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SF Giants Minor Lines 4/18

A lineup to dream on assembles for the very first time...

By Roger

April 18! A good date to take a pause in our normally Giants-centric approach to things, and pay tribute to the greatest minor lines of all time. I'm talking 0 for 13 great. I'm talking 0 for 11 with 7 Ks and a SacFly for the ages great. 35 years ago last night, probably the most famous minor league game in history began. Thirty-five years ago this morning, it halted for a spell, not concluding until June of that year.

Yes, it's the 35th anniversary of the 33-inning game, which featured many many future major leaguers like Bob Ojeda, Rich Gedman, Marty Barrett, and two future Hall of Famers: Cal Ripken Jr. (who went 2 for 13) and Wade Boggs (a cool 4 for 12 with 2 walks, which is pretty much the most Wade Boggs-line ever). It also featured a future major league manager who was the only player on either roster to fail to appear in the game (Kevin Kennedy), despite the fact that the rosters changed before the game finished! You can read more about this historic, ridiculously-wonderful game that began on a cold New England spring night, played into a frigid Easter morning, and finally ended up in the middle of a media circus for all the assembled baseball press that had nothing to do after the onset of the 1981 strike, here:

And if you really want a deep dive, Dan Barry's book, Bottom of the 33rd is a really great baseball read. David Lee was bothered by a little 14 inning effort the other night? What would he have done with Russ Laribee?

HIGHLIGHTS: Jordan Johnson allowed 1 run in 7 IP; Gustavo Cabrera went 2 for 4 with SB in full season debut.

Sacramento lost to Salt Lake City Bees (Angels), 6-2
Getting swept in their four game series, 0-4

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

LF

Darren Ford

3

0

1

0

0

0

0

2

0

.286

CS, E

3b

Conor Gillaspie

4

0

2

0

0

0

0

1

0

.304

E

1b

Grant Green

4

1

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

.262

RF

Jarrett Parker

4

0

0

1

0

0

0

1

2

.119

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Ty Blach L 1-2

3.0

7

5

5

3

3

1

0

2

6.75

77

50

Braulio Lara

2.0

1

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

1.29

31

18

Jake Dunning

1.1

0

0

0

1

2

0

0

0

2.84

18

11

Thus completes the second four game sweep at the hands of the Bees in the first 12 games of the season. There are no words, or at least not many interesting ones to describe the current 2-10 RiverCats. Ramiro Pena, a potentially useful MI is on the DL with a concussion. Andrew Susac hasn't appeared in a game since April 11th, and though he's not on the DL, one may presume that he still can't get his wrist right. And Jarrett Parker continues to strikeout in quite literally one out of every two At Bats (now with 21 Ks against 3 walks and 6 hits in 42 ABs). Things are, to put it lightly, not very happy in Sactown at present.

Ty Blach was hoping to build on one of his best AAA starts, but those hopes were dashed before the first inning was out.

Instead, he struggled through three laborious innings, needing nearly 80 pitches to get that far. With the Sacramento offense mired in "Slow" the 5-0 lead after 3 virtually shut the door on the series.

Despite being issued 8 walks in the game, and adding 7 hits, the RiverCats were being shut out until the 8th inning. They pushed across single runs in both the 8th and 9th innings, in both cases, remarkably enough, on bases loaded walks! But in both innings they failed to get a big hit to put them back in the game. Hopefully, getting rid of Salt Lake City will work some cures on what ails Sacramento at present.

They keep working to make the fans happy though. Which is important!

* * *

Richmond lost to Reading Fightin' Phils, 6-2

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

SS

Christian Arroyo

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.318

CF

Austin Slater

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.244

PO

RF

Hunter Cole

4

1

2

0

1

0

0

0

2

.184

3b

Ryder Jones

4

1

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

.289

CS

2b

Rando Moreno

3

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.324

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Kyle Crick L 1-1

4.2

2

2

2

5

2

0

0

1

5.59

90

50

Mike Kickham

2.1

8

4

4

0

2

0

0

0

7.20

57

39

Kyle Crick had a start that might best be described as Crickish.  He threw a decently clean first three innings, allowing just one run on a walk to JP Crawford, a double and a ground out. But in the fourth inning the wheels came off completely. He issued four walks in the 4th and mixed in a WP as well. The denouement came on a two-out, bases loaded walk to the opposing pitcher, Ben Lively. But Crick did limit the damage, getting a fly out to end the inning. In the end, he made it through 4.2 IP, needing 90 pitches to do so. It would have been a clean 5 innings, but for his own throwing error on a comebacker in the 5th.

Crick was relieved by old friend Mike Kickham who had himself a rough afternoon. Did you know Kickham quit baseball last summer? That he lost the love of the game? Richmond Times-Dispatch has a very nice piece on Kickham here (big picture is big Times-Dispatch!):

On the offensive side, Richmond hitters got completely shut down by Reading pitcher Ben Lively who threw 7 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball. Lively had a dominating year in the Cal League in 2014 while still in the Reds system. He was later traded to Philadelphia straight up for Marlon Byrd (Byrd really fetched some decent pitching talent from clubs!) and he just adds to the impressive group of young talent Philadelphia is putting together in its rebuild.

Hunter Cole keeps clawing back from his slow start with two more hits including a double. Next up: climbing over the Mendoza Line! Ryder Jones also had two more hits, and continues a nice run to the start of his AA season. Jones has gotten off to good springs in each of his past two seasons, but has struggled to continue his success through the summers.

Finally, though his last outing was a rough one, Ray Black's still one of the more exciting players on this team, so much so that the local NBC news station did a feature story on him:

* * *

San Jose lost at Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres), 1-0

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

LF

Johneshwy Fargas

4

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.212

CS, PO, 2 OF Ass

CF

Ronnie Jebavy

4

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.171

CS (4)

SS

CJ Hinojosa

3

0

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

.321

1b

Chris Shaw

4

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.273

RF

Steven Duggar

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.343

GIDP

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Jordan Johnson L 1-1

7.0

4

1

1

2

2

0

0

0

3.00

79

48

Reyes Moronta

1.0

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

4.50

15

12

The Giants unfortunately forgot to pack their runs up when they left Inland Empire. Going up against the Padres #17 prospect, Dinelson Lamet, who finished 7th in Ks in the MWL last year, the San Jose bats were thoroughly cooled as they managed just six baserunners on 5 hits. The lone XBH, came from CJ Hinojosa who was also the only member of the lineup to reach base twice.  Hinojosa has reached base in all 8 games that he's played this year, and he's gotten a hit in 7 of them, despite having recorded just 1 hit in 5 of those games.  Last year in Salem-Keizer, Hinojosa showed elite contact skills. Now in 33 PA in the Cal, he's showing an increased control of the strikezone as well, with 5 BB vs just 4 Ks so far on the year.

With the advance up a level, base stealers are finding it a little harder to pick up free bases. Top of the order hitters Fargas and Jebavy were both caught stealing in this one, and have collectively been CS in 7 of their 12 attempts so far on the year. Last year the pair was successful on 82 of their 105 attempts. In Fargas' case, he made up for his base running woes with some great defensive work. Fargas helped keep the game close, throwing out runners at home and 3b in the game.

Jordan Johnson was the tough luck loser in the game, despite having an excellent start. His 7 IP was a career high, and he surrendered just 4 hits and the single run. He didn't produce many Ks in the start, but he generated a terrific 12-3 Ground Out/Fly Out ratio.

After a rough time finding the strike zone in his last outing, Reyes Moronta was firing strikes in this one, with 9 strikes in 12 pitches thrown in his one scoreless frame.

Steven Duggar's torrid road trip hit a cold spell for a night, but let's take a moment to soak in what he's done on the trip thus far: 7 for 19, 3 HRs, 6 RBI. Ah yeah, that's good soakin'!

* * *

Augusta beat the Rome Braves, 5-2

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

SS

Lucius Fox

2

1

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

.192

E

2b

Jalen Miller

3

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

.273

Sac Fly

RF

Dylan Davis

2

2

2

0

1

0

0

2

0

.275

LF

Gustavo Cabrera

4

1

2

1

1

0

0

0

1

.500

SB (1)

3b

Manuel Geraldo

4

1

1

0

1

0

0

0

2

.154

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Mac Marshall

4.1

4

1

1

3

6

1

0

0

4.32

80

45

Jake McCasland, W 1-0

2.2

2

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

0.00

30

21

GUSTAVO IS COMING! GUSTAVO IS COMING!
(did you know, in addition to the anniversary of the 33 inning game, April 18 is also the anniversary of Paul Revere's ride! Big night for Massachusetts.)

For the first time in 2016, Augusta rolled out a lineup that included all three of their big upside young talents: Fox, Miller, and fresh off the DL for his full-season debut, Gustavo Cabrera. With Manuel Geraldo at 3b for good measure!  And it was a good test for the young lineup, as the Rome Braves are possibly the only team in minor league ball that runs out a legit major league starting pitching prospect in every single game. Last night they had one of their best, Atlanta's #9 prospect Mike Soroka.  And to complete the whole package, Augusta started the Giants 4th round pick Mac Marshall, to make it a prospect lovers delight.

In Gustavo's first AB of the year, Soroka dispatched him quickly: swinging strike on a fastball, called strike on a fastball, and then this:

His second AB began with much the same sequence: fastball foul, fastball swinging strike. But on the 0-2 pitch Cabrera was able to get just a piece of the slider this time. Which set up this pitch.

Crack! That's a goooood sound. Double to the wall for his first hit. In his third AB, Cabrera rocketed a liner off Soroka for a single, and then stole 2b. It was a good debut!

And there were other good things happening. Fox led off the game with a line shot double and came around to score. He too reached based twice in the game. Jalen Miller had no hits to show for his game, but rocketed a liner to CF for a Sac Fly. Even Manuel Geraldo, who's been scuffling badly, scorched a liner down the RF line for a double. On the non-teenager side of things, Dylan Davis had another excellent night, reaching base four times and scoring twice. Davis is definitely trying to hit his way to the Cal league.

But this was really a night to enjoy the spoils of youth:

On the rubber, Marshall had another comme ci, comme ça game. He had 6 Ks in his 4.1 innings of work and induced a ton of swing throughs, but he once again wrestled with his command.

On the "rhythm" side, the Rome Braves' radio man at one point in the game took note of the long pauses between Marshall's pitches and noted "he's doing more looking than pitching." Pick up the pace, Mac! That's a Minor Lines pet peeve for sure!

But all in all this was definitely a game to feel good about. The young 'uns need reps, need games under their belts, need chances to fail and succeed. It was a good night to dream on.

* * *

Full slate again today, with two of the Giants' recent first round picks taking the starts. Time for a big game from Mr. Beede!

Pitching Matchups:
Sacramento: Chris Stratton vs. Seth Lugo (Mets #20 prospect)
Richmond: Tyler Beede vs. Nick Pivetta (Phils #15 prospect)
San Jose: Mark Reyes vs. Thomas Dorminy
Augusta: Michael Santos vs. Patrick Weigel

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