SF Giants Minor Lines 8/7/17: Andrew Suarez strikes out 6

Let’s start off with a hearty congratulations to Ryder Jones, who’s been possibly the best storyline the farm’s had this year. That power plays, young man!

And secondly, Baseball America’s Ben Badler posted a long video yesterday, behind the scenes at a Dominican Prospect League showcase in Illinois. It’s long, but I can’t recommend this enough for it’s look into how the sausage gets made at this level. Seriously, we say this all the time, but nobody covers the international beat like Ben.

HIGHLIGHTS: Andrew Suarez allowed 2 ER in 7 IP; Franklin Labour reached base three times with a triple.

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Sacramento won at Iowa Cubs, 4-2 in 11 inn

Andrew Suarez kept the roll going last night with another strong 7 inning effort. Suarez has now allowed 2 ER or fewer in each of his last four starts. This was his third consecutive 7 inning start, over which time he’s allowed a total of 3 runs while striking out 21 batters and walking just four. Last night’s start was the first time since his promotion to AAA that he had allowed no walks, and just the third time overall this year. The 24 year old, who holds the curious distinction of being a 2nd round draft choice twice, is finishing his second full season in style and definitely putting himself in contention for some major league starts in the next year.

(I used that clip because I figured you all wanted to know what’s become of Chris Dominguez these days) Sadly, Andrew might have been sent out there for just one batter too many, as he opened up the 8th inning by surrendering a leadoff double. That ended his night and Derek Law, after getting two quick outs, gave up a two-out RBI single to tie the game up.

And there it stayed for awhile. But in the 11th, Mac Williamson drew a leadoff walk, stole 2b and went on to 3b on an errant throw from the Catcher. Jae-Gyun Hwang singled him in with the go ahead run and would later come around to score himself on a Wild Pitch. The RiverCats had just six hits in the game, but benefitted from seven walks from Cubs pitching, and stole four bases.

Tyler Rogers finished things off with his league leading 45th appearance. The sidewinder has allowed just 3 ER over his last 26 IP, a streak that stretches back to June 19. Rogers, too, is pitching himself into a chance to join his twin brother in the major leagues (figuratively, I mean, not literally, since his brother doesn’t play for the Giants). Rogers certainly provides a different look for most hitters, with a rising pitch action that more closely resembles softball than most professional pitchers’ offerings. Opportunities are out there, Tyler.

So, do we want to watch Chris Shaw bash one off the wall? Of course, we do!

The play by play man had most of the relevant details: 11 game hit streak, 30 of his 70 hits in the PCL have gone for XBH (he has 46 XBH overall this year). What I find interesting is that he again went after the first pitch here. The last few days it’s seemed to me that Shaw has been working to find the balance in being selectively aggressive and hunting pitches he can do damage on early, and staying away from some of the pitchers’ counts that have plagued him. An ongoing education at work.

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Richmond had an off day

San Jose Giants had an off day

But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have news to share:

Congrats to both Jonah and Dylan!

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Augusta beat the Rome Braves, 6-2

Yordy Cabrera and DJ Myers piggy-backed their way to a win, with Cabrera going the first five innings and Myers picking up the last four. Cabrera had a hiccup out of the gates, when a leadoff HB and an error from SS Carlos Garcia opened the door to an immediate two runs. But he and Myers would allow Rome just three baserunners from there on out in shutting down the Braves’ attack.

The Augusta hitters, meanwhile, were perpetually on the attack. Amassing 11 hits and four walks, the Greenjackets had scoring opportunities throughout, though they sometimes struggled to cash in, going just 2 for 9 with RISP.

Sandro Fabian singled in two runs to tie the game in the 5th and Carlos Garcia redeemed his earlier gaff with a two-run HR in the 6th. Jean Angomas led the attack with three hits and he also stole his 9th base of the year. That was one of three SB as Jacob Heyward and Kelvin Beltre were also on the run, stealing their 5th and 9th bases respectively.

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Salem-Keizer lost to Everett AquaSox (Mariners), 7-6
losing their five game series, 2-3

Stetson Woods had his first start of the year in which he allowed more than 2 ER, giving up 5 ER and 6 total over 4.1 IP. It wasn’t a big inning getting away from to blame either, as Woods allowed at least one run in every inning. It was an entirely forgettable evening for the tall righty as he allowed a season high in hits, had his second highest walk total, and his season low in innings pitched.

The offense made a go of it, scoring five runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings to briefly take the lead, before falling behind again immediately. Collectively, the Volcanoes had just seven hits with Bryce Johnson being the only member of the lineup to pick up two hits. Ryan Kirby had a two run double, and Logan Baldwin, who’s been on fire lately, contributed a PH solo HR.

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AZL Giants lost to the AZL White Sox, 10-0 in Gm 1 (7 inn)

AZL Giants beat the AZL White Sox, 3-2 in Gm 2 (8 inn)

Tough evening for the top draft picks as Heliot Ramos continued his recent skid with two more strikeouts and Seth Corry struggled through a messy inning. Corry threw a perfect 4 innings last time out, but he was far from perfect here. On the bright side: he never allowed a ball to be put in play(!) as he struck out the side in his first inning! On the less bright side, he never allowed a ball to be put in play(!) as he walked four in just over 1 inning of work (he opened the 2nd with back to back walks). I should say, there was one ball that could have had a play made on it, but Catcher Ricardo Genoves dropped a foul pop up on Corry’s final batter. I would say, that Corry had lulled his defense into a stupor, but Genoves was the only other guy on the field taking an active part in the game at that point.

Anyway, my take away here is “not much to see, move along.” Ramos has already displayed plus plus power, a plus plus arm, and plus speed. I’m not that fussed by his getting tired down the stretch (though I do hope he resurrects his skills in time for the short post-season). And Corry is showing a ton of swing and miss potential which is good enough to be starting with for a 3rd round high school kid. His delivery needs a lot of refinement but we knew that going in. Everything is fine.

The second game got the bomb squad treatment, emptying the bench with seldom seen kids like Nick Hill and Hector Santiago. Starter Weilly Yan continued to get pleny of swing and miss himself with 6 Ks. Yan now has 35 Ks on the season, along with 17 BBs in 29.1 AZL innings. At 21 he’s a little on the older side for the league however.

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DSL Giants beat DSL Dbacks1, 6-5 in Gm 1

DSL Giants beat the DSL D-backs1, 4-3 in Gm 2 (7 inn)

The Giants completed a sort of double header sweep over the course of 9 innings yesterday. Picking up in the 7th inning of a suspended game from last month, they scored a shocking victory when they exploded for 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning and stole away a 6-5 win. And then in the regularly scheduled game Aneudy Acosta led them to a tidy 4-3 victory for the sweep.

The comeback rally in the opener started with two outs and nobody on. Back to back walks and a pop up to 1b that fell in set things up. Jose Patino’s double drew the team within one and then Ghordy Santos singled in the tying and go ahead run for the winner.

Santos continued his faint stirrings of offensive life of late, reaching base 3 times in 5 PA across the two games and stealing two bases (also caught once). Very modest, but small steps are still steps. Over his last, now 4.5 games, Santos has gone 6 for 15 with a triple and three walks. The season line still doesn’t look that great, but I’m holding on to my intrigue for the quick twitch SS.

Franklin Labour continued his run of strong hitting in the second game, going 2 for 2 with a walk and a double. Setting aside the completion of the suspended game, that’s Labour’s fourth consecutive two-hit game and the sixth game in his last seven in which he’s recorded two hits. Over those seven games Labour is hitting a torrid .500/.567/.769. That is not a bad week of hitting for the 19 year old. Next stop, Scottsdale!

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Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento: Matt Gage vs. TBD
Richmond: Tyler Herb vs. Kevin McAvoy
San Jose: Grant Watson vs. Logan Shore
Augusta: Melvin Adon vs. Bryse Wilson
Salem-Keizer: Julio Benitez vs. Tyler Keele
AZL: OFF
DSL: Gregory Santos?

Ok, still trying to figure out where Santos fits in here, but he and Adon should provide us the most interest on this day.

Lastly, there’s nothing I like more than a survivor’s tale of a long sojourn through the minor leagues. Have a listen to Carlos Moncrief talking about a decade in the minors. My favorite part is his answer to which are his least favorite fields in the minors. This is a guy who deserves and welcomes his moment. A Minor Lines salute to you, Mr. Moncrief!