SF Giants Minor Lines, 5/29/17

Things I take away from today (Not Minor League related):

• I thought Hunter Strickland was getting more control over himself, in both ways. I was wrong.

• I always knew Bryce Harper was an asshole, and he may play the victim. But he should be aware that this won’t be the last time someone holds a grudge against him.
• The Giants have had assholes in their clubhouse before, but as long as it didn’t affect their game, the Giants managed it.
• There’s a lot of pride put into backing your teammates even when they’re wrong. But there’s a limit to it. Pence is going to get an unnecessary suspension, for instance. I do not blame Posey at all for standing back and letting Strickland reap what he sows.
• Strickland has good stats so far this season. But especially after today, I don’t expect him to keep control when it matters.

I’ll keep hoping some of the bullpen players will prove themselves worthy to replace him.

At least it wasn’t the most ridiculous thing seen in a brawl in baseball. The minors always tops in ridiculousness (though, thankfully, not in a Giants game). Check out the piece of baseball equipment used as a weapon in this brawl. Not withstanding Harper’s incredibly poor throwing abilities.

Sacramento defeated Reno (Diamondbacks), 11-3

This kind of blowout win has been oh-so rare for the Giants’ farm teams this year.

Four different players collected three hits (Austin Slater, Juan Ciriaco, Tim Federowicz, and Juniel Querecuto). Ciriaco got on base five times, and collected his third home run of the season. Slater, who must love playing in Reno, is now 7-for-14 with 2 doubles, a home run and a walk in three games.

Meanwhile, Chris Shaw had his first Triple-A breakout, including his first home run at the level. He also added his third double in five games at the level, so he’s boosted his Triple-A slugging percentage to .571. If you’d like to see Shaw’s first PCL home run, just click here.

Meanwhile, Joan Gregorio had a rather muted pitching line for throwing in Reno. All three of his runs allowed came off of two home runs, both happening in the third inning. The rest of the line isn’t terrible. The 9 hits allowed matches a season-high set in his last start, so that’s not a good trend to keep an eye on, but overall he’s got an average allowed of .236 so it could be worse. On a positive note, he only allowed one walk for the second time in a row, and only the third time this season, so that’s a good trend. He currently has a 44:31 K:BB ratio, in 56.2 IP.

Also worth noting, Kyle Crick threw his first walk in over a week. Sure, that’s not all that impressive if it’s not in the context of Kyle Crick. Crick has a 29:9 K:BB ratio in 21 IP. Hey, does anyone think the Giants need a fastball throwing reliever as a replacement for someone in San Francisco? Just wondering…

Richmond was defeated by Harrisburg, 1-0

Well, this certainly wasn’t a game for offense, so let’s start with the pitchers.

Jose Flores got his second straight start, and well, the 27-year old is doing okay for himself. Last start, he went 4 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one. So 5 innings with just one hit and six strikeouts is markedly better. Flores last gave up runs back on April 26th, and he has been very impressive since in 9 innings of relief and 9 innings and starting pitching since then. The .135 average against is also spectacular. There’s been no word on if Flores in the rotation will stick, but if it does, he has certainly earned it.

Meanwhile, Rodolfo had his third straight scoreless appearance in relief. More notable, however, is that this is the first where he hasn’t allowed a baserunner all season (which started in May for him).

As for offense, well, not much to talk about. There were only 3 hits and 3 walks. Of course, Miguel Gomez got a hit, so his latest hitting streak is at 12. Eliezer Zambrano was the only Squirrel to reach base twice. There’s really not much else to say there.

Meanwhile, since many minor league teams like to innovate promotions and giveaways, the Squirrels sure have an interesting idea.

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San Jose was defeated by Modesto (Mariners), 6-4

Another blown bullpen game in the Giants’ system, including a meaningless run against of San Jose’s best bullpen pitchers.

Mike Connolly wasn’t at his best, being limited to just four innings of work for the second time in three starts. As before, his hits allowed were the main reason for the early exit. He’s allowed 21 hits in 13.2 innings over his last three starts (as well as 7 walks), and his average against is .277. His early exit meant a long day for the bullpen. Caleb Simpson struggled, as he has over the last couple of weeks. He’s given up 7 hits over his last 6.2 IP, three of which were home runs. The two runs he allowed today allowed Modesto to take a 5-4 lead. Meanwhile, closer Ryan Halstead pitched the 9th despite the Giants being behind. He gave up his second run in his last six appearances Over that time, Halstead has given up 9 hits and two walks, in 6 innings of work.

San Jose’s offense put together a pretty good game. Aramis Garcia’s three hits were his first time with that many since May 5th. Notably, two of Garcia’s singles came against Nuts starter Anthony Misiewicz, a left-hander. Garcia, a right-handed batter, has struggled against left-handed starters for seasons, and he was 3-for-24 (.125) before today against southpaws.

Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 9 with his 2-hit game. Dillon Dobson also picked up a pair of hits to help his struggling batting average, which has tumbled from .339 to .258 since May 1st.

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Augusta was defeated by Columbia in 7 innings (Rain), 14-2

Rain, or mercy rule?

Caleb Baragar was pounded, giving up 10 runs, on 9 hits, a walk and a hit-batter. He gave up 2 home runs on the day (he has only given up 3 total this year). Add in an untimely error by Frandy De La Rosa in the fifth inning during a 6-run explosion that ended Baragar’s day, led to four unearned runs. Baragar has now allowed 20 runs total, 13 unearned, in 7.2 IP over his last two starts. Notably, in both games, he gave up more runs than hits.

On the offensive side, Kelvin Beltre picked up another hit and walk. Beltre has added a new range to his game, picking up four walks over his last four games. He’s increased his total to 12 on the season, and his on-base percentage has risen from .296 to .321 over his last four games. Frandy De La Rosa picked up his sixth double with Augusta. His .198 ISO with the GreenJackets is the highest of his career with any team.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento: Michael Roth vs. Frank Duncan

Richmond: Sam Coonrod vs. Parker French

San Jose: Scheduled Day Off

Augusta: Stephen Woods vs. Jordan Humphreys

And, Happy Birthday, Christian!

Meanwhile…if any of your friends want to use the brawl as a reason why baseball can be stupid…just redirect a little. Because as stupid as that brawl was, there’s always Soccer.