It was a day of extremes in the Giants’ system. Teams were either very good, or very bad. But there were a lot of names and good looking numbers throughout the system.
Highlights: Cueto has another successful rehab start; The Squirrels have a season-best game; Alexander Canario has a good game.
Sacramento defeated Fresno (Astros), 4-0
Johnny Cueto’s second rehab start was just about as good as one could expect. Cuerto went 4 innings in 69 pitches, once again keeping the other team off the board. He did give up a few more hits and a walk, but he was effective.
Cueto’s rehab start was just one part of a good day for the River Cats. The rest of the pitching staff completed the shutout that Cueto started. Tyler Rogers had another strong inning, and Derek Law struck out three as he continued a streak. Over the last four games, he’s gone 4.2 innings over his last four games without allowing a baserunner with seven strikeouts.
The offense was led by All-Star Chase d’Arnaud, whose 3-run home run was the key part of the 4-run inning that provided all the scoring for the game. d’Arnaud now has three home runs in the last four games, giving him 12 on the season. d’Arnaud’s June has powered his season, now batting .338/.478/.577 in the month with one game left.
Miguel Gomez hit his first extra-base hit since returning to Sacramento, and is 3-for-9 in three games at the level. Steven Duggar also went 1-for-3 with a double, his 23rd of the season. Duggar now has hits in each of his last five games. If there was any negative to this game, it was Mac Williamson. Williamson collected the Sombrero, and other than hitting a pair of home runs, now has struck out 8 strikeouts in 17 at-bats since returning to Triple-A.
Richmond defeated Harrisburg (Nationals), 15-6
Squirrels Score a season-high 13 runs on a season-high 15 hits!!... And we've only played five innings! pic.twitter.com/OHCMjuafHl
— Squirrels Baseball (@GoSquirrels) June 30, 2018
Yep, the Squirrels had reached a season-high in hits and run…already by the 5th inning.
Obviously, it was a big night for the Squirrels, with seven batters getting multiple hits (including pitcher Jake McCasland!) Luigi Rodriguez and Jonah Arenado combined for two home runs in a 6-run sixth inning that put the game away. Rodriguez has the 2nd-most home runs on the team, reaching double-digits. Jonah Arenado’s 3-run home run was just his fourth home run of the year, but it helped him lead the team with five RBI again.
Ryan Howard led the team in terms of getting on base, with three singles and a walk. He raised his average to .287 with a .344 on-base percentage.
As mentioned, McCasland got the start, but wasn’t able to go five innings to get the win. He gave up six hits and two walks over four innings, giving up three earned runs for the second time in as many starts. In the bullpen, Sam Wolff made his first appearance above the AZL, continuing his effective pitching.
Meanwhile, Richmond got to make a big announcement.
Here is the 2018 All-Star Roster! https://t.co/6OjS3eTbX1 pic.twitter.com/PThsiFXJgn
— Squirrels Baseball (@GoSquirrels) June 29, 2018
hat is five all-stars for your Double-A Giants. Pitchers Shawn Anderson, Dillon McNamera and Caleb Simpson, outfielder Luigi Rodriguez and shortstop Ryan Howard. Simpson was recently injured and won’t make the game, however.
San Jose defeated Visalia (Diamondbacks), 3-1
Unusual Cal League scheduling has #SJGiants playing their first 5-game series in 11 years. Tonight the first of five in Visalia with the Logan Webb/Domenic Mazza tandem on the mound.
— Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) June 30, 2018
Pregame guest manager Lipso Nava at 6:40. Listen: https://t.co/3uicjsaER2
Yep, it’s that rare 5-game series (at least in the California League). To be honest, with only 8 teams now, I’m kind of surprised this is not more of a norm now, as teams playe more games together and needing less time on the (actual) road.
San Jose started the series on the right foot, led by Bryce Johnson. The leadoff batting was 3-for-4 with his 14th double and three triples, his second straight game with three hits. Although Bryce Johnson came up with half of the team’s hits, the Giants still managed three runs. First baseman John Riley had a 2-run double in the fourth inning that would provide the difference for San Jose.
Logan Webb had another predictably short but strong start. For the second straight outing, Webb had four shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Webb struggled for a pair of starts in the middle of the month, but has otherwise been a stalwart. Out of the bullpen, Domenic Mazza made his San Jose debut of the year, going four innings of his own, and giving up his first run of the season. Mazza made two appearances in San Jose at the end of last season, giving up 10 earned runs in 11.2 IP.
Augusta was defeated by Greenville (Red Sox), 7-0
Well, this was just a lackluster performance all-around. Heliot Ramos was one of the GreenJackets who got a hit, which at least was enough to keep him from the threat of a complete slump. The good news is that for the first time in ten games, he didn’t suffer a strikeout.
Jacob Gonzalez had a pair of twos on his line. He took two walks, his second such game of the season. He has 20 walks against 64 strikeouts in 272 at-bats. Gonzalez also committed a pair of errors, giving him 21 on the season. He now has an .848 fielding percentage on the season. At least he’s getting to celebrate the birthday of himself and his sisters with them in person.
So happy @Jakegonzo10 got to see his sisters @lyssagonzalez20 @megsg20 for a few days to see him play @GreenJackets #triplets pic.twitter.com/GCZSpmbyYM
— Luis Gonzalez (@Luisgonzo20) June 29, 2018
Aaron Phillips took the brunt of the damage on the mound, although it only ended up as three earned runs. He gave up eight earned in his last start, and his ERA has jumped from 3.86 to 5.68 in just two starts.
Salem-Keizer was defeated by Vancouver (Blue Jays), 11-1
Friday was a day of extremes, and Salem-Keizer represented the downside of the extremes.
Miguel Figueroa took the rough start on the mound. Despite giving up four runs in three innings, his ERA was nudged lower (from 15.75 to 14.14), and he’s now given up 17 hits in 7 innings, with four walks and just the two strikeouts he got today. Figueroa had a 5.24 ERA in the AZL last season. Out of the bullpen, Alejandro De La Rosa took five runs in relief. De La Rosa had a 4.01 ERA as a part-time starter in 2017 at Salem-Keizer.
At the plate, the Volcanoes managed just two hits, one of them was Diego Rincones’ 3rd home run of the season. For the 19-year old, the home run matched his season high, set last year in 47 games. He tied it in just 13 games this season.
Maybe this is just a regression to a mean for the Volcanoes:
After noticing @SKVolcanoes’ absolute dominance of @ShortSeasonNW in batting average, I saw Diego Rincones .500 BABIP, which made me wonder the correlation between team AVG and and BABIP. Found this interesting: pic.twitter.com/2hhFtldhIZ
— ⚾️ Adam Brault (@fantasyworkball) June 29, 2018
Meanwhile, a new teammate has arrived in S-K:
Now that 6' 11" Sean Hjelle has arrived, Stetson Woods is no longer the tallest player on @SKVolcanoes pic.twitter.com/pbo2Eb9Xvw
— Jared Ravich (@JaredRavich) June 29, 2018
Hjelle didn’t get into any games in the AZL, and it’s unknown when he will make his first appearance in Salem-Keizer.
AZL Giants Black defeated the AZL Athletics, 7-3
Alright, here’s the headline: Alexander Canario had his first really good game. His 2-for-5 day was his first 2-hit game of the season, doubling his total for the season in 7 games. Canario still has a .400 strikeout percentage (12 strikeouts in 30 at-bats), but it’s a start for the young talent. The rehabbing Malique Ziegler is looking healthy, hitting his first two doubles of his rehab, and is now 4-for-9 in three games in his rehab as he continues his comeback. 22-year old catcher Braden Frankfort had a 3-hit game in the back of the lineup, collect his first extra-base hit of his career.
The mound featured a lot of good pitching, starting with the best start of the season for 19-year old Luis Moreno. He’d given up seven earned in his first 5.1 innings of work, but only allowed two hits in his best outing so far this season. 22-year old Abel Adames had two shutout innings in relief, and 22-year old Trevor Horn continued his strong pitching. He has yet to throw a walk in 5.1 innings, with five strikeouts.
AZL Giants Orange were defeated by the AZL D-Backs, 3-1
The Orange Order had a bit of a rough game as starter Seth Corry gave up the first runs of his season. Corry did go a season-high five innings, and gave up three runs (two earned). On the season, he has 16 strikeouts against seven walks in 12.2 innings.
That would normally be enough, but it was a weak hitting day for the Giants. George Bell was the only Giant to reach base twice, his fourth two-hit game. Bell now has at least one hit in his last six games after going hitless in his first game. However, Bell also had two errors, giving him three on the season.
Ismael Munguia was 1-for-2 in a short day, hitting his first double of the season. He has at least one hit in each of his first five games, though he has only one hit in four of them.
The DSL Giants defeated DSL Colorado, 13-8
It was a big day for the DSL Giants. Luis Toribio got his batting average back up to .300 with a 1-for-2 day (including his fifth double) and adding a pair of walks. Toribio now has a .300/.467/.571 batting line, and 18 walks against 22 strikeouts in 70 at-bats. 10 of his 21 hits have been for extra-bases. Meanwhile, 18-year old catcher Keyberth Mejias led the team with three hits, including his first triple, his second consecutive 3-hit game to raise his batting average from .172 to .306.
Infielder Jean Pena had the biggest hits, with his second triple and fifth home runs of the year, increasing his slugging percentage to a team-leading tie, .571 with Luis Toribio.
Video of SS Jean Pena (17.6Y) 5th HR of the season for the DSL Giants. Season: 88PA .286/.364/.571 34K%, 11BB%.
— GPT (@giantsprospects) June 29, 2018
Hard to take anything out of DSL stats, but K% & ISO are likely the most important components for a hitter. Pena is on the opposite ends, scary K%, but excellent ISO. pic.twitter.com/1K92OjVUqf
On the mound was the other Toribio, Juan. Toribio struck out ten in his last start, but had a season-high three walks and season-high-tying three hits allowed (albeit in just five games).
Today’s Scheduled Starters
Sacramento: Casey Kelly vs. Rogelio Armenteros
Richmond: Shaun Anderson vs. Logan Darnell
San Jose: Jason Bahr vs. Emilio Vargas
Augusta: TBD vs. TBD
Salem-Keizer: TBD vs. TBD
A few TBDs on the schedule for the system. Will Sean Hjelle make his season debut in Salem-Keizer? We’ll see. Sacramento will face the Astros’ 24-year old Cuban pitcher who has a 3.29 ERA in the PCL and probably not far from his Major League debut. San Jose will get Jason Bahr’s second start of the season, but he faces one of the statistically most dominating pitchers in the California League, Visalia’s Emilio Vargas
Finally, one little wrap-up today. Augusta is selling their 4th of July hats, and…
Our special 4th of July hats.
— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) June 29, 2018
Want one of your own? We are selling a limited quantity IN-STORE ONLY! They’re on the shelves now- get yours before they’re gone! pic.twitter.com/0QqqsP7rjL
Huh. I get the red and white stripes, but if you hadn’t told me this hat was meant to be part of a patriotic holiday I’d never have guessed it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad.