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SF Giants Minor Lines, 8/18/15

One affiliate clinches a post-season berth, as several others cling desperately to post-season hopes. Also, a star is born.

By Roger

It was a good day for the Johnsons yesterday. First there came this note:

Like Tyler Beede earlier in the year, Chase's final game as a San Jose Giant was his best, and in Chase's case it was one of the greatest outings by a SJ pitcher in franchise history.

Later in the evening it was Jordan Johnson, the 23rd round pick out of Cal St Northridge who lost nearly all of his college career to injury, who took center stage.

A Guy! The greatest compliment in the scouting lexicon.

And for a little confirmation beyond just Kusiolek:

Worth noting that several of these amazing draft finds the Giants are coming up with are hitting their radar in the summer leagues. Chase Johnson only threw 23 innings his Jr year at Cal Poly, but the Giants had seen and liked him in the Cape Cod League (in fact, I've heard "people close to the situation" conjecture that his going to the CCL on his own volition is what landed him in the doghouse of Cal Poly's notoriously control-oriented head coach; in which case it worked out well for him and the Giants). They disregarded Matt Duffy's college numbers at a very difficult hitting environment in Long Beach St, because they had seen and liked him in the CCL. And they took a late round flyer on Jordan Johnson despite a brief and checkered college career because they had seen and liked him in a collegiate summer league as well, in his case I believe it was the Texas Collegiate League. He's got a good pitcher's body, and returned to health, apparently a very good arm.

College summer leagues: they're not just a Giants drinking game, they're a great source of talent!

HIGHLIGHTS: Jarrett Parker had three hits, including double, HR. Jordan Johnson threw 6.1 scoreless innings with 6 Ks. Jose Vizcaino, Jr reached base three times with a double and HR. Tyler Brown reached base three times with two doubles.

Sacramento beat Round Rock (Rangers), 9-4
sweeping their four game series, 4-0

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

RF

Jarrett Parker

4

2

3

2

1

0

1

0

1

.285

.386

.506

LF

Mac Williamson

4

2

1

1

0

0

1

0

1

.260

.377

.439

1b

Kevin Frandsen

4

1

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

.288

.350

.366

2b

Brandon hicks

4

0

2

1

1

0

0

0

1

.239

.333

.315

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Chris Stratton

4.0

4

3

3

4

4

0

0

1

3.78

79

42

Jake Dunning W 4-1

3.0

4

1

1

0

4

1

0

0

5.15

49

38

Steven Okert

1.0

1

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

3.76

16

10

That would be number nine....number nine... number nine in a row for the RiverCats, suddenly just two games under .500.

How well would you say that ball was hit @JohnnyDoskow?

I'll say this, that was one of the furthest home runs I've ever seen to left-center in this ballpark...  and I mean in the history of this franchise.

Williamson's blast was the back end of back to back HRs that capped off Sacramento's offensive attack for the night. And as the first of the two came from Jarrett Parker, who had the RiverCats best line of the night, let's show that one as well:

Hey, you know what? Out is out.

Chris Stratton has had a perplexing year. His stuff has been a little more elevated than in years past, pitching in the low 90s and still with a strong slider. He's held opposing batters to extremely low BABIP's (about .255 on the year) and he's had cumulative ERAs and FIPs of about 4.00 on the year. But he's also had extremely low K rates (his K9 in the PCL is down to 6.3) and high walk rates (BB9 in the PCL is 4.5). From what I've seen of him this year, I would say this results not necessarily from weak command so much as a steady mentality of pitching away from contact, mostly off the outside corner. David Lee noted that even back in Augusta Giants officials tried to hammer home to Stratton the importance of going inside on hitters, but I think this is a lesson that has been very hard for Chris to really subsume. He just doesn't seem to have the confidence to consistently attack hitters inside the strike zone as of yet. I think for him to take the next step he's going to need to hone his command to a sharp edge and try to become a pitcher, like Vogelsong at his best, who can make a living staying exactly on the black all game and never straying inside the white.

For BPor subscribers, there's a writeup of Stratton here (as well as a writeup of Aramis Garcia in the same piece, written by David Lee in his BPro hat).

This game, by the way, was also the AAA debut of the Rangers Nomar Mazara, who went 2 for 5 with two doubles.

Tonight New Orleans comes to town as Sacramento continues it's 8 game homestand, the penultimate homestand of the year for the RiverCats.

* * *

Richmond's game was rained out
They'll play a makeup DH today starting at 5

Guess the Matt Gage fan club will need to come back another day.

* * *

San Jose won at Stockton (A's), 3-0

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

LF

Daniel Carbonell

2

1

1

2

0

0

1

0

0

.269

.325

.396

SS

Christian Arroyo

5

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

.317

.361

.485

DH

Brian Ragira

4

0

2

0

1

0

0

0

2

.238

.313

.384

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Jordan Johnson

6.1

6

0

0

0

6

0

0

0

3.00

89

62

Ian Gardeck

1.2

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

3.69

22

14

Jake Smith S 11

1.0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

2.44

15

9

From a statistical perspective, the most impressive thing about Johnson's season has been the command he's displayed while also flashing strikeout stuff. For the season, he now has 58 Ks against just 3 BBs in 46 IP. Even taking away the AZL stats from his year, he's at 26:2 in 22.2 innings.  Hard to beat missing bats plus staying in the strike zone for a pitching combination. Jordan has definitely turned himself into the "didn't see that coming" story of the late summer in the Giant's system.

The back-end of the pen, which has been rock steady in this second half, finished off the shutout in near perfect style, retiring 8 of the 9 batters they faced.

Let's throw a few more of Chris Kusiolek's first hand observations in:

Daniel Carbonell reached base three times in this game, twice the hard way via HBP. His two-run HR was the big blow of the game and gave the staff all the support they needed.

The win moves San Jose into sole possession of 2nd place, two games behind Visalia, who also won the first half title.

* * *

Augusta lost to Savannah (Mets), 1-0 in 6 inn (rain)

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Johneshwy Fargas

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.279

.347

.350

RF

Dylan Davis

3

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.269

.330

.442

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Chris Johnson

5.0

6

1

1

2

2

0

0

0

5.56

Dusten Knight

1.0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

1.63

Tough break for the Greenjackets. In need of a victory over Savannah their game was called in the bottom of the 6th as the rains came down. But Augusta did almost nothing with what time they did have, getting shutout on just 3 hits (all singles).

With lightning in the distance in the 6th inning, a delay was called before the team's came out for the 7th. First this happened:

Then this happened.:

The back to back losses vs Savannah have dropped Augusta back into a tie with Asheville for the Wild Card spot, which looks more and more likely to decide the playoff team as Savannah's 15 game winning streak has opened up a considerable lead over second place Asheville.  The Greenjackets will send Mark Reyes to the mound tonight to try to stop the Sand Gnats roll.

* * *

Salem-Keizer lost to Hillsboro (Diamondbacks), 5-4

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

C

Miguel Gomez

5

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.344

.356

.460

3b

Jose Vizcaino

4

1

2

3

1

0

1

0

0

.292

.360

.486

DH

John Riley

4

0

2

0

1

0

0

0

1

.236

.360

.331

2b

Richard Amion

4

0

2

0

1

0

0

0

0

.253

.341

.329

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Michael Connolly

6.0

7

3

3

0

3

0

0

1

3.30

David Owen

2.0

2

1

1

1

3

1

0

0

3.00

Caleb Smith L 1-2

1.0

0

1

0

1

3

0

0

2

1.89

Feels like this is a very familiar refrain in the system this year, with each affiliate having a team that just completely dominates them.  San Jose is the personal toy of Visalia. Augusta has lost 9 of 12 to Savannah. And Salem-Keizer drops to 2-9 on the year vs the Hops.

They had victory within in their grasp in this one, taking a 4-3 lead into the 8th. But 19th round pick out of Arkansas St., David Owen allowed a game tying HR in the top of the 8th. In the 9th, they sent Caleb Smith out to preserve the lead. Smith, whose K rate is now 40%, struck out the first two batters he faced. But with two-outs he got a wild hair, walking a batter and then WP him into scoring position. Then the 2015 #1 overall pick Dansby Swanson grounded a ball to 2b that Richard Amion couldn't handle, allowing the winning run to come in to score on the error.

Jose Vizcaino, Jr. gave the Volcanoes nearly all their offense on the night with a three-run HR in the 4th. Vizcaino also had a double as well as a HBP.  He also did this!

Miguel Gomez got two more hits to push his BA to .344. Gomez, by the way has just 4 BB in 222 PA this year. He also has just 18 Ks which means he's put the ball in play a fairly remarkable 200 times in 50 games.

SK is clinging to a 2 game lead in the WC race over Eugene, but having lost five in a row they'll need to turn things around in order to keep that lead. Eugene will be coming to town after today's series finale vs. the Hops.

Finale note, with Andrew Suarez promoted to SJ and Mac Marshall sent back down to AZL to work on things, the Volcanoes are in need of an arm, and here it is, a welcome promotion for the AZL team's best starter:

* * *

AZL Giants lost to the AZL White Sox, 10-4

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

RF

Jean Angomas

3

1

2

0

0

0

0

1

0

.268

.310

.341

1b

Dillon Dobson

4

1

1

2

0

0

1

0

0

.307

.359

.512

LF

Byron Murray

4

1

1

0

1

0

0

0

1

.280

.317

.487

2b

Tyler Brown

3

0

2

0

2

0

0

1

0

.463

.530

.685

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Nicholas Gonzalez, L 2-3

5.0

10

6

6

0

4

1

0

1

3.00

Kendry Melo

1.1

4

3

2

1

3

0

1

0

4.26

Dylan Brooks

1.0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

2.42

Heath Slatton

0.2

1

1

1

0

1

0

0

2

0.96

In the bottom of the 6th inning of this game, Tyler Brown drew a walk, thus reaching base for the seventh consecutive PA. Those seven PA included three doubles, a triple, and two walks. Somehow he mixed a stinking single in there as well.

Well, Nicholas Gonzalez' 2015 probably has officially hit its nadir. Having already pitched his way off both the Augusta and Salem-Keizer pitching staffs, he's now getting knocked around in the complex league. Tough summer for Nicholas. Kendry Melo's recent run of nice appearances came to a halt as he allowed six of the 10 batters he faced to reach base safely, though he did strike out three batters (of the four outs he recorded).

Two straight losses have dropped the AZL Giants into second place, a half game off the pace with nine to play. Also, they just sent their best starting pitcher to the NWL; so there's that.

* * *

DSL Giants beat the DSL Yankees1, 4-3

Age

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

SB

CS

BA

2b

19.4

Robert Antunez

5

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

.333

PH-1b

19.3

Robinson Madrano

2

1

2

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.297

CF

17.8

Jose Patino

3

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.253

C

17.11

Andres Angulo

3

1

1

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

.275

Age

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

21.2

Melvin Adon

5.0

7

3

2

0

3

0

0

0

2.48

22.1

Orleny Quiroz

2.2

2

0

0

1

4

0

2

0

5.59

Three outs away from dropping into second place for the first time since the opening weeks of the season, the DSL Giants staged a dramatic four-run rally in the bottom of the 9th, giving themselves a one game lead with four to play.

Beicker Mendoza opened the 9th with a PH walk. Singles from Marco Guzman, Robinson Madrano, and Andres Angulo brought the game to 3-2 with one out. With Angulo advanced to 2b on a throw home, the Yankees intentionally walked Jose Rivero to load the bases and try for the double play. Speedy Robert Antunez, who had stolen his 23rd base of the year earlier in the game, accommodated with a ground ball to 3b, but he beat the relay throw to 1b allowing the tying run to score, and the winning run came in when the 1b failed to handle the throw.

The victory clinched at least a post-season appearance for the Giants, though they're still a long way from securing the first round bye by holding off the hard charging Yanks. They should send Raffi Vizcaino to the mound today.

* * *

So, that's a lot of excitement for one day. It's been a year that has been marked all along by aggressive promotions, and they keep on coming in surprising fashion. It would be great if some of these teams can push through to the playoffs, to give their new members a chance to stick around and stay awhile, and compete under the hot lights.

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