SF Giants Minor Lines 5/8/19: Sean Hjelle strikes out 8

We’re about a month out from knowing what the Giants will do with the #10 pick in the draft, but according to MLB international beat writer Jesse Sanchez, there will be a new pitching prospect coming in on the international market this summer.

HIGHLIGHTS: Sean Hjelle struck out 8 over 5 innings; Diego Rincones had three hits.

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Sacramento lost to Fresno Grizzlies (Nationals), 4-1

Alright, finally somebody coming OFF the IL! That’s the right direction! Andrew Suarez returned from the IL for his first game since April 20. Suarez made it into the 4th, throwing 65 pitches over his 3.1 IP. He was mostly solid, although he ran into a tough stretch to open the 2nd inning, when he allowed hits to the first four Grizzlies he saw, including an RBI single to old friend Chris Dominguez — without whose contributions in LF in September of 2014 we might never have experienced Literally Travis Ishikawa.

Another guy returning to the lineup was recently demoted Mike Gerber — and though Mike was probably not happy to be back in AAA, his game appeared to be. Fresh off a rough 1 for 15 with 9 Ks series in Cincinnati, Gerber made the highlight reel with both his glove:

and his bat:

But very little else was doing for the Cats, who fell below .500 for the first time this year. The team collected just 4 hits against Grizzly pitching in the game. Even though Fresno has changed affiliation at the major league level, they still seem to own Sacramento.

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Richmond lost to Trenton Thunder (Yankees), 10-0
losing their series, 0-3

The Thunder clapped the Squirrels something fierce, running them off their own field in a dominating sweep. Ending the homestand on a down note.

For the second day in a row, the Squirrels had a great opportunity to prove themselves against quality pitching, and for the second day in a row, they came up a bit short. Hitters were competitive in their at bats against Yankees #6 prospect Deivi Garcia, at least making solid contact against him, but ultimately were unable to break through.

They actually had Garcia in trouble in the first, thanks to the best swing of the day courtesy of Jalen Miller.

But Garcia wriggled out of the jam. Chris Shaw hit an at-em ball to the 2b, and then Jacob Heyward was frozen on called strike three.

Within minutes of that opportunity being squandered the competitive portion of the morning came to an abrupt end when Trenton put a 5-spot on Andrew Moore, who was making his organizational debut. There would be more runs scored (for Trenton).

Heath Quinn continued his streak of reaching base — now up to 14 games — with a walk.

Franklin Van Gurp, making his second pop up to Richmond, struck out 8 in 3 innings of work, but the right hander has now surrendered 11 runs in 17 IP this year between Richmond and Augusta.

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San Jose lost at Modesto Nuts (Mariners), 7-6

Little has gone right for the Giants so far this year, but until yesterday they could make one claim that nobody else in the Cal League could — they had yet to blow a save (partly as a result of having so few leads, one might retort).

Camilo Doval came on in the 7th to relieve Peter Lannoo’s 2-on, 1-out situation and coughed up the lead with one swing of the bat. Doval would stay on to take the loss when he surrendered another run in the bottom of the 8th.

Despite starting a lineup that had four players below the Mendoza Line, and only Logan Baldwin as high as .250, the Giants managed a 4-run rally for the second consecutive game against Modesto. Five of their seven hits in the game were bunched into that 5th inning, including Ryan Kirby’s RBI double — the lone extra base hit for the team.

Manuel Geraldo had a two hit game, which gives him a modest hitting streak of six games. The switch-hitting SS is finally showing signs of life in his bat after an abysmal 14 for 86 start to the year. Geraldo also stole his 3rd base.

What this team really needs, of course, is a return of its star power. Hopefully, both Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos should be back in the flesh sometime before this month is out. In the meantime, we have this to look forward to! If anybody wants to grab me one of these little beauties I promise to magic it up good and create a little Heliot talisman to protect his future!

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Augusta won at West Virginia Power (Mariners), 8-3

A win! We have a win! As San Jose and Richmond seek the all-too-familiar climes of last place, the plucky Augusta club now stands as the sole team in the organization with a winning record.

Sean Hjelle set a career high with 8 Ks, going five solid innings with just a solo HR besmirching his honor. The giant future -Giant really shouldn’t be bussing around the South Atlantic too much longer, as he’s put together a series of solid outings this spring. He had a somewhat rough go against the league’s best club in Delmarva, but even with that effort he’s allowed just 4 ER in his last four starts, covering 18 innings. He has 36 Ks to 7 BBs in 31 IP this year and has allowed just 10 runs overall.

The Greenjacket offense gave Hjelle and Co. all the support they could want, busting out with a 5-run 5th inning that featured a couple of guys who have been silent for awhile now. Diego Rincones had three hits in the game, including an RBI double — amazingly enough that was just Diego’s third multi-hit game since the opening week of the season.

But the big swing of the bat came from Aaron Bond, whose 3-run HR really swung the game to Augusta’s favor. It was Bond’s 4th HR of the year, though he’s still hitting just .178/.286/.389 for the year.

Catcher Andres Angulo added his first HR of the season, and Ismael Munguia stole his second and third bases to help the cause.

However, Frankie Tostado definitely wasn’t enjoying what the Power were serving up. The Big Crunch took a Platinum Sombrero, striking out 5 times. A 5 for 25 stretch has dropped Tostado’s average down to .287 though he’s still rocking a .509 SLG.

At 16-14 Augusta is the system headliner so far — a record that’s mostly been generated by their excellent starting pitching. It could be hard for the Greenjackets to sustain this level of success once the 2018 college draftees start moving upwards, as their offense has scuffled a bit.

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Today’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento (TBD) vs. Fresno (Paolo Espino)
Richmond: OFF
San Jose (Matt Frisbee) @ Modesto (Logan Gilbert)
Augusta (TBD) @ West Virginia (Clay Chandler) Gm 1
Augusta (Blake Rivera) @ West Virginia (Deivy Florido) Gm 2

Tyler Beede is listed as the scheduled starter for Sacramento today, but as we know he was in Denver last night that seems doubtful. The scuffling San Jose lineup gets a big challenge when they face the #14 overall pick from last year, Seattles #7 prospect Logan Gilbert. While Blake Rivera tries to match Hjelle’s effort in tonight’s makeup game in West Virginia.

Weekend’s a-coming! Enjoy the games everybody.