SF Giants Minor Lines 7/20/18: Chris Stratton Ks 10

Get to know some future Giants in this terrific production from the Giants production crew.

HIGHLIGHTS: Chris Stratton struck out 10 in 6 IP; Ryan Howard and Aramis Garcia doubled and homered; John Gavin struck out 9 in 6 IP; Yorlis Rodriguez had three hits, a double, and SB; Luis Toribio hit his 7th HR.

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Sacramento won at El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), 6-5

Evan Longoria took his first big step towards returning his RH power bat to the Giants lineup, rehabbing with the RiverCats in El Paso. While Ryder Jones was roping a long home run up in the Bay Area, this new Sacramento 3b was hitting just about as long a double as this country will hold down in Texas:

Longoria had two hits in his return to action and there’s talk that his stint with Sacramento will be a very short one. His RBI double was followed by another blast—this one off the bat of Chris Shaw who launched his 19th homer of the year.

That offense came in support of another guy who’d like to be returning to SF soon, starting pitcher Chris Stratton. Stratton had a fantastic game, striking out 10 Yippy Dogs over the course of his 6 innings. The right-hander was mostly utilizing his fastball, as he still curiously enough, doesn’t seem to be featuring that curveball in heavy rotation in 2018.

Stratton’s best moment came in the 3rd inning, when he walked the bases loaded with one out, but got out of the jam by striking out Padres #6 prospect Luis Urias and former Cub Matt Sczur on just six pitches.

The game was well in hand when Stratton hung ‘em up for the night, but it became unhanded thanks to Sacramento’s bullpen. Tyler Beede allowed the first two batters of the 8th inning to reach and Manny Parra would allow both to score. For Beede, he’s now allowed 5 of his last 7 batters faced to reach base via hit or walk as he continues to try to find himself in what’s been an absolutely brutal 2018 season.

Tyler Rogers closed out the victory with a solid 9th inning. His 2 Ks gave him 46 in 49.2 IP this year. He’s given up just 18 walks and allowed just 10 runs in his 3rd PCL campaign.

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Richmond lost at Akron Rubber Ducks (Indians), 5-4

The Flying Squirrels went up against Cleveland’s (new) #1 prospect Triston McKenzie for the second time in a week, and two of the Richmond batters seemed to find that familiarity empowering.

Ryan Howard and Aramis Garcia both doubled and homered off of McKenzie, sending the reed thin right hander to the showers with a 3-1 deficit.

Howard got Richmond started with his 2nd home run of the year, a high fly ball that sailed through the teeth of a strong wind:

The SS has 26 extra base hits this year, though 23 of them are doubles. He’s boosted his Iso up to .109 this year, which, in Richmond, certainly represents a significant improvement from the .093 he posted in San Jose.

In the top of the 6th Howard smoked a leadoff double. That set up Garcia to send McKenzie to the showers by hitting his 82nd pitch of the night into the trees.

Garcia is finally hitting his stride in AA. Exactly one month ago his batting average was still below the Mendoza Line and his OPS was a woeful .546. But he’s gotten his batting line up to .238/.284/.414 with a strong month of July in which he’s posted an .887 OPS. That’s still not a great season line by any stretch, but hopefully the big second half continues and he Rx’s the line by the end of the year.

Not to sound like a broken record or anything — but the Richmond bullpen let the game get away. Chris Heston immediately surrendered the lead upon entering the game, allowing three runs in the bottom of the 6th. And Ryan Halstead — who coughed up a game in Trenton last week with a walk off Wild Pitch — came into a 4-4 tie in the 9th and allowed a walk off HR to Akron’s Ka’ai Tom.

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San Jose won at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers), 4-2
losing their series, 1-2

San Jose broke a 10 game losing streak to the Quakes — all of which had come in the last month—picking up the final game of the series to avoid the sweep.

Veteran Dom Mazza gave the Giants a sturdy effort—the left-hander has helped stabilize a rotation that is in injury plagued crisis. And he was followed by fellow lefty Mac Marshall, who returned from DL stint for a strained groin. Marshall will pitch in relief at least for now, while he builds up arm strength, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him finish out the season in that role following multiple sessions on the DL this year.

Skyscraper Nolan Riggs struck out the side in the 9th, picking up the 6 out save.

Johneshwy Fargas continues to be a terror on the bases — he reached the 30 SB mark with two more last night, despite having played in just 62 games this year.

For today’s Trivia — do you know who the last member of the organization was to steal 30 bases?

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Augusta won at Columbia Fireflies (Mets), 5-3

Going up against Columbia’s sidewinding starter Zac Grotz, Heliot Ramos picked up a single in the first inning with a fisted squibber to 1b on which he outraced the pitcher to the bag. But Heliot wouldn’t let Grotz get back in his kitchen again — later on in the game, Ramos would pick up a hit that went much much further:

Ramos’ blast gave Augusta the lead and the following inning they extended that lead with a gift-wrapped rally that included a walk, a HBP (Ramos again) and a Columbia error.

All of that was enough support for John Gavin, who was magnificent over 6 innings. He allowed just 1 hit (and 1 run) while striking out 9 Fireflies with his array of offspeed pitches and excellent sequencing.

Though Stetson Woods would have yet another bullpen hickup, failing to retire either batter he faced to start the 7th, the Greenjacket were able to maintain their lead and Camilo Doval shut it down for the W.

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Salem-Keizer lost at Spokane Indians (Rangers), 5-3

The Volcanoes now roster the top 5 picks from the Giants 2018 draft, but the group isn’t finding much success as they’ve now lost 11 of their last 15 games.

In last night’s loss, 3rd rounder Jake Wong and 5th rounder Keaton Winn allowed four runs over the first 4 innings. With the normally potent offense slumbering for the night, that was enough to send the record below .500 for the first time this year.

Winn in particular has been having a rough go of it in pro ball. He’s allowed 14 runs, 9 earned, in 13.2 IP so far, including 11 runs in his past three appearances (5.2 IP). He does, however, have 13 Ks against just 2 BB, so his peripherals have been strong. He’s been susceptible to the long ball though — 3 of the 16 hits he’s allowed this year have left the building.

The bat gathered just five hits in the game, but one of them was Aaron Bond’s 2nd homer of the year. The left-handed hitter has six extra base hits in just 12 games with Salem after collecting just one (a double) in 28 games with Augusta.

Joey Bart broke a 10 game hit streak with an 0 for 4 night. It was just his third 0-fer with the Volcanoes.

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AZL Giants Black beat AZL A’s, 16-4

AZL Giants Orange lost to AZL Cubs2, 8-7

Cuban signee Yorlis Rodriguez was deemed advanced enough to skip over the DSL and start his career stateside and so far he’s proved the decision makers correct in that. Rodriguez celebrated his 19th birthday yesterday by banging out three more hits, including his 6th double of the year, and stealing a base. Yorlis is hitting .362/.451/.449 in his pro debut. He’s not showing much power, but he’s controlling the strike zone well with 10 walks to just 13 Ks in 84 PA.

Ben Madison, the Giants 9th round pick out of Central Baptist University, led all NAIA pitchers in strike outs and strike out rate. So far as a pro he’s K’d 7 in 5 IP, but he’s also walked 8. Along with 6 hits that’s a sky high 2.80 WHIP.

The Black team really had their hitting shoes on, as six members of the starting lineup produced multi-hit lines. That included Alexander Canario who’s hitting .370/.491/.500 in 11 games in July, with reduced K rate (10 in 54 PA).

Frankie Tostado had another three hits, including a double, and a walk. He’s OPSing .952 in his delayed pro debut in just under 100 PA.

The Orange team had yet another arson squad ending, as Marco Gonzalez (and special guest star Travis Perry) allowed 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th for the walk off loss.

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DSL Giants beat DSL Royals2, 6-4

Luis Toribio cranked out his 7th HR of the year and drove in three to help lead the DSL Giants to victory. Like Joey Bart, Toribio is second in his league in HRs, just one off the pace of the league leader. Toribio’s 1.044 OPS leads the DSL as he’s third in the league in both OBP (.473) and SLG (.571). He does have 11 errors on the year. Toribio won’t turn 18 until the end of September.

The wild but hard-throwing Yovanny Moronta picked up 5 Ks in his 3 inning save.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento: Tyler Herb vs. Brett Kennedy
Richmond: Conner Menez vs. Jake Paulson
San Jose: Joey Marciano vs. TBD
Augusta: Aaron Phillips vs. Marcel Renteria
Salem-Keizer: TBD vs. Ryan Drease
AZL: Luis Moreno (Black), Seth Corry (Orange)
DSL: Sonny Vargas

40-man member Tyler Herb makes his first appearance in Sacramento since way back on April 23rd as the org adds to it’s starting pitching depth at the upper minors. Three left-handers take the mound, with Joey Marciano and Seth Corry looking to shake off rugged outings last time while Conner Menez hopes to keep the good times rolling following a 9 K, 1 run start.

And, if you’re in Oregon, head on over to Salem for a very special night! They’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the very first (of five!) league championship team. There will be quite a few members of the champs returning, including ‘98 1st rounders Tony Torcato and Arturo McDowell, and, of course, the one and only legendary Good Giant....Ryan Vogelsong!

Trivia Answer: Cristian Paulino stole 34 bases just last season, including 30 for Augusta. He also stole 29 in San Jose in the 2016 season. Fargas himself stole 41 bases in 2016, including 32 in Augusta.