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SF Giants Minor Lines, 6/6

A milestone for an old friend, a return to form for a new one and a smashing debut for a youngster.

By Roger

HIGHLIGHTS: Juan Ciriaco doubled and homered among three hits; Jordan Johnson struck out a season high 7; Ricardo Genoves had 4 hits with a double.

Sacramento beat the Albuquerque (Rockies), 5-3

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Gorkys Hernandez

4

1

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

.277

.357

.382

LF

Austin Slater

3

0

2

1

0

0

0

1

0

.263

.364

.316

3b

Grant Green

4

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.296

.325

.457

2b

Juan Ciriaco

4

2

3

1

1

0

1

0

1

.257

.302

.333

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Ty Blach  W 6-3

7.0

4

3

3

1

7

3

0

0

3.99

Jake Dunning S 1

2.0

2

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

4.91

Juan Ciriaco was a five year minor league vet of the Padres' system who'd made it as far as AA when the Giants selected him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. That was all the way back in 2007. Since then, Ciriaco has been the ultimate org filler, going wherever the Giants had a roster need for some MI help. He's mostly stayed on the West Coast, bouncing back and forth between the Giants' PCL affiliate and San Jose. But he's seen his time in Richmond and even Augusta as well. I have 0.0% doubt that when he decides he's finally had his fill of playing the game that we'll be seeing Juan in a coaches uni at the Giants minor league camp.

But for now, he's still out there competing. And yesterday he had himself a night, with a single, double, and HR to lead the Sacramento offense. That HR was his first of the year, but it was milestone for his career: his 50th professional HR in a career that's stretched over 14 seasons now. Here's to you, Juan! Keep swinging it.

Ironically, his brother, also named Juan Ciriaco, could have been there to see it, but the Rockies re-assigned the other Juan to AA a couple of weeks ago. Juan Ciriaco extended his lead over Juan Ciriaco in career HRs now to 50-3.

The rest of the RiverCats offense was a little less impressive than Ciriaco's blast. Here, for instance, was Andrew Susac's RBI single

Um...yeah. And here's Gorkys Hernandez blasting home a run:

All of which is to note that if you don't follow Matt Johnson on twitter, you should. He covers the RiverCats and always posts lots of his own video, which is frequently better than the game feed.

Matt had Ty Blach pitching at about 88-89 on his fastball last night. Blach had some trouble early, allowing a HR to lead off the game and an RBI double in the second, but then he got on a roll, retiring 12 straight batters. He allowed another solo HR in the 7th, but a three-run rally in the bottom of the inning made him a winner.

* * *

Richmond had a scheduled off day
They begin a road trip tonight in New Hampshire

* * *

San Jose lost to Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners), 8-3

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Ronnie Jebavy

3

1

2

1

0

0

0

1

1

.241

.303

.377

SS

CJ Hinojosa

2

1

1

1

0

0

0

1

0

.332

.416

.482

LF

Robbie Garvey

3

1

2

0

1

0

0

0

0

.222

.222

.278

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Jordan johnson L 5-4

6.0

5

4

3

1

7

2

0

0

4.13

Jose Reyes

0.1

4

4

4

2

0

0

0

0

5.17

Reyes Moronta

1.0

0

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

2.16

Rodolfo Martinez

1.0

0

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

0.74

Apparently, in the wake of the big series against the Rawhide, this four-game set against the Blaze was a trap series waiting to happen. Coming away from the series win against Visalia tied for first, San Jose has lost the first three games of their four game set with Bakersfield and lost a game in the standings each day (with just 13 left to play).

Jordan Johnson stepped back into the rotation after having his turn skipped last time through. And generally, it looked like the rest did him well. He matched a season high with 7 strike outs and allowed just five hits in his six innings of work. He also walked just one after a few starts of wonky control. Johnson's fastball command is one of his biggest strengths so that was a nice development. And according to Joe Ritzo, he looked generally sharper than he had been earlier in the year. In what's been a trend this week however, he fell victim to the long ball in the little contact he did surrender.

Johnson's finest stretch was the 5th inning, when he struck out the side on just 11 pitches. Let's watch, as Johnson shows off some excellent fastball command and a nifty breaking ball.

After Jordan left, the game quickly fell out of hand as Jose Reyes retired just one of the 7 batters he faced, leading to a four-run 7th that turned it into a rout. Despite the lopsided score, the Giants wanted to get some work for their late innings guys, and Reyes Moronta and Rodolfo Martinez combined to strike out the final six batters of the game.  For Moronta, that's now six batters in a row that he's Kd over his last two perfect outings.  Moronta and Martinez are doing a great job of replicating the dominant back end that Gardeck, Black, and Smith provided San Jose last year (though all three have had some hiccups in this season).

At the plate, Ronnie Jebavy continued to dig his way out of an early season hole. Jebavy posted just a .510 OPS in April but he's been warming up with the spring. Since May 10, Jebavy's hit .308 with six doubles, a triple, and three HRs. His six BBs to 22 Ks peripherals over that time could still stand some shoring up, but he's been a strong force at the top of the lineup over the last month.

Chris Shaw, on the other hand, has really hit a cool spell lately, with just one hit over his last six games. Though, as noted the other day, some of that is bad luck, as he lined into a double play in another "nothing to show for hard contact" at bat in this game.

So, in a disappointing turn of events, after posting a winning record on the longest road trip anybody in the Cal League can ever remember, the Giants are now faced with the prospect of having a losing record on their 11 game homestand if they don't win tonight.

* * *

Augusta's game was rained out
They'll play a makeup DH tonight

* * *

DSL Giants beat the DSL Rojos, 9-1

Age

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

SB

CS

BA

SS

18.1

Jose Rivero

4

2

2

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

0

.250

1b

17.0

Ricardo Genoves

5

2

4

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.444

C

18.9

Andres Angulo

5

0

2

4

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.400

Age

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

19.11

Jose Marte

4.0

3

1

1

1

6

0

0

0

2.25

18.6

Marco Gonzalez

2.0

0

0

0

1

3

0

0

0

0.00

19.9

Oliver Pinto

2.0

0

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

0.00

18.6

Jasier Herrera

1.0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

0.00

The Gigantes have a complicated Catching situation, with six different players on the roster listed as Catchers. That includes holdover Andres Angulo, the Colombian Catcher who had a fine age 17 season in 2015, when he posted a .272/.330/.380 line in about 100 PA. It also includes Ricardo Genoves, who the Giants gave their second highest signing bonus to (after Lucius Fox) last year. Genoves was inked for $500,000, and was noted for having advanced defensive skills and makeup. He worked with the same trainer who produced the Red Sox' Anderson Espinosa, so the Giants know he can handle elite velocity. After taking an 0-fer on Opening Day, Genoves picked up the first four hits of his pro career, including his first XBH in this game, while playing 1b to allow Angulo a day behind the dish. Uh oh, I know where this is heading: HE HITS BETTER WHEN HE PLAYS 1b!

The pitching staff couldn't have performed much better yesterday with four pitchers combining to allow just three hits in the game while striking out 14. Jose Marte, who will turn 20 in a week, appears to be another of the Giants recent older IFA pitcher signees, which has worked well for them a few times lately. Jasier Herrera, another Colombian, signed for $150,000 in the 2014 IFA class, is following the Michael Santos route, taking it slow while they put some weight on his 6'5" 180 lb frame. Herrera, who threw just 11 innings for the DSL Giants last year, K'd two of the three batters he faced. The projectible righty has a fastball that could tick up to elite levels when he fills out.

* * *

Six games on tap today, with the highlight pitching performance looking to come from Augusta, where Phil Bickford heads back to the mound.

Today's Pitching Matchups:
Sacramento: Matt Lujan vs. Tyler Anderson
Richmond: Dan Slania vs. Shane Dawson
San Jose: DJ Snelten vs. Tyler Pike (Tyler was a very popular name in the mid-90s!)
Augusta: Phil Bickford vs. Kevin Canelon (who chewed up the Greenjackets in their last visit)
and TBD vs. Tyler Badamo (yes, a very very popular name)

Since we have a light schedule today, let's end with a little minor league hijinx for the fun of it:

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