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SF Giants Minor Lines 4/7

We've got Flying Squirrels! We've got Yard Goats! We've got Minor Lines!

By Roger

Minor League opening day is here and baseball stuff happened! Yes! Mr. Oropesa, if you would please do the honors, let's play ball!

HIGHLIGHTS: Tyler Beede struck out 6, walked 0 in 5 IP; Andrew Suarez struck out 6, walked 1 in 5 IP.

Sacramento lost at Salt Lake City Bees (Angels), 5-2

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

2b

Ramiro Pena

4

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

1

.250

C

Andrew Susac

3

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

.333

LF

Mac Williamson

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.000

RF

Jarrett Parker

4

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

2

.250

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Ty Blach, L 0-1

5.2

7

5

5

3

2

0

0

0

7.94

82

47

The RiverCats got their season off to a somewhat desultory beginning, apparently failing to note they were playing high up in the Rockies, as the offense tallied just 5 hits, with Ramiro Pena's double being the lone XBH. Andrew Susac, with a single and a walk was the only batter in the lineup to reach base safely twice.

Meanwhile, on the hill, Ty Blach was not at all his usual über-control self, as he threw just a touch more than half his pitches for strikes. The combination of Blach's modest stuff and shaky command meant a lot of base runners, and it caught up to him in a 3 run 4th inning that broke the game open.

Newcomer Hak Ju Lee was kept busy at SS, recording 5 put outs. He also walked and scored one of Sacramento's two runs, driven in by a Conor Gillaspie single. Hopefully tomorrow there'll be more to smile about, fellas

* * *

Richmond lost to Hartford Yard Goats (Rox), 5-4

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

SS

Christian Arroyo

4

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

.200

1b

Ricky Oropesa

4

1

1

2

0

0

1

0

1

.250

3b

Ryder Jones

4

2

2

1

1

0

1

0

1

.500

2 Es

C

Matt Winn

4

0

2

1

1

0

0

0

1

.500

Def CS

CF

Austin Slater

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

.000

RF

Hunter Cole

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.000

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Tyler Beede, L, 0-1

5.0

7

2

2

0

6

0

0

0

3.60

65

47

Richmond had it's easiest road trip of all time, as they were the "road team" in their own home ball park, while the brand spanking new Hartford Yard Goats work to complete their new home stadium. The game featured a pair of starters who were drafted in the first round of the 2014 draft (Tyler Beede vs Kyle Freeland) as well as three members of the Baseball America Top 100: Rox CF David Dahl (39), 3b Ryan McMahon (43), and of course the Giants' Christian Arroyo (62).

Tyler Beede's line involves some curious Official Scoring decisions. His crucial 5th inning started with a deep but routine fly ball that Myles Schroder completely clank-mitted (I mean, I'm not even sure if he got his glove on it at all or if it hit off his arm) and that was somehow ruled a double. And two plays later a comebacker to Beede resulted in a botched rundown at 2b and that was somehow ruled a single. All in all it added up to more hits and ER than common sense would have hung on Tyler, who had an excellent debut to his 2016 season.  Beede mixed pitches well, lived on the corners and the bottom of the zone, and as we can see from his Pitches/Strikes columns he really exhibited great control. He held a very powerful offense featuring the likes of Ryan McMahon, Raimel Tapia, and Rossell Herrera to just 2 (should have been) unearned runs. Four of his six Ks were looking and all were pitcher's pitches, right on the black. He even went 1 for 2 at the plate. The two swinging Ks both came at the expense of Rockies fine CF prospect David Dahl, who Beede simply abused consistently with high fastballs:

And a couple more nice debuts on the offensive side. Richmond hometown hero Matt Winn, the 2015 14th round draft pick who's quick promotion to AA was one of the most shocking assignments of Opening Day, doubled in the Squirrels first run, added a single and threw out an attempted base stealer.

And Ryder Jones followed up his impressive spring camp with an excellent opener. He dunked a double down the left field line and scored the Squirrels first run, and blistered a ball that the Goats 2b Michael Benjamin made a great play on. Both of those came against the 8th overall pick in 2014, Kyle Freeland, one of the better LHP prospects in the minors. Jones would then open the 9th by blasting a long HR to complete the day's scoring.

The Giants' system, btw, has something historic going on with their Managers this year, as they have native Spanish speakers managing every level of their four full season teams. As far as I can remember, this is a first, and definitely a welcome development for the many players in the system who are native Spanish speakers. Meet the new Richmond manager here:

* * *

San Jose beat the Lancaster Jet Hawks (Astros), 4-3

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

CF

Ronnie Jebavy

5

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

.400

2 CS

RF

Steven Duggar

5

1

2

1

0

0

0

0

1

.400

SS

CJ Hinojosa

4

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.500

E

1b

Chris Shaw

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.000

C

Aramis Garcia

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

.000

PB

3b

Jose Vizcaino, Jr.

3

1

1

1

0

0

0

1

0

.333

LF

Johneshwy Fargas

4

0

2

2

0

1

0

0

0

.500

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Andrew Suarez

5.0

3

2

2

1

6

0

1

0

3.60

69

47

Martin Aogsta, W 1-0

2.0

1

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

0.00

20

14

Reyes Moronta

1.0

1

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0.00

13

10

Rodolfo Martinez, S 1

1.0

2

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

0.00

19

11

The SJ Giants brought the system it's lone win for this opening day with an exciting 4-3 victory over the JetHawks. It was the first time SJ has opened up their season at home in seven years, and the home crowd was definitely feeling it.

2015 2nd round pick Andrew Suarez had a fantastic opening night, striking out 6 over five 2-run innings. He K'd 4 of his first 7 batters, opening the season with a splash. Suarez allowed solo runs in the 4th and 5th as he tired a little bit down the stretch. The 6 K's matched Suarez' career high.

On offense, the Giants pounded out 11 hits and added 3 walks as they got production up and down the new lineup. Six of their starting 9 reached base multiple times.  Ten of their hits were singles, but the lone XBH was the big blow of the game, breaking open a 2-2 tie and providing the eventual winning runs.

Go Johneshwy, go!  He got so excited he forgot to stop!

From there the bullpen mostly shut things down, though Rodolfo Martinez allowed one unearned run in the 9th thanks to some sloppy defense.  There will be plenty of time to talk about Rodolfo as this season goes on, but for tonight let's check out his setup man, Reyes Moronta. Moronta doesn't just throw hard, he also seems to have some deception in his delivery because his fastball can really provoke some inept looking swings from the opposition. Check out this cheese:

* * *

Augusta lost at Rome Braves, 10-1

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

SS

Lucius Fox

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

.000

2b

Jalen Miller

4

1

2

0

1

0

0

0

1

.500

LF

Dylan Davis

4

0

1

1

1

0

0

0

2

.250

3b

Kelvin Beltre

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

.000

E

DH

Manuel Geraldo

4

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

2

.250

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Pitches

Strikes

Michael Santos, L 0-1

2.1

7

8

4

1

2

0

0

0

15.43

58

39

Tyler Cyr

2.0

0

0

0

1

5

0

0

2

0.00

38

29

Michael Soroka (Rome)

4.0

4

1

1

1

7

0

0

0

2.25

73

51

To understate things, Michael Santos had a very very tough start to his 2016. To be fair, he had some help in the disastrous 7 run 3rd inning. There was an error from Kelvin Beltre. There were a couple of seeing eye ground balls that really should have been fielded. There was a botched run down on a FC. And when Santos was finally removed with the bases loaded, relief pitcher Ryan Koziol allowed them all to score. Still, Santos wasn't at all sharp in this game, and a 15.43 ERA after opening day is an ugly reality for a starting pitcher no matter how you frame it. And certainly, coming off his disappointing 2015 this wasn't the way Santos wanted to begin the new year. Better luck next time Michael. Hard throwing Tyler Cyr provided the pitching highlight of the game with two innings of near perfect 5 K relief.

Augusta's lineup went up against RHP Mike Soroka, the Braves 1st round pick (28th overall) of the 2015 draft. The hard throwing 18 year old RHP was a rare 1st rounder out of a Canadian HS program. Soroka, the #9 prospect in a stacked Atlanta system, dominated the young Greenjacket lineup for the most part, allowing just one run in his 4 innings of work with 7 Ks.

But the one exception to that rule was Jalen Miller, who went 2 for 2 off Soroka and smoked the ball both times. If you want a great example of Miller's fast hands, watch Soroka try to bury a low 90s fastball on the inside corner against him here:

Dylan Davis would bring Miller home with a double of his own, for the team's lone run. Manuel Geraldo, DHing in his A ball debut, also doubled with a hard grounder down the 3b line for his lone hit.

Lucius Fox, making his pro debut, left the game in the middle of the bottom of the 5th with an apparent minor leg issue. He had just backed Miller up on a ground ball up the middle when he called the trainer out. He didn't seem to be in great pain, but there was something up with his leg, possibly a cramp. Hopefully not a pull or strain which would take him off the field for awhile. Fox struck out twice and grounded to 2b in his three PA.

* * *

Hopefully a few more wins today, but regardless of outcomes, the pitching matchups are going to be fantastic as the system sends Clayton Blackburn, Adalberto Mejia, Sam Coonrod, and 2015 1st round pick Phil Bickford to the mound.  Bickford's full season debut is definitely the highlight, and hopefully we'll get to see Gustavo Cabrera make his debut as well.

Looks like another grerat season at the ballyard!

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