SF Giants Minor Lines, 8/11/18: Bad Night in Salem

Pretty terrible news from Oregon last night:

By the end of the night it seemed that the news was as good as could be hoped for, though one would certainly assume that Santos’ 2018 season is over. But for now at least it seems that worse news might be avoided. Still, it’ll be a good long while before we learn what the full ramifications from last night will be.

And with that somber news, we’re on to the Lines. Hope for the best. Get well, Gregory!

HIGHLIGHTS: Heath Quinn doubled and homered; Heliot Ramos had three hits including triple; Andres Angulo had three doubles; Jasier Herrera struck out 6 in 6 IP;

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Sacramento lost to El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), 2-1

Runs have been tough to come by in this series as the two teams have combined to score just 7 times in 3 games. The RiverCats managed just six hits on the night, going down to defeat for the first time this series. Logan Allen, the #7 prospect in a Padres’ system that seems to be loaded with excellent pitching prospects, threw 6 shutout innings with 6 Ks. One of Sacramento’s hits was a Kelby Tomlinson single that extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

Jordan Johnson pitched into the 7th inning for his first time as a RiverCat and just his third time this year. He was plagued once again by control issues, and not just on pitching slab apparently:

Two different players who should soon be back with the Giants made appearances. Brandon Belt saw his first action since he tweaked his knee on July 25, going 0 for 2, and more importantly, reporting no ill effects from being back in action. Yay!! Bring us more Belt!

Hunter Strickland had his second consecutive perfect inning with Sacramento. He’s retired all six batters he’s faced in AAA, striking out 4 of them. He should be ready to return when he’s eligible on the 18th.

However, on the less good news side of things, Mac Williamson was placed back on the DL as he has just never really seemed to shake his early season concussion symptoms. As we’ve all been fearing for awhile now:

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Richmond beat New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays), 5-2

Logan Webb made his second Richmond start against the tough Fisher Cat lineup that includes the #5 overall prospect in the game on Baseball America’s latest list, SS Bo Bichette. Webb didn’t have too much success with Bichette, walking him twice in three matchups. But he held New Hampshire in check, allowing just one run over 5 innings helping Richmond to the 5-2 victory. Webb’s peripherals have gone a little backwards in Richmond, as he’s walked 6 and struck out just 4 so far against AA hitters. But he showed a strong groundball tendency with his fastball yesterday, picking up 9 groundball outs.

On one of those, Webb showed his excellent athleticism (remember this was a star quarterback with college prospects once upon a time), pouncing on a Cavan Biggio attempt to beat a defensive shift with a bunt.

Richmond seized control of the game with a 7th inning rally that featured back to back doubles from CJ Hinojosa and Luigi Rodriguez and Dylan Davis’ 12th HR of the year.

From there the bullpen closed it out, with Sam Wolff, Dusten Knight, and Dillon McNamara giving up just one unearned run over the final 4 innings while striking out 6. McNamara, who the Giants picked up for some loose change from the Yankees last summer, has been on fire for the Squirrels. He’s allowed just 6 earned runs in 36 IP, striking out 42 and walking just 7. Half of those runs came in a single appearance. Other than that day he’s been pretty automatic. McNamara features one of the best sliders in the system. He’s making a strong case to be a 40 man add at the end of the year.

Dusten Knight didn’t get the save last night, but Jay Burnham really wants me to show you his Save Celebration:

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San Jose won at Stockton Ports (A’s), 3-2

Heath Quinn had another big night for San Jose, hitting his 12th homer of the year in the first inning and adding a double, single and a walk later on. Quinn has just punished left-handed pitching this year. His homer off Ports lefty Zack Erwin was the 8th he’s hit vs. LHP in just 65 ABs. Hey, that profiles! There’s a path to the majors for that kind of production.

Jalen Miller also had two hits and a walk, including the hit that made the difference in this game. Miller drove in Jacob Heyward with the game winning run on a 9th inning single.

Johneshwy Fargas had a two-hit game and stole his 38th base. But his biggest contribution to the win may have come on defense when he bailed starter Dom Mazza out of a big 2nd inning jam throwing out a runner at home. Mazza allowed three consecutive hits in that frame, but settled down after Fargas’ throw and didn’t allow another run through 6 innings of work.

Another tough 40 man decision this winter will come from former 40 man guy Ian Gardeck. Let’s check out his path to this point in this pregame interview with Joe Ritzo.

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Augusta beat Greenville Drive (Red Sox), 3-1

Heliot Ramos had half of Augusta’s six hits and was involved in the team’s first two run-scoring rallies. Malique Ziegler walked to open the bottom of the first. After Ramos singled him to 3b, Ziegler came home on a wild pitch to open the scoring.

Ramos then opened the 4th inning with a booming triple. Though he’d be thrown out trying to score on a fielder’s choice, he got in a rundown long enough to enable Jacob Gonzalez to reach 2b. Gonzalez would come in to score the team’s second run, and give them a lead they would never relinquish.

Heliot is having a fine weekend. After missing two games earlier in the week, Ramos has come back to go 6 for 12 in the last three games with a homer, a triple, and a walk (albeit he also took a hat trick in the first of those games). He’s up to .242 — and maybe ready to spring past the .250 mark for the first time since June he hit .251 on June 25. He’s also showing a little power stroke this week: after SLG just .333 in July, three of his nine hits in August have gone for extra bases.

Caleb Baragar shut down the Drive over 5.1 IP, striking out 7 while allowing just a solo HR.

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Salem-Keizer lost to Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) , 8-5

Obviously last night’s game was overshadowed by the events of the top of the first, and Santos’ teammates were understandably shaken. I was at a similar sort of event earlier this year when Jean Angomas was taken off the field in an ambulance after the first batter of the game and a decided pall hung over the dugout for the rest of that game. Angomas by the way, has never returned to an active roster since that incident.

The good news, as noted above, is that Borg says Santos will be alright. Concussion and, I would suppose, the psychological issues that result from such an incident, will take a good long while to suss out.

David Villar and Diego Rincones continued to pound out extra base hits with their 13th and 11th doubles of the season respectively. Villar features a tremendous .285 Iso in the NWL this year, though that’s coming with a slightly eye-brow raising 27% K rate, which is elevated for a college kid at this low a level.

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AZL Giants Black beat AZL Angels, 13-4

AZL Giants Orange beat AZL D-backs, 10-4

The Orange team raced to an improbable victory, scoring 7 runs in the top of the 9th on just 3 hits — two of them Andres Angulo doubles. Angulo had one of the most interesting stat lines I’ve seen in a while — 3 hits, 3 doubles, and 3 passed balls! Quite an adventure.

Jasier Herrera got the Orange team off to a strong start with six excellent innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out six. This was the first start in which Herrera had allowed fewer than 4 runs since July 6 and he also matched a season high in Ks.

Alex Bostic closed things out with a perfect 9th inning with 2 Ks. Pro ball has been a pretty miserable experience for Bostic. In college he was known as a hard-throwing lefty with control issues. But when he showed up as a pro he was suddenly a soft-throwing lefty with control issues. Not surprisingly that led to being shut down with an injured arm, and on top of that he was hit with a 50 game suspension for violating the joint drug agreement. Time to start rebuilding, Alex!

The Black team banged out 13 hits including six extra base hits. None of that came from Alexander Canario who went 0 for 6 with 3 Ks and continues to be something of a puzzler in rookie ball.

Two non-drafted college free agent signings led the team. Jordan Scott threw four excellent innings in the start, striking out six. Scott has already had a long and winding baseball path, going from Western Oklahoma Junior College back in 2014, to Liberty College to Southeastern University, where he was an NAIA All American Honorable Mention this year.

Zander Clarke, an unusual Junior year NDFA out of San Diego State, doubled and tripled for the Black team and scored three runs. The Giants signed Clarke off the Portland Pickles team, a part of the summer wood bat West Coast League.

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DSL Giants lost to DSL Pirates2, 7-6

Ghordy Santos hit his 3rd HR of the month to give the Giants a 6-4 lead in the 8th inning. But, armed with a lead for the first time in the game, Willian Suarez handed it right back, giving up three runs in the bottom of the 8th on 3 hits and 2 walks.

Prior to Willian Suarez’ appearance, Elian Suarez pitched an inning for a long delayed pro debut. Elian was signed in 2016 out of Venezuela but had Tommy John surgery before he could pitch in a game as a pro.

Santos is hitting .357 with an 1.146 OPS in August. He’s coming sooooo close to sneaking over that Mendoza Line! The Giants also got two hit days from Richgelon Juliana, Samuel Jorge and Rodolfo Bone. For Bone it was the third consecutive multi-hit game — a 7 for 11 stretch that has included a double and two triples. Still awaiting his first pro homer though.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento: Shaun Anderson vs. Cal Quantrill
Richmond: Michael Connolly vs. Jon Harris
San Jose: TBD vs. TBD
Augusta: Norwith Gudino vs. Jhonathan Diaz
Salem-Keizer: TBD vs. Randy Pondler
AZL: Conner Nurse (Black), Ben Madison (Orange)
DSL: OFF DAY

For the second consecutive start, Shaun Anderson matches up against another outstanding pitching prospect, this time #9 prospect in the Padres system, Cal Quantrill. Quantrill was the 8th overall pick in the 2016 draft despite missing his entire Junior year at Stanford after having Tommy John surgery.

Richmond also gets a tough matchup, going up against Harris, the Blue Jays 1st round pick in 2015, though Harris’ star has dimmed a bit since then (he’s currently not a top 10 prospect in the Toronto system).

The Volcanoes continue to reset their rotation coming out of the All Star break, but assumedly will send either Jake Wong or Seth Corry to the mound tonight.

Have a great Sunday everyone — not too many of them left to get out and see a minor league game!