SF Giants Minor Lines 4-23/24

It's not just that Mac Williamson collected a career high 7 RBIs yesterday. It's that he did all that while playing in a rain shortened 6 inning game.  Yeah, it was a day to remember.

HIGHLIGHTS: Mac Williamson went 3 for 3 with 7 RBIs; Jordan Johnson threw 6 one-hit innings; CJ Hinojosa went 4 for 5; Chris Shaw and Jonah Arenado both homered in two straight games.

Sacramento beat Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), 8-4 Saturday

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	Other
DH	Andrew Susac	5	2	3	3	1	0	1	0	0	.278
1b	Ryan Lollis	5	2	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	.320
RF	Mac Williamson	3	1	2	1	1	0	0	2	1	.333	OF Assist
LF	Jarrett Parker	4	1	1	3	0	0	1	1	2	.158

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Ty Blach W 2-2	5.0	5	2	2	2	3	0	0	0	5.95	77	43
Chris Heston S 1	4.0	4	2	2	1	4	0	0	0	4.50	63	40

Sacramento beat Tacoma Rainers (Mariners), 10-5 in 6 inn Sunday

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	Other
CF	Gorkys Hernandez	4	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.231	SB (2)
DH	Andrew Susac	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	1	.250
RF	Mac Williamson	3	1	3	7	2	0	0	0	0	.385	Sac Fly
2b	Grant Green	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.262	SB (2)

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Chris Stratton W 2-2	5.0	9	5	5	1	3	0	0	0	7.59	84	52

Since returning from SF, Mac Williamson is 7 for 10 with 2 HRs, 3 doubles, 2 walks, 1 K and 10 RBI. That's a pretty good two and a half days. Williamson's re-insertion into the Sacramento lineup helped spur an offensive explosion in Tacoma for the RiverCats, who have now won four consecutive games (side note, it's entirely possible that the Rainiers pitching staff might not be very good). Williamson yesterday hit a two-run double in the first, a two-run single in the second, another two-run double in the third, and capped his night off with a measly little Sac Fly in the 5th (dude, an out? what the heck?).

The word was last winter that Bruce Bochy and the Giants staff wanted to see Williamson get a little more loft into his swing to take greater advantage of his tremendous raw power in games. So far this year, Mac is definitely giving them what they want, as he's now slugging a robust .821 and 9 of his 15 hits on the year have gone for XB. And he's doing that without a spike in his K rate; in fact with just 7 Ks in 44 PA his K rate is currently sitting at just 18% (SSS alert).

But Williamson isn't the only happy return that the Sacramento lineup has seen this weekend. Andrew Susac also re-emerged, albeit in DH capacity only. There's been very little word about Susac's situation so far this year, so it's difficult to interpret what's going on with his health. He hadn't played a game since 4/11 before Saturday night's game, and he DH'd in both of the two games in played this weekend. The word in ST was that the pain in his wrist was bothering him when he swung, and not when he caught, so it's good to see him at the plate and driving the ball again. Hopefully, he'll don the mask soon as well. Susac doubled and homered in his return on Saturday. On Sunday, he didn't get any hits but walked twice. Good to see!

Perhaps we can add Jarrett Parker's bat to the list of MIA returnees to the lineup, as Parker reached base 4 times in 8 PA over the last two games, and hit his 2nd HR of the year on Saturday night. It would definitely be good to see Parker shake the awful funk he's been in since the start of the year.

Chris Stratton had a Jekyll and Hyde outing in yesterday's game as he opened by allowing 4 runs in the 1st inning on 4 hits and a walk. Nearly all the damage came following a two out walk, on three consecutive hits including two doubles. But after that Stratton settled down and ended up throwing a 5 inning complete game. His offense supported him with three consecutive three-run innings and he cruised to the win.  That said, Stratton has now started four games this year and he's surrendered 5 or more runs in three of them. His peripherals aren't looking that sharp either with a K/9 that is down to 6.00 at the beginning of the year.

On Saturday night, Chris Heston made his first appearance with Sacramento, going 4 innings in a relief appearance. It appears the Giants are not going to put him back in the rotation, but rather try to get him used to a long relief role?

* * *

Richmond lost at Altoona Curve (Pirates), 4-3 Sat.

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA
1b	Ricky Oropesa	5	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.210
RF	Hunter Cole	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.208
3b	Ryder Jones	4	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.283
C	Matt Winn	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	.277

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Matt Gage	6.0	9	4	4	1	2	1	0	0	7.24	85	54
Dan Slania	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.00	13	8
Jake Smith	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	9.82	18	11

Richmond lost at Altoona Curve (Pirates), 2-1 Sun
losing their four game series, 1-3

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA
LF	Tyler Horan	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.211

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Kyle Crick L 1-2	5.2	5	2	2	5	5	0	0	2	4.70	96	58
Tyler Rogers	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0.00	19	14
Ray Black	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	6.75	16	10

The Flying Squirrels offense is not flying very high lately, as they dropped their third straight game to Altoona (that's the third 3 or more game losing streak they've had on this young year).  The team has yet to win a series this year and have avoided losing a series only once. They're second to last in the EL in Runs scored with just 56 runs in 18 games (which is the most games played in the league, so they don't have that excuse) and average of just 3.1 per game.

They've had a tremendous problem taking advantage of scoring opportunities, as they did Saturday night when they turned 11 hits and 2 walks into just three runs.  Some of this is just poor hit luck, and some of it is the really rough starts that several guys in the middle of the order are having, including Hunter Cole (.531 OPS), and Austin Slater(.603 OPS). On Sunday, the offense didn't have many opportunities to take advantage, as they managed just three hits. Tyler Horan, making a rare start, was the only batter to reach base twice.

The poor luck loser was Kyle Crick, who battled through yet another walk filled night to keep his team in the game.  He was touched up for runs only once, on a two run single ground through the left side of the infield which ultimately won the game.

Ty Rogers kept his ERA spotless, though it's worth noting that he has allowed 5 unearned runs in his 9.2 IP this year.  And Ray Black had his second consecutive appearance without a walk, adding two more Ks to his totals. He now has 15 Ks in 31 batters faced on the year.  In his three appearances outside of his one disaster appearance on April 17  (when he allowed four runs in 0.2 IP and uncharacteristically walked two), Jake Smith has thrown nothing but perfect innings, with 6 Ks in 9 batters faced over three innings pitched.

Final note: Christian Arroyo missed both of the last two games after being hit by a pitch in the foot.  But according to Jay Burnham he's just bruised a bit and it's no cause for concern. Hope we see this baby-faced boy back soon.

Christian Arroyo 2013 USA Champions Certified 18U Nat. Team AUTO RC Rookie /299 https://t.co/HoPr3SqkvR pic.twitter.com/BIgw0tLTiv

— find awesome items (@findawesomeite1) April 24, 2016

* * *

San Jose lost to Modesto Nuts (Rockies), 12-9 Sat.

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA
DH	Chris Shaw	4	2	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	.294
C	Aramis Garcia	4	2	2	2	0	0	1	0	1	.263
1b	Jonah Arenado	4	2	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	.273
3b	Jose Vizcaino, Jr.	4	1	2	3	0	0	1	0	0	.273

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
DJ Snelten L 1-1	5.0	9	5	4	2	3	0	1	0	3.60	83	50
Jeff Soptic	0.1	3	5	5	3	1	1	0	0	16.50	22	9
Jose Morel	1.2	1	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	3.86	31	16
Dusten Knight	1.0	1	1	1	1	3	0	0	0	10.29	27	13
Jose Reyes	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7.59	9	6

San Jose beat the Modesto Nuts (Rockies), 12-4 Sun

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	Other
LF	Johneshwy Fargas	5	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.232	CS (5)
CF	Ronnie Jebavy	5	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.208
SS	CJ Hinojosa	5	4	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.358	.433 OBP
1b	Chris Shaw	4	3	3	2	1	0	1	1	1	.327	.545 SLG
3b	Jose Vizcaino Jr	5	1	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	.222	E
DH	Jonah Arenado	5	1	3	4	0	0	1	0	1	.306	.490 SLG

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Jordan Johnson W 2-1	6.0	1	0	0	2	5	0	0	0	2.00	95	61
Reyes Moronta	1.0	1	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	5.14	17	10

When last we met, Steven Duggar had hit 80% of the Giants HRs on the year. Wow is that not the case any more, as the ball was flying out of the Muni over the weekend. San Jose hit 6 HRs over the past two games, including HRs on back to back days from both Chris Shaw and Jonah Areando. They also got the unofficial 2nd HR of the year from Jose Vizcaino.

Like Mac Williamson, Shaw's hits this year have tended to go for extra bases, with 8 XBH among his 18 on the year. But until Saturday night all his power had come in doubles. I suspect we'll see some HR tears from Shaw as he gets into the year though.

All the power detracted from a real masterpiece from Jordan Johnson, who carried a no-hit bid into the 6th. Though Jordan hasn't rung up huge strike out numbers yet this year, he's been very hard to hit, and he's allowing baserunners at just an 0.78 WHIP clip. Over his last two starts, he's allowed just 1 run over 13 IP.

A mainstay of recent San Jose teams has been strong and deep bullpens. Indeed, the current major league squad now features three different members of the great 2013 bullpen (Hunter Strickland, Josh Osich, Derek Law). But at least, early on, the current edition is not looking like it will follow in the footsteps of bullpens past, and there are some really ugly ERAs piling up in that relief staff. Another member of the 2013 bullpen who has never left San Jose is Jeff Soptic, who has now given up 9 runs in his past 1.1 IP.

San Jose has their first scheduled off day today before completing the homestand against Stockton.

* * *

Augusta lost at Charleston RiverDogs (Yankees), 5-2
in completion of Friday night's suspeded game

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	Other
SS	Lucius Fox	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.167
2b	Jalen Miller	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.255	E (1)
RF	Dylan Davis	4	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.273
3b	Manuel Geraldo	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.163

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Grant Watson	3.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1.32	31	22
Connor Kaden	3.0	3	4	4	1	3	0	1	1	5.27	62	40
Matthew Pope	2.0	1	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	13.50	36	21

Augusta lost at Charleston RiverDogs (Yankees), 5-4 in Sat. regularly scheduled game

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	Other
SS	Lucius Fox	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.154	40% K%
CF	Seth Harrison	3	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	.250	OF Assist
RF	Dylan Davis	3	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	.293	.639 SLG
3b	Kelvin Beltre	3	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	2	.235
2b	Manuel Geraldo	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.154	44% K%

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Cory Taylor	4.0	7	4	4	0	7	1	0	2	3.60	78	51

Augusta lost at Charleston RiverDogs (Yankees), 5-4 Sunday
losing their four game series, 1-3

	Name	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	Other
2b	Jalen Miller	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250	GIDP
CF	Seth Harrison	4	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.269	SB (3)
DH	Dylan Davis	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	.311
3b	Kelvin Beltre	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.218	SB (2)
LF	Gustavo Cabrera	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.227
SS	Manuel Geraldo	4	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	.196	2 E (3), CS

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	HB	WP	ERA	Pitches	Strikes
Mac Marshall	3.0	3	3	1	3	1	0	0	0	3.97	62	38
Caleb Smith	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	5.06	14	9

As the Greenjackets teenagers have struggled to greater or lesser degrees (and in some cases it's very very greater, as we can see from the K rates for Lucius Fox and Manuel Geraldo), the veterans have stepped up to lead the offense. Seth Harrison's bat showed signs of coming to life the last week, and Dylan DAvis is clearly trying to hit his way out of this league. Davis' 1.042 OPS is currently fifth in the Sally league and he too has XBH on more than half of his hits for the year.

One of the kiddie corps who's starting to show signs of life is 3b Kelvin Beltre, who had three multi-hit games over the last week, and on Saturday showed some of the power that's in his bat with this shot.

Parenthetically, the Giants used to have a radio announcer back in the 60s named Bill Thompson who famously made HR calls much like that Charleston radio call. "Popped up... well... not popped up exactly..."

Mac Marshall continued his struggle to command his pitches. In 11 IP this year, Marshall now has 11 BBs to 10 Ks. That's not how that ratio's supposed to look, Mac!

Augusta too has had some pretty ragged work from the bullpen this year. But yesterday they got a perfect inning of work from Caleb Smith. With Osich and Okert in the majors, Smith features some of the best stuff from the left-hand side of any reliever in the system. We'll finish off today's super-stuffed edition of Minor Lines watching the South Carolina kid do his work.

* * *

Super slight schedule on tap today, as both San Jose and Augusta get off days. But Tyler Beede takes the hill in Bowie, and with any cooperation from work and traffic, maybe I'll be there to see him.