Christian Arroyo was hitting at the bottom of the Western Division lineup, notching a double as he played shortstop in a 1-for-3 effort. It was one of the only three extra-base hits for the Western Division (out of five), the other two being homers. The other Richmond All-Star, Ryder Jones, was part of a pair of Jones’ at third base.
#Tigers Corey Jones is the 3B starter for the West, not Ryder Jones of the #SFGiants.
— Bernie Pleskoff (@BerniePleskoff) July 13, 2016
In this case, it was easy to keep up with the Jones. Corey Jones went 0-for-2, and Ryder went 0-for-1 after taking over.
Standing Up For Your Teammates
So, well, that wasn’t a great showing for the All-Star pitchers, between Cueto, Blach and Beede, all of whom got the respective losses. As such, McC’s own groug had something to say (almost certainly out of sarcasm).
Congrats to Giants pitchers for losing the MLB, AAA, and AA All-Star Games
— groug (@moonwalkmcfly) July 14, 2016
This did not go unnoticed by Clayton Blackburn, who had his own comment to add.
How was your stat line in this years All Star game? https://t.co/gCQW4qFkvx
— Clayton Blackburn (@C_Blackburn16) July 14, 2016
Black-burn, indeed.
Ro-D’oh!-lfo
It was a month ago that Rodolfo Martinez was the shooting star of all the Giants’ farm bullpens. The 22-year old had been dominating in San Jose, with a triple-digit fastball and an All-Star minting, and he wasn’t just being talked about as a promotion to Double-A or Triple-A, but as a fix for the San Francisco Major League-leading bullpen woes.
Now? He’s had 6 games in Double-A Richmond, and has a 12.46 ERA. In 4.1 innings, he’s given up 9 hits and four walks to the 27 batters he’s faced, and hit another. That’s a .429 BAA and a 3.00 WHIP. In only two of his six appearances has he not given up runs.
What has happened?
On Friday, Roger was on-hand to see Martinez’s most recent outings, and he noted the fastball was at 97-98 (a bit slower than it had been at times in San Jose), but that he had no control over his slider.
This isn’t exactly unheard of for pitchers, to lose control of a pitch (especially in a new situation or league), and it’s something that may just need a little coaching and time to get it back. Scouts had graded Martinez with an 80 fastball and a 50 Slider. But for a two-pitch pitcher, no matter how good those pitches are, if you are obviously off with one pitch, any half-decent hitter can sit on the other pitch. And even at his best, Martinez was did not have an out pitch in the way you’d expect a velocity pitcher to have, having struck out only 44 in 46 innings at San Jose.
What does this mean? Well, it’s not exactly a red flag, but it’s certainly a yellow flag to slow down a bit. Rest may be in order for the young man. Obviously, a focus on the mechanics of that slider is in order. But also, this may be a signal to develop a third, halfway decent pitch (like a changeup). Even if just as something to fall back to when his mechanics begin to fail him again.
There’s another interesting thing to bring up, though. Last season, the Giants had quite a foursome of hard-throwing relief prospects: Ray Black (2.88 ERA, 51 K in 25.0 IP), Jake Smith (2.35 ERA, 118 K in 84.1 IP), Ian Gardeck (3.54 ERA, 104 K in 86.1 IP), and Dan Slania (3.53 ERA, 90 K in 71.1 IP). How have they done? Gardeck is missing the season due to Tommy John surgery. Black has been slowly rehabbing an ERA to 5.28 after some rough early games had it up to 9.82. Smith had a 7.08 ERA over two months before getting injured, and then was waived and claimed by the Padres. Only Slania is having a positive season, but even then, it started with him posting a 5.32 ERA as a reliever before converting to starting, where he has thrived and lowered his ERA to 2.74.
Is there something to that bullpen jump from High-A to AA? More evidence is necessary…though it should be noted that Tyler Rogers (1.47 ERA in SJ ’15, 0.77 ERA in Richmond ’16) made the jump fine…though he is about as opposite a kind of pitcher from those fireballers as there can be.
Here is some footage of Rodolfo that Roger took and put up:
(And definitely read Minor Lines every day to get his recaps and insight!)
Matt Cain - Don’t Believe the Numbers
After this week’s return from the All-Star Break, pitching has been a topic in San Francisco. Rough starts from Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija, leading to a bullpen getting more work (including temporary fifth starter Albert Suarez) has brought up questions of what the rotation would look like next week. The plan had been Matt Cain, who was going to take a rehab start with San Jose, would take it.
Some fans questioned that plan after Matt went 4 innings, giving up 10 hits and three walks to allow 9 runs, with just two strikeouts and a home run.
But, with those numbers, just remember, Lancaster.
Cain will get the true Lancaster experience tonight. 25 MPH winds straight out to CF right now (at 2,500 feet).
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) July 15, 2016
@extrabaggs @JoeRitzo still the only place I've ever seen a 2nd baseman go back for a pop-up that ended up being a homerun
— Craig Whitaker (@craigwhitaker5) July 15, 2016
Lancaster always pays its debts…and makes you pay for infield pop-ups.
(BTW, a McC hello to former Giants first rounder (2003) Craig Whitaker! Hope you’re doing well, Craig!)
Hitter of the Week - Jacob Heyward
This was a tough week to judge. Between two All-Star Breaks (and other off-days for the actual MLB All-Star Game), as well as rainouts and scheduled off-days, almost no one pulled a full slate of games. There were a few nice performances in four-game weeks, such as Ryder Jones and Austin Slater, but I’m going to put in my own opinion and go with Jacob Heyward.
Jason’s little brother is far too advanced for the Arizona Rookie League. The 20-year old is overly old, but he’s been pounding the ball down there. This week, he was 6-for-19 with three doubles and a triple, and added another two walks when he wasn’t hitting. On his season (in only eight games), he’s batting .452/.553/.839.
The problem for the 18th round pick is that the system ahead of him is suddenly packed with outfielders. High round picks Bryan Reynolds (2nd), Heath Quinn (3rd) and Gio Brusa (6th), top Latin American prospect Gustavo Cabrera, and 2015 pick Ashford Fulmer already pack Salem-Keizer, none of whom are playing like they need to be replaced. Augusta’s outfield isn’t nearly as talented, but none of them are ready for promotions to make room in Salem-Keizer. So, meanwhile, Heyward will keep playing, proving himself among people we know he’s better than.
Pitcher of the Week - Chris Stratton
This had not been a week of great pitching in the system, either in games that counted or in All-Star Games, but on Saturday, Chris Stratton came to the rescue.
Stratton had been a bit uneven since his return to Sacramento. He had spent a little more than a month in the majors, but only made seven appearances for 10 innings of work in that extended period of time. In his first two games back, he’d gone some of his shortest stints of the season (3.2 IP, then 5.0 IP). It could be said he righted the ship on Saturday, but that would be understating it. He went a season-hgih 8 innings, and by far had a season-high 12 strikeouts. He did give up a run, on three hits and a walk (one was a home run).
Stratton’s season has certainly been a mixed bag, especially after three of his four April starts, he had given up five runs or more. He’s had other big games, but his ERA has dropped from 9.82 to 5.22 as the season has continued. After his big game, he has 56 strikeouts in 69 AAA innings.
Is this performance extra-notable because of Stratton’s potential as a trade chip in the next two weeks? Because of his potential as a bullpen asset for the rest of the season if needed…or that this could mean the Giants prefer him as a starter? Go ahead and interpret in the comments.
Sacramento Litterbox
With a team that continues to be plundered by San Francisco for the litany of injuries, Sacramento remains at the bottom of the PCL Pacific Northern Division, at 40-54, and 13 games behind Tacoma…This week, the Giants sent optioned Kelby Tomlinson to Triple-A once he was ready to come off the disabled list, partially because former River Cats Ramon Pena and Grant Green were out of options and could be lost if the team attempted to move them to Triple-A. However, once Ehire Adrianza, currently rehabbing in San Jose is ready to come off the DL, he is also out of options. So, someone will be at risk of being lost soon…Catcher Andrew Susac hit two home runs at the end of last week, and came out of the All-Star Break still fairly warm, going 3-for-11 with a home run in his first two games back…Austin Slater, not just back from the All-Star Break but also a brief injury stint, has gone 6-for-14 with a home run in his first three games back.
Richmond Nuthouse
Despite a recent surge thanks to a boosted lineup, Richmond remains mired at the bottom of the EL Western Division. At 37-54, they are 14.5 games behind the division leading Altoona Curve, and 12.5 games behind the Akron RubberDucks…Lost in a lot of the midseason callups was 2013 7th-round pick Brandon Bednar, who has hit .382 in 16 games at Double-A, and three stolen bases. He came out of the All-Star break with a three-hit game a home run…Also hot out of the All-Star Break is C.J. Hinojosa, who went a combined 6-for-11 in the two games Richmond has played since the break ended…Kyle Crick’s wild ride continued with a three-walk, 5.1 inning performance with six strikeouts, his highest K total in nearly two months.
San Jose Footprints
San Jose’s gutted roster hasn’t quite put them in the basement, but they’re 3rd of five teams in the North division at 9-14. The bottom four teams are all within four games of each other, with the first place Bakersfield Blaze at 18-5 (9 games ahead of San Jose)…Dylan Davis has two home runs in his last three games, giving him five in San Jose and 13 on the season. But just as we said with Matt Cain, he was in Lancaster and High Desert for them…Ever wonder how the Giants find some of their more unlikely minor leaguers, like recent signee T.J. Bennett who seemed like he was taking a concert tour around the system?
Great story on how #SJGiants INF T.J. Bennett signed w/SF out of Indy ball this spring- ran into GM Bobby Evans at a concert, led to workout
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) July 17, 2016
TJ's dad, Jim, was a pitching coach in the Giants system a decade ago (with San Jose during 2006-07 seasons).
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) July 17, 2016
More in Joe’s interview with Bennett, here:
INF T.J. Bennett joins me pregame at 6:35 and chats about joining the Giants organization this year. Listen: https://t.co/CPpW1JrGT7
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) July 17, 2016
Augusta Putt-putt Course
Augusta has played well since the midseason shuffling, with a few guys starting to come alive, but it has worked, barely. Augusta is hanging onto first place at 12-10, though three teams sit behind them at 11-11, and two others within three games…However, Augusta’s offense has gone dead.
GreenJackets scoreless streak at 33 innings. #LetsGo
— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) July 16, 2016
They’ve been shut out of four straight games, although the rain took away their chance to break it on Saturday…Unfortunately, this has wasted some nice starts. Michael Connolly took the loss while going 8 innings, giving up 1 run on two hits, striking out six. Cory Taylor went five innings, striking out nine and giving up just one run. Both took the losses.
Salem-Keizer Crater
Salem-Keizer sits at 3rd in the South Division, at 13-17, 7.5 games back of Eugene…Bryan Reynolds really has started to figure out Salem-Keizer, going 8-for-14 with two home runs over four games this week, before taking an 0-for-4 on Saturday. He has one home run from each side of the plate…Gio Brusa had two three-hit games this week, and shares the team lead with three home runs on the season with Gustavo Cabrera…Heath Quinn has gotten a hit every day he’s played since July 6th, though he did go hitless in the first game of a double-header on Monday. Quinn also got a little spotlight from ESPN this week.
@SWXRightNow @SKVolcanoes @HeathQuinn9 Hello! May ESPN please use this video with courtesy to this account? Please let us know. Thanks!
— ESPNAssignmentDesk (@ESPNAssignDesk) July 15, 2016
Arizona Air Conditioner
The AZL Giants are just 7-13, sitting at 5th, last place in the East Division. They are 4.5 games behind the division-leading A’s…There weren’t a lot of big performances this week in the AZL, but Sandro Cabrera had an interesting one. Cabrera has worked in relief since his first (two inning) appearance of the season. On Thursday, he came into the game in the first inning, after Stephen Woods struggled early, and went a season-high 5.1 innings, not giving up a single baserunner and striking out five.
Dominican Beach
The Dominican Team sits at 17-18, in 5th place in the 8-team South Division, six games back of the Mariners Club 1 and Cubs Club 2, who are tied for first…1B Angeddy Almanzar has gone 4-for-11 in his last three games for the DSL squad
Transaction Log:
Sacramento:
7/11 - 2B Kelby Tomlinson optioned to Sacramento.
7/14 - LHP Matt Reynolds assigned to Sacramento from Richmond; 1B Ricky Oropesa placed on the 7-Day DL; C George Kottaras released.
7/16 - RHP Clayton Blackburn placed on the 7-Day DL retroactive to 7/15; RF Hunter Pence assigned to Sacramento on a rehab assignment.
The Matt Reynolds promotion is one to keep an eye on. Reynolds is a former Major Leaguer, most recently Arizona in 2015, with a 4.61 ERA in 18 appearances. Reynolds had five innings of scoreless ball in AA (in 8 appearances), on two hits and one walk.
Ricky Oropesa had only gotten in five games at AAA before the injury. The 26-year old had been 1-for-9 with four strikeouts in five games. Clayton Blackburn pitched on July 14th, going 5 1/3 and giving up three runs on six hits and four walks. Blackburn has a 5.03 ERA on the season in 18 appearances. The 33-year old Kottaras played 23 games with the River Cats this season, batting .155/.290/.224, and had been on the DL since mid-June. He has since signed on with the Braves organization, and is playing in their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett.
Richmond:
7/13 - LHP Bryce Bandilla retired.
Disappointing end to the career for Bandilla, who was a 4th round pick in 2011. Bandilla hadn’t pitched since 2014, due to injuries. He had a 3.15 ERA in San Jose, but an 8.80 ERA in Richmond in 15 appearances.
San Jose:
7/13 - C Bryan Case assigned to San Jose from the AZL Giants; SS Ehire Adrianza assigned to San Jose on a rehab assignment.
7/14 - RHP Austin Fleet assigned to San Jose from Sacramento.
7/15 - 1B Miguel Gomez assigned to San Jose from Augusta; RHP Matt Cain assigned to San Jose on a rehab assignment.
7/16 - C Bryan Case placed on the 7-Day Disabled List retroactive to 7/14.
The big news, of course, is Miguel Gomez’s promotion. Gomez had finally hit a cold spot earlier this week, going two hitless games in a row since May 26th to 27th. As of Saturday night, he has yet to make his High-A debut. *ahem* Notice the positional designation for Gomez, which comes straight from the official feed. Gomez had been listed as a catcher for his Augusta tenure. Joe Ritzo called him a third baseman while tweeting about him.
Austin Fleet has spent most of this season in Sacramento, mostly as a reliever. The 29-year old had a 4.15 ERA in 18 appearances there. He went two innings in relief in his first San Jose game, giving up two home runs. But then, it was in Lancaster. Bryan Case was a 27th round pick in 2015, who mostly played with the Arizona Rookie League last season, other than a one-game AAA cup of coffee. He was 2-for-11 with a double in three games in the AZL this season, and had not gotten in on a San Jose game before this DL stint.
Augusta:
7/15 - 2B John Polonius activated from the 7-Day DL.
John Polonius finally made his debut in Augusta earlier this week, having missed almost the entire season with injury. He made 10 appearances in the AZL this month as part of a rehab assignment, going 14-for-35 (.400) with two triples and a home run, and two stolen bases.
Salem-Keizer:
No Transactions Listed
You might be able to expect the last few draft signings to appear in the next couple of weeks.
AZL Giants:
7/11 - LHP Garrett Williams added to the AZL Giants.
Garrett Williams was the Giants’ 7th round pick in 2016, out of Oklahoma State.
DSL Giants:
No Transactions Listed
Not much action going on adding to this team the last few weeks.
The Wrap-Up:
So, this game came out this past week on your smartphones which you may have heard about. Go Pokemon, or something?
Thankfully, it’s not like baseball is really hip to all this latest technology stuff. They love their "Human Element" and get upset if you complain about it. (To say nothing of what they think of such modern nonsense like minimum wage..)
So, the point is, I think it’s safe to say that since it took minor league baseball 20 years to hook onto fads like Saved By The Bell and The Carlton Dance, we’re pretty safe from this fad at baseball sta…
Oh, look at that…
Well, okay, I mean, that’s just Augusta. The silly things they do in Low-A…
Follow us & retweet for a chance to win 2 tickets to the Flying Squirrels game. @GoSquirrels #rva #pokemongo pic.twitter.com/4y9wcD1Xr1
— Richmond Navigator (@RichmondNav) July 14, 2016
Ha, well, I guess baseball might be catching...
Come hunt for #Pokemon tomorrow at Raley Field & you could win a Buster Posey signed bat from @Toyota! #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/jv5SQTXi7S
— River Cats (@RiverCats) July 13, 2016
…them all?
Holy crap, MLB has a Reddit account? And are Pokemon savvy?
I guess what I’m really trying to say here is…what the hell, San Jose Giants? Where’s our Pokemon event? Get on the ball, guys!!!!!