SF Giants Minor Lines 7/18/18: Cavalcade of runs

Three double-double digit scoring games and a double-header. Seems like there were fireworks going off everywhere! Sometimes things just get a little steamy on a hot summer’s night!

HIGHLIGHTS: Peter Bourjos had a 4 hit day; Mac Williamson doubled and homered; Andres Angulo reached base in 8 straight PA; Alexander Canario hit his first HR of the season

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Sacramento beat Fresno Grizzlies (Astros), 12-2

Hard to pick out the best lines in this destruction. Four different RiverCats had three or more hits — led by newcomer Peter Bourjos’ four-hit night. Jerry Sands picked up his first two big flies since returning to AAA.

Sacramento bashed out 18 hits including eight extra base hits. In a remarkable explosion in the 5th inning, the lineup knocked out five consecutive extra base hits, including two home runs.

One of those was a sight for sore eyes as Mac Williamson picked up his 11th AAA HR of the season. He had also rapped out an RBI double earlier in the game.

The offensive profligacy didn’t extend to the home dugout however, as Casey Kelly throttled the Grizzlies bats.

The dominant outing brought Kelly’s season ERA below 5.00 for just the second time since April 17. The last time he saw the 4.00s, he immediately gave up 9 runs over his next 11 IP so let’s home this time the former Red Sox 1st rounder keeps it on a downward trajectory.

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Richmond beat Erie SeaWolves (Tigers), 7-3 in Gm 1 (7 inn)

Richmond lost to Erie SeaWolves, 4-3 in Gm 2 (7 inn)

On as gorgeous July afternoon, the Squirrels had a “getaway day” double header thanks to the club’s 5th home rainout of the season Tuesday night. How do I know? I have a handy reference sheet!

CJ Hinojosa and Ali Castillo led the way in the opener with four doubles out of the top two spots in the lineup. Jeff Arnold chipped in with a fifth double and between the three of them they collected all of the team’s RBIs for the game.

Speaking of Hinojosa, since he joined Howard in Richmond, the predominant lineup tandem has been Ryan Howard at SS and Hinojosa at 2b. But yesterday the team mixed things up a bit. Hinojosa manned 3b in the opener and in the nightcap, CJ slid over to SS while Howard played 2b for the very first time in his career (he has played 23 games at 3b). Intriguing!

Yesterday’s double header also saw what was easily the finest 2018 moment from Garret Williams. The left-hander with the filthy stuff has had all known sorts of problem with his mechanics this year, leading both to lack of control and wavering stuff. But if you want to see some dominance coming out of the pen, have a gander at this:

That was it! That was every pitch Williams threw yesterday. I can see the value in that!

In game two, Richmond brought some late drama to the game with a three run 6th inning—helped by back to back walks to open the inning and an Erie error helping things along. Richmond got the tying run into scoring position in the 7th on a Jonah Arenado double, but that was as close as they came to ending the homestand with a sweep.

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San Jose lost at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers), 15-6

That seems like a lot of runs.

Yep, lotta runs. Also, losing 9 straight to a Dodgers’ affiliate is strictly verboten guys!

Starter DJ Myers couldn’t make it out of the 1st inning which set the tone for the night. Myers has a lively enough fastball but he’s been beaten pretty hard by Cal league hitters this year, with an opponent batting average of .313 to go along with his 6.32 ERA.

We can make basically the same claim of one-time hot prospect Rudolfo Martinez, who has simply never returned to form since his dazzling Cal League half season back in 2016. Martinez has a WHIP of 1.83. Opponents are hitting .285 off of him this year — and when they get a hit it nearly always does damage because he’s walking batters at a 5.72 per 9 clip. His 6.18 ERA is only part of the story as to go along with the 27 earned runs he’s allowed in 39.1 IP there have also been 19 unearned runs cross the plate on his watch. And, of course, worst of all, the velocity just hasn’t been at that elite level he was showing at his best. Health would help; how much exactly, it’s hard to say.

The Giants hitters, on the other hand, had some success against the Dodgers #7 (or I guess now #6) prospect Dustin May, touching him up for four runs and only striking out once! Moral victory. In fact, they were tied after the top of the 2nd. But that was as close as this game ever was and the rest of the day they were outscored 10-1.

Johneshwy Fargas his his career high 5th HR in the game.

I know Kevin already pointed this out in the Prospect Roundup, but I can’t miss out on the opportunity to celebrate a Minor Lines favorite. Congrats, Jalen!

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Augusta had a day off

The All Star break gave Arizona Diamondbacks employee (and forever hero) Luis Gonzalez a chance to catch up with his boy and see how he was doing. And he stopped by the Greenjackets booth to give a little interview while he was in town:

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Salem-Keizer beat Eugene Emeralds (Cubs), 6-2
winning their series 2-1

Oh fine. I get a chance to show video of Joey Bart finally and he goes 1 for 5 with a dinky single. Go ahead and be that way, Joey! I’ll just show a Nico Giarrantano highlight instead! How do you like that?

As you heard there, the Volcanoes lead the NWL in HRs with 32—much of that has to do with Bart of course, They also lead the league in total bases with 510 which is 55 more than anybody else in the league. They also lead in OPS (.795) and SLG 9.44) by 30 points over the nearest competitor. They have the best OBP (.349) and best team batting average (.283) by 20 points over the next best team. Somewhat surprisingly they do not lead in Runs scored.

Their .500 record, of course, is the result of a pitching staff that balance out the scales—the Volcanoes staff has the worst ERA in the league and has surrendered the most runs. They also have the fewest strikeouts.

Oh, who am I kidding, have a Joey Bart highlight:

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AZL Giants Black lost to AZL Indians2, 12-9

AZL Giants Orange lost to AZL Rangers, 11-5

“Starting” pitchers Jasier Herrera and Israel Cruz had tough outings—collectively giving up 10 earned runs in their seven innings of work. Cruz didn’t literally start, as two rehabbing pitchers preceded him for an inning with Roberto Gomez making his first appearance since the beginning of May. Victor Concepcion had his second inning of work and struck out two in an inning. Concepcion has 4 Ks and just two baserunners in his 2 innings of work.

Good news/Bad News for Alexander Canario. Hee went deep for the first time this year, hitting a three run shot in the 4th inning. However, that was his only hit of the day and he struck out three more times, giving him 24 in 76 ABs.

19th rounder Randy Norris had a three hit day, boosting his average up to .304. The speedy OF also stole his 3rd and 4th bags of the year.

Catcher Andres Angulo went 2 for 2 with a walk. In the 8th inning of last night’s game Angulo his a Sac Fly to CF which broke a streak of reaching base in 8 consecutive plate appearances — with 7 of those coming on hits.

Angulo’s fellow Catcher Fabian Peña also had a nice day, doubling and tripling to bring him up to the .300 line, along with a walk.

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DSL Giants beat DSL Pirates, 8-5

DSL lines never fail to entertain — the Giants scored 8 runs on 7 hits and 9 walks while the two teams combined for 10 errors.

Richgelon Juliana reached base four times including three walks, and he stole a base to help lead the parade (though he was also picked off and caught stealing). Jean Peña scored three runs on a hit and two walks.

Seriously, there was just a lot of walking!

Ismael Alcantara returned to the lineup for the first time in a week. Alcantara’s season has been a disappointing one. He opened the year with a three hit game and later in June had a stretch in which he recorded six hits in a four game stretch with three doubles. But those four games account for more than half of his season’s hit totals and he’s frequently been out of the lineup for stretches at a time —whether medical or just working on his game on the side we don’t know. In 9 games played in July he’s hitting just .135/.200/.189. All in all, the $300,000 cap-limit signings for the Giants in 2016 J2 class have been a collective disappointment thus far (that includes Alcantara, Samuel Jorge, Ghordy Santos, Enoc Watts, Andrew Caraballo, Keyberth Mejia, and pitcher Rafael Martinez).

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Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento: Shaun Anderson vs. Mike Hauschild
Richmond: Chase Johnson vs. Sean Brady
San Jose: Logan Webb vs. Parker Curry
Augusta: TBD vs. TBD
Salem-Keizer: TBD vs. Hans Crouse
AZL: OFF
DSL: Ivan Armstrong

Big day for arguably the system’s top pitching prospect as Shaun Anderson makes his AAA debut. Down in Rancho Cucamonga Logan Webb continues to make an argument that he’s actually the best pitching prospect in the system. While top hitter gets a serious challenge in the Rangers Hans Crouse, a HS pitcher taken in the 2nd round of the 2017 draft who is knocking on the door of Top 100 lists.