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SF Giants Minor Lines, 8/2

The Free Ishi! movement begins.

By Roger

Last All Star Game of the season for the system, and it was a good one! Before last night's NWL/Pioneer League matchup in Ogden Utah, Gio Brusa's NWL teammates were predicting a victory for him in the HR Derby:

And were they right?

They sure were! Down to his final out Brusa won the derby on a walkoff! And that wasn't all the power Brusa showed last night, as he'd go on to hit a blast in the game itself, a two-run shot off the facing of that building you see briefly beyond the RF wall in the above video.

Congrats to Lodi's own! Brusa was expected to sign out of UOP last year following a big Cape Cod League, but an injury plagued and disappointing Junior year convinced him to go back and try to rebuild value in his Sr. year. Looks like those setbacks were the Giants' gain.

HIGHLIGHTS: Travis Ishikawa reached base 3x with HR;  Ronnie Jebavy and Jonah Arenado both doubled twice; Michael Connolly allowed one hit in 6 innings.

* * *

Sacramento beat Salt Lake City Bees (Angels), 6-2
winning their four game series, 3-1

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Gorkys Hernandez

4

0

3

1

0

0

0

0

0

.296

.373

.401

1b

Travis Ishikawa

3

3

2

1

0

0

1

1

0

.270

.360

.479

LF

Austin Slater

4

1

2

2

0

0

1

0

1

.229

.325

.371

DH

Chris Denorfia

3

1

2

0

0

0

0

1

1

.243

.305

.338

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Chris Stratton W 8-5

6.0

4

1

1

2

5

0

2

0

4.81

Jean Machi

1.0

2

1

1

0

1

0

0

0

3.78

FREE ISHI! The once and forever Giant exploded in this series with 4 HRs in the last three games. After Austin Slater had drilled a line drive HR in the 2nd, Travis launched this shot in the 3rd to put the RiverCats out to a 3-0 lead. Check out the Pitcher reaction here: it's not a full-on Latos but it's a quality reaction shot, nonetheless.

Chris Stratton took it from there, throwing 6 strong innings. Since returning from the majors Stratton has now surrendered just one ER in four of his six appearances (five of those were starts after a 3.2 IP effort to stretch him back out).  He had a clunker last time out in the thin air of Reno, but other than that, he's been excellent in the last month, with three starts of 6 or more innings, just 1 ER, and good peripherals. He has 27 Ks and 5 BBs in those four starts over 27 IP.

The RiverCats final rally was puntuated by a tremendous hustle play from Ali Castillo, who's had his motor running high all season.  Seriously, look where he is on the base paths when this throw comes in to home.

There are few things I love more on a baseball field than a race for home plate!

Sacramento heads back to the Rocky Mountain zone for the weekend with a series in Albuquerque. Good luck, pitchers!

* * *

Richmond lost at Altoona Curve (Pirates), 5-2

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Steven Duggar

4

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.319

.376

.437

3b

Christian Arroyo

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

2

1

.283

.322

.387

SS

CJ Hinojosa

3

0

1

0

1

0

0

1

1

.287

.357

.406

1b

Chris Shaw

4

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

2

.211

.267

.321

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Kyle Crick L 3-9

4.0

6

5

5

4

3

0

0

1

5.55

Ray Black

1.0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

4.99

Kyle Crick has had a nice stretch lately, but he had a rough one last night, once again running up the walks and the pitch count (98 pitches in 4 IP) and getting punished in hitters counts. One thing you almost never used to see with Crick on the mound, was players pulling his fastball but he's been much much more hittable this year, possibly because he seems to be pitching at a reduced velo. Prior to this year Crick's BAA has nearly always sat around .200, but opposing hitters are whacking him around at a .262 pace this year, and with the free base runners he tends to give away, that's a recipe for trouble.

One thing that Christian Arroyo has been working on this year is improving his approach at the plate and not letting his natural aggressiveness turn into easy outs. It's been an uneven process over the course of the year. In June, he had his best walk rate of the year, but it went hand in hand with his biggest slump (hitting just .258 for the month). While in July he had his most successful hitting month of the season, with a .326 average, but he drew just one walk in the month. Last night he worked two walks, just the second time this year he's had more than one in a game, as he keeps working on refining his approach and learning the line between aggressive and over-aggressive.

Steven Duggar had two more hits, as he's really taking to the Eastern League. Duggar now has a 9 game hitting streak going, and in six of those games he's had two hits. One thing that still remains a question mark for  Duggar is how well he'll be able to use his natural power in games. He started out with a show of game power in April and May, but it's now been almost two months since he hit his last HR this year (June 7).

* * *

San Jose won at the Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners), 9-6

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

CF

Ronnie Jebavy

5

0

3

2

2

0

0

0

0

.267

.323

.418

RF

Dylan Davis

5

1

2

2

0

1

0

0

1

.286

.324

.549

1b

Jonah Arenado

5

1

2

2

2

0

0

0

2

.260

.294

.425

2b

TJ Bennett

4

2

3

1

1

0

0

0

1

.279

.346

.393

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Conner Menez

4.1

6

6

5

2

3

1

0

1

10.38

Dusten Knight W 2-1

2.2

3

0

0

1

4

0

0

0

5.03

DJ Snelten

1.0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

4.42

Reyes Moronta S 8

1.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2.18

Congratulations, Conner Menez! You've been promoted to the Cal League! First stop: enjoy Bakersfield! If Menez (who's from Hollister and who went to college in Santa Clarita) had any friends or family come to watch his Cal League debut, he had to be disappointed that he couldn't give them a better showing. But Sam Lynn is a rough place for pitchers. It's offense-friendly and defense unfriendly (with notoriously uneven infield dirt) and both showed last night as the two teams combined for 26 hits and 6 errors.

The game see-sawed back and forth as SJ jumped out to a 3-0 lead, fell behind 6-3 and then surged ahead with a four-run 6th inning, that was setup by a lot of sloppy play from Bakersfield. In the inning, the Blaze set up the rally with a HB, WP, walk and an error. Dylan Davis' triple tied the game and Jonah Arenado followed with his second double of the game to take the lead. Doubles from TJ Bennett and Ronnie Jebavy in the 7th would pad out the lead to its final margin. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Giants.

The Giants got great relief work in the game from Dusten Knight, DJ Snelten and Reyes Moronta. Knight squirmed out of a bases loaded, one-out situation (of his own creation) in the 5th with back to back strikeouts and the bullpen faced just 13 batters the rest of the way, allowing just two base runners on a swinging bunt and a flare over the 2b. Since moving tot he bullpen, DJ Snelten has been fantastic, with 0.87 WHIP and a .190 average against him. He's K'd 13 in 18 IP. Making his alma mater very proud!

* * *

Augusta beat the Columbia Fireflies (Mets), 6-0 in Gm 1 (7 inn)

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

CF

Seth Harrison

4

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

1

.266

C

Matt Winn

3

1

2

1

0

0

0

1

1

.228

DH

Matt Pare

3

1

2

0

1

0

0

0

1

.218

LF

Jean Angomas

1

1

1

4

0

0

1

1

0

.236

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Michael Connolly W 9-4

6.0

1

0

0

1

5

0

0

0

2.51

Luis Pino

1.0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

4.75

Augusta lost to Columbia Fireflies 5-3 in Gm 2 (7 inn)

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

2b

Jalen Miller

2

2

1

0

0

0

0

1

1

.224

.261

.306

RF

Seth Harrison

3

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.270

.344

.385

3b

Dillon Dobson

3

0

1

1

1

0

0

0

2

.269

.306

.469

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Cory Taylor L 9-5

4.0

6

5

3

2

2

0

0

2

2.58

Connor Kaden

2.0

2

0

0

1

5

0

0

0

4.09

Caleb Smith

1.0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

2.62

The Greenjackets came close to having their second 7 inning no-hitter in their last two homestands, as Michael Connolly made it into the 6th inning before allowing the only hit Columbia managed in the first game of this double header. Connolly, like Jake McCasland, was forced into the rotation when Augusta was hit by a plague of injuries and like McCasland he's been a tremendous stabilizer for the team this year. If Augusta manages to make the Sally playoffs, those two will deserve no small amount of the credit, having stepped into a dire situation and offered up a lot of quality innings.

Cory Taylor, the only starter who's been there all season, may be starting to show a bit of fatigue from the long season, as his ERA has risen from 1.90 to 2.58 since the beginning of July. His 4 IP in the nightcap was the fewest innings he's thrown in a start since April 30 and this was only the second start since April 30 in which he's had fewer than 5 Ks.

I had wondered if the Giants might move Jalen Miller back over to SS now that Lucius Fox is gone, but it appears from this DH that the plan is to keep him at 2b for the year, at least. The Augusta team began with a huge group of guys who had played predominantly SS prior to the year: Fox, Miller, Geraldo, Beltre, Trevor Brown. But it looks as if they'll be playing out the year with Richard Amion, who had never played a game at SS before June, as their primary guy there.

Miller moved into the lead-off spot for good yesterday, and perhaps coincidentally, he stole two bases in the second game (8 for the year), the first time this year he's done that. For a player with a lot of speed, it's been interesting that he's run so infrequently this year. Miller also picked up a walk in the second game to go with a hit, just his 18th walk on the year (though 2nd in three games). It seems pretty clear that the two things that Jalen will need to take him to the next stage in his development are greater strength, and a more discerning approach at the plate. The 84 K to 18 BB ratio needs to even out for him to start to get the most out of that crazy bat speed of his.

And finally, Lucius Fox didn't leave without saying goodbye. Good luck, Lucius! Hope to see you in the bigs some day.

* * *

Salem-Keizer was off for their All Star Break

Like the Carolina-Cal League game, the Northwestern League's All Star game pits the league against a nearby competitor, the Pioneer League. The NWL won in the hitter friendly climes of Ogden, 11-5. All four of the Volcanoe representatives got to play, with Brusa and Ashford Fulmer both starting and having big impacts on the game. The 23 year old Fulmer, from the University of Houston, is really having an excellent season in the NWL, after a thoroughly mediocre campaign in the AZL last year.

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

CF

Ashford Fulmer

5

2

2

0

1

0

0

1

2

LF

Gio Brusa

3

1

1

2

0

0

1

0

1

2b

Kevin Rivera

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

C

John Riley

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

* * *

AZL Giants  were postponed by rain

* * *

DSL Giants lost to the DSL Dodgers, 8-5

Name

AB

R

H

RBI

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

RF

Diego Rincones

3

1

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

.270

.351

.392

PH-2b

Wascar De Leon

1

1

1

3

0

1

0

0

0

.253

.374

.289

DH

Brayan De Pena

4

0

3

1

1

0

0

0

1

.215

.292

.292

CF

Jose Patino

3

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

.292

.345

.342

Name

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

HB

WP

ERA

Jerson Severin L 0-4

5.1

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

4.82

Jose Yan

1.1

2

2

2

1

1

0

0

2

7.71

Marco Gonzalez

0.0

1

3

3

2

0

1

0

1

6.97

Abel Adames

0.2

1

2

2

3

1

0

0

0

18.00

Jose Maita

1.2

1

0

0

0

1

0

1

0

3.38

A 0-0 tie entering the 6th inning erupted into a slugfest the last three innings as the DSL Giants broke their 12 game winning streak. Middle relief spelled their doom particularly the disastrous appearance of Marco Gonzalez, who faced three batters, walking the first two and then surrendering a three-run HR.

For the second consecutive game, the Giants got a three-run triple, this time from back IF Wascar De Leon. Ricardo Genoves continues his second half tailspin, going 0 for 4 with 2 Ks. Genoves has 5 Ks in the last two games and his K/BB ratio which hovered around 1:1 for most of the first half of the year has slipped down to 30:17 in the last month as the 17 year old is likely suffering the fatigue that comes with pro ball. OF Diego Rincones has been able to keep his K/BB much closer to the 1:1 line through the year, now with 15 walks and 22 Ks.

* * *

Today's Matchups:
Sacramento: Joan Gregorio vs. Kyle Freeland (#8 overall draft pick in 2014, Rox #7 propsect by BA at midseason)
Richmond: Sam Coonrod vs. Brandon Waddell
San Jose: Jordan Johnson vs. TBD
Augusta: Domenic Mazza vs. Kevin Canelon
SK: Off
AZL/DSL: TBD

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