SF Giants Minor Lines 5/11/19: Who’s Next On The Sacramento Hot List? Yazzzzzzz

So…

That doesn’t, uh, actually affect the minor leagues directly…I mean, the minors have a “Temporarily Inactive” list to shuffle players around, so there’s no need to lie, but ouch, all the same. I’m sure no small end of this frustration is Zaidi’s endless level of dumpster diving, which continued even today, ending one Giant’s 6-day tenure.

So, it wasn’t a good day to be named Derek (however it might be spelled), as Holland went to the bullpen and wasn’t silent about his frustration, and Rodriguez is headed back to the Pacific Coast League after some rough games.

So, as we begin to see strife and drama start to boil over for our favorite team, how about we look to the minors?

Highlights: Mike Yastrzemski had four hits with a home run; Aaron Phillips led a shutout; The San Jose Giants beat the top Padres pitching prospect for his first loss all season.

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Sacramento was defeated by El Paso (Padres), 7-4

Well, how about we get another hot outfielder on the hot-at-Sacramento carousel? Mike Yastrzemski, step right up!

Yastrzemski had the best game of his recent hot streak, a 4-hit affair with his tenth home run of the season. Over his last ten games, he’s 16-for-36 (.444) with seven home runs and one double, and six walks against five strikeouts. But hitting primarily as leadoff has left him with just eight RBI over that span…that’s right, seven home runs leading to eight RBI. Now, with the Giants’ recent waiver claim, it looks like the parade of Sacramento outfielders getting chances in SF may be on pause for…I don’t know, five days? If Yaz can keep things up for another week, maybe he’ll finally get that Major League debut.

Meanwhile, Mike Gerber went 0-for-4 in his fourth game back in Triple-A, and is 3-for-16 (.188) since returning.

The other hot hitter of the game was Francisco Peña, who has been pretty damned good for Sacramento. He had his second 3-hit game in a row. In four games played since his acquisition, he is 9-for-18 with four doubles. But again, roster moves in SF may limit his upward mobility, as the Giants brought Eric Kratz back off the IL.

Enderson Franco took the worst loss of the season, giving up seven runs on ten hits (though no walks). He did have a season-high six strikeouts, for a bright side? His ERA jumped from 6.48 to 7.76 in the game. At least the troubled bullpen had a good game. Sam Selman continued to look good with two scoreless innings, now with a 0.73 ERA in eight Triple-A games, but even Steven Okert (2 IP) and Sam Coonrod (1 IP) didn’t even allow a baserunner in their outings. For Okert, that’s the first time in six game he hadn’t allowed a baserunner and only the second time in that span he hadn’t allowed a run on his record. For Coonrod, it’s just the first time since his first game this season (13 appearances ago) that he hadn’t allowed a hit, and just the second time in his last eight appearances he didn’t allow a run.

One quick roster note, Pat Venditte will be returning to Sacramento after clearing waivers.

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Richmond lost at Bowie (Orioles), 3-0, in 8 innings

In a rain-shortened game in Maryland, this was just plain ugly for the Squirrels.

The offense managed just three hits and two walks, and one of those hits, by leadoff hitter Johneshwy Fargas, was erased by getting caught stealing. Fargas has been hitting fairly well recently, but is still batting just .224/.258/.318 and has six steals in ten attempts. Chris Shaw got one of the other hits, following up his big 3-hit game yesterday.

On the other side, Jacob Heyward struggled again, striking out in all three of his plate appearances. He’s gone cold since being named Player of the Week, now 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts and three walks in his last three games.

It wasn’t much better with Conner Menez on the mound. Menez only gave up two earne runs, but allowed four hits and three walks in his shortest start of the season. Even with this game, Menez keeps a 42:12 K:BB ratio over 35.2 innings of work. Sam Wolff had another solid game in relief, though. He matched his longest stint of the season at 2.2 innings, and has gone at least two innings in four of his last five appearances.

Finally, the move that affects the Squirrels:

#ForeverGiant, Andrew Moore. Or, should that be, #ForeverSquirrel?

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San Jose won at Lake Elsinore (Padres), 8-0

Aaron Phillips kept his opponents off the board for the first time this season, and led San Jose to a big win on the road, defeating Padres’ top pitching prospect Mackenzie Gore for the first time this season.

Phillips only gathered four strikeouts, far below his season-high, but worked an efficient game by allowed just three hits and two walks. Phillips now has 28 strikeouts in 27.2 innings, with 14 walks. His batting average allowed, however, sits at .290 and his WHIP is a high 1.63, but this is his second very strong start in his last three, so he’s moving in the right direction.

The game ended up being close for most of it, with John Riley’s fourth home run (off of Gore) of the season as the only run until the late innings. In 22 games this season, Riley is already more than halfway to matching his season-high of six home runs, that he hit in 57 games in 2018.

There weren’t any other standout performances among the rest of the team. Orlando Garcia picked up a 2-hit game to get his average back above the Mendoza Line, while shortstop Jett Manning picked up his second 2-hit game in six played this season, making him 4-for-18 on the year. Zander Clarke got into his second game of the season, picking up his first hit. He’s 1-for-8 with the one hit being a double, and has struck out twice.

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Augusta lost at Lexington, 5-4, in 11 innings

Jake Wong’s streak of perfect innings ended quickly, as the first batting Wong faced hit a ball that ticked off of second baseman Shane Matheny’s glove for the game’s first hit. Wong struggled a bit, giving up a season-high three walks, and also five hits, but his strong season continues. Wong has a 2.34 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP, and has allowed just a .182 batting average. And although this is the fourth straight game where Wong went six innings, he went a season-high 81 pitches as he continues to stretch himself out.

Augusta’s hits were centered around three hitters who each picked up a pair of hits, but not a single extra-base hit. Ismael Munguia is now 6-for-14 (.429 over his last four games, with two walks and no strikeouts. In the middle of the order, Diego Rincones had a pair of hits for the second straight game, and has a batting line of .263/.315/.339 on the year. Meanwhile, Jose Layer had his first 2-hit game in his last ten, and hasn’t been on the sunny side of the Mendoza Line since April 22nd.

Coming soon to Augusta: The NAIA 2018 leader in strikeouts!

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Today’s Scheduled Starters

Sacramento (Yoanys Quiala) vs. El Paso (Dietrich Enns), 1:05 pm PDT
Richmond (Brandon Lawson) at Bowie (Hunter Harvey), 1:30 pm EDT
San Jose (DJ Myers) at Lake Elsinore (TBA), 1:00 pm PDT
Augusta (Seth Corry) at Lexington (TBA), 2:05 pm EDT

Seth Corry and his 40 strikeouts in 24 innings is the highlight of Mother’s Day pitching for the Giants system. At this point, though, who knows if any of these guys will still be in the system by their next start, or replaced by more castoffs picked up off the waiver wire or recently released players.