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SF Giants Minor Lines, 8/4/15

From out of nowhere....a hero arises... because Giants baseball

By Roger

It takes a particular brand of nut to obsess over the repertoire of a 23rd round pick out of Cal St. Northridge performing in the Arizona League for the second consecutive season. Fortunately, those nuts are us!

Sadly, no video in Modesto, so this will have to do for Mr. Johnson

HIGHLIGHTS: Kelvin Marte threw 7 scoreless innings. Jordan Johnson, 8 Ks in 6 IP in full season debut.

Sacramento won at Salt Lake City (Angels), 6-2
winning their four game series, 3-1

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

1b

Ryan Lollis

4

1

2

2

2

0

0

1

2

.341*

.400

.481

LF

Mac Williamson

3

2

1

1

0

0

0

2

1

.253*

.371

.400

RF

Jarrett Parker

4

0

2

2

1

0

0

1

1

.278

.381

.502

*Sacramento only

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Clayton Blackburn, W 7-3

5.0

5

2

2

4

7

0

0

0

3.51

108

68

Mike Broadway

1.0

3

1

1

0

1

0

0

0

1.13

22

16

Clayton Blackburn struggled with his control, piling up 108 pitches in just 5 innings of work, but he pitched his way through jams consistently in the early innings and the end result was his fourth consecutive victory. He ended up with a season high 4 BBs, but his 7 Ks were his second highest total of the year to help balance the scales. As usual with Blackburn, his excellent curveball was the normal swing and miss pitch:

It's frankly a little shocking to look at a Mike Broadway line score and see a number other than 0 in the Runs column. The last time he surrendered a run in a Sacramento game was June 9th. He hadn't given up a hit in his previous five appearances, stretching back to July 19th (of course, that's minor league usage; five appearances ago for George Kontos stretches back to five days ago, four if there was a double header in the interim).

Ryan Lollis and Jarrett Parker, both of whom will likely be in SF in September, did most of the work on offense. Together they accounted for four of the team's nine hits, and all of the XBH.  Parker, who's been hot since the trade of Adam Duvall, had the hit that broke the game open with a two run double in the 5th that chased Bees starter Nick Tropeano:

Sacramento won their season series with Salt Lake City 12-4, which for the 52-59 RiverCats represents close to a quarter of their victories for the year.

* * *

Richmond beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays), 3-0

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Engel Beltre

4

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.290

.315

.425

2b

Austin Slater

4

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

1

.306*

.364

.372

3b

Mitch Delfino

3

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

.261

.312

.324

C

Eliezer Zambrano

3

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.206

.259

.294

* Richmond only

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Kelvin Marte, W 9-3

7.0

6

0

0

3

4

0

0

0

2.11

114

68

Stephen Johnson

1.0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

3.81

11

7

Derek Law, S 6

1.0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

3.38

11

7

Kelvin Marte just keeps on keeping on. He faced off in this game against old friend Scott Barnes, who the Giants traded way back in 2009 for Ryan Garko. This provides me with the perfect segue to note that when Scott Barnes was drafted by the Giants, Marte had already been in the system for a year and a half. Since coming back from shoulder injuries in 2013 he's been a mainstay for first the SJ and later the Richmond rotations, a steady presence who just goes out there and Jamie Moyers up a win. Marte's 2.11 ERA is now 3rd in the Eastern League behind recently traded Michael Fulmer (traded but still in the EL as he goes from Binghamton to Erie), and Bowie's long time minor league vet Terry Doyle. And, it bears repeating, it was Marte who ended Richmond's 15 game losing streak with a start very much like this. Go out, throw 7 innings, open a beer.

Stephen Johnson came off the DL before this game (replacing Joe Biagini who went on the DL with back stiffness) and had an excellent outing. Johnson and Derek Law retired all six batters they faced collectively, including 3 Ks.

The Squirrels only had 9 hits in the game (all singles) and no walks, but they strung together 5 of them in the 6th inning, including RBI singles from Rando Moreno, Austin Slater, and Mitch Delfino. The rally was started with a leadoff single from Catcher Eliezer Zambrano, which allows us all to behold the wonder of Zambrano's .553 OPS and ponder his 10 year pro career (which now includes six seasons with Richmond). Momma, let your babies grow up to be Catchers and left handed pitchers.

Having gone 3-7 over their past 10 games, the Squirrels have fallen to 5 games off the pace in their division. However, they're just a game behind Altoona for 2nd place, which is the crucial part, as the top two teams in the division go to the playoffs in the Eastern League. Richmond will head back to Altoona this weekend for another important series.

Josh Matthews has a new feature story on Kyle Crick's conversion to reliever that's a good read. FWIW, the "spin off" problem mentioned in this piece is something that was pretty noticeable for Crick back when I first saw him in 2012 in the Sally:

Finally, total mea culpa for me missing the opportunity yesterday to show Kelby Tomlinson's Dad in his Flying Squirrels hat (they have matching glasses, too!):

* * *

San Jose won at Modesto Nuts (Rockies), 3-2

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Seth Harrison

3

2

2

1

0

0

1

1

0

.235

.293

.342

C

Ty Ross

4

0

2

1

1

0

0

0

2

.225

.286

.316

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Jordan Johnson, W, 1-0

6.0

4

2

2

1

8

0

0

0

3.00

Dan Slania

2.0

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

2.72

Jake Smith, S, 8

1.0

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

2.43

So, here we are, at the full season debut of Jordan Johnson, who about a week ago was still toiling away in the AZL for the second consecutive season. The Elk Grove native, and Cal St. Northridge alum, has had a long journey to SJ. Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his Freshman and Sophomore years in college (he pitched 9 innings total those two years), and his Jr. year stats weren't exactly eye popping (just a 4.83 K9 in 72 IP). But the Giants saw enough in the arm to make him their 23rd round pick in 2014 and after just 2.2 IP in the AZL last year, they've gotten his innings up this year and gotten great results from him at now three levels, and the scouting reports have been good as well:

(by the way, you can read Kusiolek's notes on several other SJ players, by checking out his twitter time line from last night).

Like his fellow '14 draftee Hunter Cole (taken two rounds later), Johnson was essentially a draft and follow, as the Giants watched him in summer league before committing to the signing, and here you can see an interview he did while playing in his East Texas summer league prior to signing with the Giants (warning: don't expect a big personality):

San Jose hitters managed just six hits and two walks in stringing together just enough to win this game. Seth Harrison was the leader, reaching base three times and hitting his 4th HR of the year to put the Giants on the board in the 5th. Ty Ross's 7th inning double knocked in what proved to be the game winning run. And yeah, Ty Ross' line isn't much more impressive than Zambrano's so I'll sing that cowboy song again.

Speaking of SJ Catchers:

Case was the Giants 27th round pick this year, and looks like an org depth guy.  Still wondering when and if we'll see Aramis Garcia in SJ this year. The Cal league now has a cutoff after which players can't be on a playoff roster, and it's coming up fairly soon (roughly two weeks before the end of the year). That said, the Greenjackets are also pursuing a post-season birth, so the Giants may prefer that Garcia stay where he is and try to win with the teammates he already has.

Having gone 7-3 over their past 10 games, SJ is now tied with Modesto for 1st place in their division for the second half. A sweep of the series tonight would put them in sole possession of 1st.

* * *

Augusta lost at Lexington Legends (Royals), 5-2 in 6 innings (rain)

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Johneshwy Fargas

3

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.288

.356

.360

C

Aramis Garcia

3

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

.277

.353

.475

1b

Skyler Ewing

3

1

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

.238

.328

.328

3b

Jonah Arenado

2

0

1

1

1

0

0

1

0

.272

.295

.388

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pat Young, L 7-2

4.2

8

5

5

1

3

1

1

1

3.84

In a game, called for rain after the top of the 6th inning, Augusta managed to get 13 runners on base with 7 hits and 6 walks, but a 1 for 8 with RISP line doomed them. At the bottom of the order, Andrew Cain and Travious Relaford walked four times combined, but were never brought around to score a run. Skyler Ewing had nearly half the team's hits in this game, though all three were singles as the 1b continued his season long power outage. The one hit to knock in a run came from Jonah Arenado who picked up right where he left off yesterday with a bomb to RF.

That was actually a crucial juncture in the game. Augusta had just scored the game's first run and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Dylan Davis on 3b, would ultimately come in on a groundout, but that was all they'd manage and they never scored again in the game.

Johneshwy Fargas stole his 55th base of the year in this game. He's also been caught 17 times, for a 76% success rate.

The now 54-53 Greenjackets are once again flirting with playoff contention, as they sit just 2.5 games out of 1st place in their division in the second half. It's somewhat hard to see them making a real run with their inconsistent and rather underwhelming pitching staff but you never know what a month can do.

Final note, big doings when Augusta returns home this weekend, as Madison Bumgarner gets the royal treatment:

* * *

Salem-Keizer had the second day of their All star Break

The Northwest League All Stars beat the Pioneer League All Stars last night 6-5 in 10 innings. All three Volcanoes present played in the game, with Miguel Gomez starting at C and Jose Vizcaino starting at DH. Neither was still around when the walkoff victory happened, but Gomez went 1 for 2 with a single (he also had a PB and a throwing error) and Vizcaino went 0 for 3 with a walk and a Sac Fly. Andrew Leenouts pitched a scoreless 5th inning with a hit and a strikeout.

* * *

AZL Giants had a scheduled offday

The 17-18 Giants finished in a disappointing 4th place in the first half standings, and at 3-4 they're currently 1.5 games out after the first week of the second half.

* * *

EDIT:

DSL Giants beat the DSL Twins, 8-3

Age

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

SB

CS

BA

OBP

SLG

LF-CF

20.11

Juan Rodriguez

5

1

2

2

2

0

0

0

2

0

0

.355

.390

.525

SS

18.10

Manuel Geraldo

5

1

3

3

0

1

0

0

1

1

1

.302

.359

.401

RF-LF

17.5

Beicker Mendoza

5

0

2

1

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

.303

.356

.393

1b

19.3

Robinson Madrano

3

1

1

1

0

0

1

2

1

1

1

.297

.386

.434

PH-RF

17.5

Sandro Fabian

1

2

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

.242

.332

.323

Age

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

19.8

Norwith Gudino

5.0

5

1

1

2

3

0

0

0

3.63

20.9

Hengerber Medina, S, 4

2.1

1

0

0

2

2

0

1

0

1.24

Giants become first team in the DSL with 40 wins (two others have 39).

Robinson Madrano with the combo meal (HR+steal!), and Manuel Geraldo came close to the same with a triple and a SB. Add in Juan Rodriguez' two doubles and you have all the team's XBH. The top three hitters in the lineup (Rodriguez, Geraldo, and Beicker Mendoza) accounted for 7 of the team's 11 hits, and all three had RBI hits in the team's big 4 run 9th inning that blew the game open.

Still no Victor :(

* * *

Final note, from the old friend's file, good luck to ex-Giant Tyler LaTorre, who was released last weekend from the Brewers org and has now accepted a coaching position with SF St.:

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