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SF Giants Minor Lines, 6/20

Spotlight on short season ball as the last of the teams finally hits the field.

By Roger

Andrew Susac's been having a rough year, as we've noted before, so he can't have been too pleased with this effort from El Paso LF Alex Dickerson (see, this is how you do it, Angel!).

But apparently Ryan Lollis was so impressed he wanted to do it too! Lolly's attempt wasn't quite as successful, but you gotta appreciate the effort!

HIGHLIGHTS: John Riley went 5 for 5 with two doubles; Melvin Adon allowed no ER and struck out 6 over 6 innings.

Sacramento beat El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), 7-3
winning their four game series, 3-1

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

CF

Gorkys Hernandez

4

1

2

1

0

0

0

1

1

.280

CS (7)

SS

Ruben Tejada

4

1

2

1

2

0

0

0

1

.188

LF

Mac Williamson

3

2

1

2

0

0

1

0

1

.274

2 HBP

2b

Rando Moreno

3

1

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

.243

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Clayton Blackburn W 5-4

6.0

7

2

2

1

4

0

0

0

3.50

Mac Williamson got a little revenge for getting HBP twice in the game, when he broke a 2-2 tie with his 9th HR of the year. It was Williamson's 3rd HR of the four game series vs. the Chihuahuas, and all were game breakers: one tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, and the other two put the RiverCats into the lead. If Mac could get over the adjustment hump with major league pitchers, this is the kind of right-handed bat that sure could help the big league lineup.

Clayton Blackburn, who entered the game with a 2.95 ERA at home this year, had a couple of shaky moments early on, surrendering runs in both the first and second innings. But once he escaped the 2nd (during which Manuel Margot singled in a run and then stole both 2b and 3b off of him), Blackburn locked in. He would end up surrendering just two more hits over his last four innings, sticking around long enough to pick up the win.

Newly signed Ruben Tejada had a big game, leading off two different innings with doubles into the gap. And he played his usual nifty defense. He, too, could be someone we'll be seeing soon.

There was a scary moment early in the game, when Mac Williamson's bat went flying out of his hands and into the RiverCat dugout. Apparently it caught Grant Green flush in the leg and he was carted off the field. Hope he's going to be ok. This was the second time in two days the RiverCats had to use the cart to take a player off the field, as LHP Matt Lujan suffered a leg injury while delivering a pitch on Sunday.

* * *

Richmond, San Jose, and Augusta were all off.
Richmond is back at it today while San Jose and Augusta return on Thursday for their second halves.

Chris Shaw was eliminated in the first round of the Midway Classic HR derby, but he did get in a couple of splash hits; hopefully the first of many.

* * *

Salem-Keizer won at Boise Hawks (Rockies), 7-2

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

1b

Zack Bowers

2

1

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

.462

C

John Riley

5

1

5

1

2

0

0

0

0

.538

PB

LF

Gustavo Cabrera

3

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.400

HBP

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Melvin Adon

6.0

3

1

0

1

6

0

0

0

0.00

Caleb Simpson W 1-0

2.0

1

1

1

0

2

0

1

0

3.00

Rayan Hernandez

1.0

1

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0.00

Last year, the Giants pulled John Riley out from behind the plate and put him at 1b in an attempt to unlock his offensive potential. He also got an aggressive assignment to full season Augusta. Unfortunately, though there were glimpses of  ower in Riley's swing, K rates soaring above 30% sunk his year, most of which ended up being in Salem-Keizer. This year, it's back behind the plate for Riley, who has played two of his three games at C. So far, so good for Riley who is off to a blistering 7 for 13 start with three doubles and, more importantly, just one K. Riley did have a decent defensive reputation in HS and has a strong arm, so we'll see. Riley was the 31st round pick in the 2013 draft, which was one of the more HS heavy drafts in recent Giants history, delivering Christian Arroyo, Ryder Jones, Jonah Arenado, Johneshwy Fargas. Rene Melendez, and Dylan Brooks.

Melvin Adon wasn't the most hyped of the powerful DSL Giants pitching staff last year, which is perhaps a good object lesson in over-valuing pitcher age at lower levels. But he's been the guy getting the buzz in XST this spring as his fastball has ticked up and up and up, with rumors of it touching 100 mph.

Adon had a strong domestic debut yesterday, picking up 6 Ks in 6 innings of work while allowing just one unearned run. With Concepcion, Vizcaino, Cabrera and Adon having all had their domestic starting debut you'd have to say after Scene 1 it's advantage Melvin! Adon is a seriously big framed kid. I've mentioned this before (and sadly I couldn't get my camera out in time to capture this image) but watching him walk next to Victor Concepcion in ST was very reminiscent of watching Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum walking across a field together. To help get you fully hyped up for the Adon bandwagon, here's a few notes from XST

* * *

AZL Giants beat the AZL D-backs, 6-3

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

CF

Mikey Edie

4

1

2

1

0

0

0

1

0

.500

SB (1)

SS

Ryan Howard

5

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.000

2 E (2)

LF

Chris Denorfia

3

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

.333

RF

Heath Quinn

2

2

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

.500

HBP

3b

Becker Mendoza

4

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

.250

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Sandro Cabrera

2.0

2

3

2

2

2

0

0

0

9.00

Chris Falwell W 1-0

4.0

3

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0.00

Caleb Baragar S 1

3.0

2

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

0.00

And the pro debuts start in. Whole mess of debuts from 2016 draftees in this game, included 3rd rounder Heath Quinn (the highest draft pick the Giants have signed so far), 5th rounder Ryan Howard, as well 1b Ryan Kirby from USD, Brandon Van Horn from The Masters College (which I've never heard of prior to the Giants draft), LHP Caleb Baragar from Indiana U and 6'7" Chris Falwell, the Giants 16th round pick from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

They also had a season debut from Chris Denorfia, getting in a few ABs before moving up to, I assume, Sacramento. However, Kyle Blanks who was expected to be ready to play did not appear in the opener.

Quinn and returnee (somewhat surprisingly so, to me, anyway) Mikey Edie led the attack, each reaching base three times in the game. Each singled as a part of the 4-run rally in the 4th, when the team had 5 hits, a walk, and a Sac Fly.

Our good friend Conner Penfold made the drive over to the desert to catch the game yesterday. Once again, Conner's site is well well worth the small subscriber fee he charges, so if you feel like catching his full report with his typically beautiful footage, head over to giantpotential.net. In the meantime, to the field correspondent!

(I know who Lyle's going to have a prospect crush on now!)

It will be interesting to see who the Giants use for starters in the complex league, with Baragar pitching just an inning in relief here. I would guess we'll see either Julio Benitez or Stetson Woods taking the next turn.

* * *

DSL Giants beat DSL Mariners1, 3-2

Age

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

Other

CF

18.6

Jose Patino

5

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.310

SB (2)

SS

18.1

Jose Rivero

3

0

1

2

0

1

1

1

2

.245

CS (2)

LF

17.6

Ismael Munguia

4

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

.448

1b

17.11

Angeddy Almanzar

4

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

.347

Age

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

18.10

Miguel Figueroa

5.0

4

2

2

0

6

1

0

1

7.11

19.11

Jesus Reyes W 2-0

2.1

2

0

0

1

3

0

0

0

0.00

18.6

Jasier Herrera S 1

1.2

0

0

0

2

3

0

0

1

0.00

A two-out, two-run rally in the 7th inning gave the Giants a comeback victory on a day when the offense managed just 8 hits and one XBH. The rally began with nobody on and two balls that didn't leave the infield. This may not be the most-DSL sequence in history (it lacks several HBP and Errors), but it's a pretty good DSL sequence:

Nothing like a ground ball triple to CF!

6'5" RHP Jasier Herrera is having a fine start to the year at the back of the Giants' bullpen. In 2015, the (then) 17 year old pitched just 11.2 innings and gave up 12 ER. He had 15 Ks to 10 BBs and a WHIP of 2.14. A year later, he's not only yet to allow a run in 4 games (7.1 IP), he's allowed just 5 baserunners and has a 10K to 3 BB ratio. Improvement! Herrera is the next in a long line of tall skinny youngsters the Giants have signed out of the IFA market the last several years, and coming from the not-exactly-baseball-hotspot of Colombia likely makes him as raw as a turnip.  A long, slow, development burn, no doubt; but a good start is still a good start.

* * *

Richmond travels up to Manchester, NH today to play a road game against the Hartford Yard Goats. And if you'd like to know why they're in NH playing  a game against a team from Connecticut, you might want to read this story. It's a real mess! (bonus: there's also a bit of news about the Greenjackets' stadium situation in this piece):

Today's Pitching Matchups:
Sacramento: Chris Heston vs. Brad Mills
Richmond: Dan Slania vs. TBD
Salem-Keizer: Mac Marshall vs. Javier Medina (Rockies 3rd round pick in 2015)
AZL: TBD (Stetson Woods?)
DSL: Norwith Gudino vs. TBD

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