SF Giants Minor Lines 4/24/17

Well, yesterday’s post went well. Let me just crack the ol’ knuckles and get to down to task at today’s post:

“The Giants don’t want to talk about promoting Tyler Beede, but his performance is leaving them.... “

Huh...what’s that? (checks box score) Ah, nuts! Ok, on with the games

HIGHLIGHTS: Austin Slater had three hits with a double; Carlos Diaz and Caleb Simpson both struck out 5 in 2 IP.

Sacramento lost to Las Vegas 51s (Mets), 7-6

The RiverCats handed Tyler Beede a near immediate 5-0 lead when they strung together five big hits in the 2nd inning. They nearly hit for the cycle in the inning getting doubles from Austin Slater and Jae-Gyun Hwang and a triple from Ryder Jones (with an assist from CF Desmond Jennings). Hwang’s swing in particular showed some exciting easy power.

Ryder immediately followed with a booming triple off of Jennings glove in deep CF

Armed with the big lead, Beede sailed pretty efficiently through the first four innings. But going out in the 5th to face the bottom of the 51s order, Beede found himself in immediate trouble when he surrendered a leadoff HR to the #8 hitter and then allowed a costly single up the middle to the Pitcher, Brett Pill’s little brother Tyler. Desmond Jennings then lined a clean single before the crucial play of the inning: a tailor-made double play ball that Hwang booted. A dribbler in front of the mound that Beede couldn’t quite corral in time to get the force at home followed and things escalated out of control. Before the inning was over, Beede was out of the game and the 51s had climbed back into a 5-5 tie.

So, after a month in the PCL, Tyler is showing he still has some developing to do, as he holds an ERA above 4 and a fairly unimpressive peripherals line of 13K/10BB in 21 IP. And significantly, three of his first four starts have come at home in the comfy confines of Sacramento (where he’s mostly been solid aside from last night’s 5th inning). Fastball command appeared to be an issue for Beede in last night’s start as he was able to get 1st pitch strikes on just 15 of the 24 batters he faced. For the season he’s throwing about 60% of his pitches for strikes. It would be nice to see that number edge up a bit as his walk rate after four starts is definitely sitting a notch higher than last year in AA (while his K rate has taken a vertiginous drop thus far). Another step up the ladder, another tier of work to be done! Get ‘em next time.

The RiverCats were able to take the lead back again on another Hwang RBI hit, but fresh off the DL from concussion, Kyle Crick wasn’t able to hold it. And again, the damage was done by the Mets best prospect, Ahmed Rosario, who reached base four times in this game and is now hitting .414 for the season. It was a lazy breaking ball that did Kyle in in the 8th.

Crick opened the 9th issuing a leadoff walk, and even though he struck out his final two batters of the night, Kraig Sitton would give up a two-out hit that brought that walk around and determined the game.

On the rehab scene, Mac Williamson is still working on finding his timing after a month off. Mac has recorded just one hit in his 14 ABs since getting back into action, while striking out five times. Gotta get in those reps vs live arms and find the groove. Mike Morse is looking further along in his rehab. Morse singled and walked in last night’s game and has gotten a hit in each of his last five games. Is Morse the next roster domino to fall?

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The Giants don’t want to talk about a Chris Shaw promotion but his performance is...

oh for the love of Pete!

Would it please stop raining out here!!!!???

Well, to tide you over for the sparse Squirrels action of late, enjoy this story on TJ Bennett.

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San Jose lost at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers), 10-2

The Giants were aggressive with Matt Krook this year, handing him an extremely challenging Cal League assignment. So far that challenge has been handling Matt, rather than the other way around.

Right now it’s seeming like the stuff’s a little down and the command has yet to improve. Krook gave up 4 runs in the first, two in the 3rd, and then pitched to four batters in the 4th and didn’t retire any of them, including surrendering a 3-run HR to Dodgers #21 prospect DJ Peters.

Well, Matt, as they say the only way out is through. Good luck!

After all the fireworks were over the Giants did get some more stellar work out of their bullpen as both Carlos Diaz and Caleb Simpson struck out 5 batters in two innings of work. Diaz was fresh off being named the Pitcher of the Week, and this appearance won’t hurt his chances for next week any either. Simpson once again lit up the radar guns decently with his appearance.

The Giants swing and miss is almost entirely coming out of their pen this year as the top three club leaders in strikeouts are all relievers: Simpson (23 in 10 IP), Diaz (22 in 14 IP) and Knight (17 in 13.1 IP).

Down early for the second night in a row, the San Jose offense failed to launch themselves back in the game with only Jose Vizcaino Jr providing much damage, including his 1st HR of the year. The Quakes staff is actually one of the more intriguing prospect rotations in the minors this year, featuring the Dodgers #2 (Yadier Alvarez), #11 (Walker Buehler) and #19 (Mitchell White) prospects. The Giants will only see Buehler out of that group in this series unfortunately.

Johneshwy Fargas took a fastball right in the arm late in this game, but he did stay in. Sounds like he might be a little sore though. And speaking of HBP, there’s some good news on the Dillon Dobson front:

Jalen Miller, batting .303/.370/.455, is off to fine start for the Giants this year and you can listen to his thoughts on the season in this interview with Joe Ritzo.

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Augusta won at Lexington Legends (Royals), 2-1 in 10 inn

Now it’s time once again for one of our Minor Lines features: “What’s that cameraman doing?” With two outs in the 9th inning, the Greenjackets tied the score in thrilling fashion, when Jacob Heyward and Frandy de la Rosa executed a delayed double steal allowing de la Rosa to steal home. Let’s watch!

Augusta completed their comeback in the 10th when Manuel Geraldo doubled down the opposite line to open the inning and Kevin Rivera brought him home with an RBI single.

On the other side of the ball, Augusta’s pitching stifled Lexington equally well with the Legends only run coming on back to back walks and an errant pickoff throw.

Steven Woods once again showed some tremendous power stuff: nobody could hit it and nobody could catch it either as he was credited with two errors on pickoff throws to 1st (both of which looked like they might have been handled) as well as a PB and a WP that could have been scored that way. He walked 5 and struck out 5 which put his season totals at 14 K and 10 BB. Here’s pretty much the all of his performance in a two batter section of the first inning.

There’s some quality stuff there for sure, if he can learn to harness it.

Patrick Ruotolo helped ensure the win throwing two more perfect innings in the 9th and 10th, saving his own win (which should totally be a stat)!

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Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento: Joan Gregorio vs. Wilfredo Boscan
Richmond: Matt Gage vs. John Means
San Jose: Mark Reyes vs. Dennis Santana
Augusta: Dom Mazza vs. Andre Davis

And of course, we can’t leave today without saying:

THAT’S homegrown!