SF Giants Minor Lines 7/20/19: A Minor League System Sweep

Before we get started, let’s talk about some callups.

Conner Menez is making it to the Majors, and that’s a pretty big deal for the 14th rounder to do it in just three-plus seasons of work. The 24 year old left-hander has opened eyes with 123 strikeouts against 36 walks in 95 innings this season, so he has earned his shot. He gets to start on Sunday, and give the Giants to get back on the winning track after their first loss breaking a winning streak, so that’s big news.

But that’s not all.

Yes, Zach Green will also be able to get a shot in the Major Leagues. The 25-year old is batting .302/.402/.698 with 23 home runs in 64 games this season. The 3rd round pick in 2012 with the Phillies never made the Majors after breaking out in 2018 with their Double-A Reading team. The Giants picked him up as a free agent.

The big questions are going to be roster spots. Both players need to get 40-man roster spots, as well as 25-man spots. So, who’s coming off the roster? (Sorry, Ty…loved watching you stymy Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers…)

Highlights: The system had a sweep (except the big league team, boo); Manuel Geraldo had three doubles; Franklin Labour hit another home run (yawn); Marco Luciano hit a home run against the Dodgers (Yay!).

Sacramento defeated Tacoma (Mariners), 8-4

Despite only gaining six hits, and one extra-base hit, the River Cats scored eight runs for the win.

The big hit was Mike Gerber, a 2-run home run in the first inning to put the River Cats on top. It was Gerber’s 20th home run, the second highest total on the team behind the now-promoted Zach Green. Gerber also picked up a single, a walk and a stolen base for a well-rounded offensive day. Gerber has three home runs in his last five games to raise his slugging percentage to .594.

Dereck Rodriguez was the starter, and had his roughest minor league start of the season, giving up a season-high four earned runs while striking out five in five innings. Rodriguez has a 5.40 ERA over four starts in Triple-A, and it appears the Giants may be giving him an extended run in Sacramento as a starter to stretch him back out after working much of the Major League season in the bullpen.

Richmond defeated Erie (Pirates), 9-7

Just like Sacramento, Richmond was able to score a lot of runs with almost all singles.

The team’s only extra-base hit came off the bat of Bryce Johnson, who also had the team’s only multi-hit day. His double, his sixth in 22 games at Double-A, came as Johnson broke a short 2-game hitless streak. Johnson is 23-for-76 (.303) on the season, and has a .906 OPS in Richmond after having just a .734 OPS in San Jose for 68 games earlier in the season.

Ryder Jones continued his comeback from injury, and is now 3-for-10 in three games at Double-A. He has a single hit in each of his three games with Richmond. Jacob Heyward is 6-for-21 (.286) over his last six games.

Caleb Baragar had the start, given up five earned runs in his roughest start since early May. Over his last three starts, Baragar’s ERA has jumped from 2.81 to 3.62 after giving up 12 earned runs over them. In relief, Tyler Cyr gave up two unearned runs after three walks, a hit batter, and two errors (one of which was committed by Cyr), but no hits.

San Jose defeated Lancaster (Rockies), 10-4

The San Jose Giants hit like they were playing in Lancaster, rather than at home in San Jose, as they picked up the win over the Jet Hawks.

Manuel Geraldo led the way with three doubles as the team’s leadoff hitter. He now has 12 doubles on the season for San Jose in 85 games, and he’s put his slugging percentage one point short of .300. It’s clearly been a disappointing season for Geraldo, but he’s had four multi-hit games over his last six as he’s started to put things together a little bit.

The rest of the offense saw quite a few good performances. David Villar put together a 3-hit game for the second game in a row, raising his average to .275. He picked up his 21st double of the season, and is currently leading the team in the category. Dalton Combs had just his second 3-hit game over three levels this season. Sandro Fabian picked up a 2-hit game, and is now batting .388/.436/.592 over 13 games in San Jose since coming back from injury.

Opening the game was Nick Vincent in his second rehab game at San Jose. The 33-year old remains unscored upon in four rehab games, and struck out the side while giving up a pair of hits. Casey Meisner took the bulk of the innings, with five innings after Vincent left the game. He gave up a season-high-tying nine hits, including two home runs. Camilo Doval got three strikeouts in two innings in his relief outing. He has 55 strikeouts in 38.2 innings, although with 26 walks.

In the prospect watch, both Heliot Ramos (1-for-4) and Joey Bart (1-for-5) picked up a single single. Ramos did pick up a walk, but also struck out three times.

Augusta defeated Greensboro (Pirates), 8-1

A pair of 3-hit games helped lead Augusta past the Grasshoppers.

Diego Rincones picked up three hits to push his batting average back over .300 after briefly dipping below the line. Rincones also picked up his 24th double, extending his team lead. He’s batting .304/.357/.416 on the season, with his .773 OPS leading the regular Augusta hitters. Anyesber Sivira picked up three hits and his second home run of the season (in 47 games). Sivira’s first home run of the season came back on June 30th.

Keaton Winn picked up a solid victory with his third straight five inning start. Winn has a 2.81 ERA through four starts in July, and has 71 strikeouts and 19 walks in 92.2 innings on the season for Augusta. Dylan Davis made his debut at Augusta for the season. The 26-year old former outfielder is attempting a change to pitching. Davis made his pitching debut in 2016 in Augusta with two innings, but this season is his first taking pitching seriously. He had a 3.12 in seven games in the AZL with the Giants Black squad. Sandro Cabrera picked up the final two innings in a very not-save situation. Cabrera has a 2.08 ERA in 14 games with Augusta this season.

Salem-Keizer snuck by Boise (Rockies), 15-12 (10 innings)

This was a wild, wild game, and the Volcanoes picked up their fifth straight win and put them on the edge of winning the first half division title and a playoff spot.

League home run leader Franklin Labour picked up his 14th as part of a 3-hit day as the 21-year old continues to just demolish the level. He’s batting .338/.423/.746 and has twice as many home runs as doubles on the season in 32 games. His home run was a 2-run home run to break a 2-2 tie, but was far from the end of the game.

Armani Smith was at the end of the game, picking up his first home run of the season in the 10th inning, as part of a 5-run inning. The first three batters in the 10th got hits, with Labour and Tyler Fitzgerald doubling and Logan Wyatt singling, with a Alexander Canario hitting a sacrifice fly. Smith came up and hit his 2-run home run to cap off the scoring. Smith is batting .351/.422/.491 in 14 games at Salem-Keizer, and has three doubles and a triple to go with his home run.

Sean Roby picked up the 3-hit game, raising his team average to .336. Logan Wyatt picked up a pair of hits, and is 5-for-11 with two walks in three games at the NWL. In 10 games this season, Wyatt has just one extra-base hit, a double in the AZL. Tyler Fitzgerald picked up a pair of hits, and is now batting .350/.447/.450 in 10 games at Salem-Keizer. Alexander Canario picked up two hits, his first multi-hit game in over a week, and picking up his batting average to .230. He’s batting 14-for-61 in 16 games at Keizer, and has nine walks against 24 strikeouts.

AZL Black defeated the AZL Cubs 1, 12-9 (10 Innings)

The Noir Squad picked things up late, scoring nine runs in the last two innings to pick up the win.

Dilan Rosario only had one hit, but collected six RBI (!!!), most of them coming on his one hit: a grand slam in the ninth inning. The home run was his fifth of the season, and he has a .257/.288/.595 batting line. He also added a sacrifice fly as part of his big RBI day.

That was followed by Jairo Pomares, who led the way with a 4-hit day, including two doubles (giving him nine), and his third home run, a 3-run dinger in the 10th inning that locked the game up.

Garrett Frechette picked up a pair of hits to extend an early 7-game hitting streak. He’s now batting .315, and also picked up just his second walk in 18 games, against 14 strikeouts. Grant McCray also extended a 7-game hitting streak with two hits, and picked up a walk. He has 18 walks against 28 strikeouts in 22 games.

The pitching didn’t have any top performances to really highlight. 18-year old Ivan Armstrong got the start and 3.1 innings of work. He walked three along with two hits to give up a pair of earned runs. He now has 14 walks and 14 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. Ben Strahm got the win with the big comeback late. He went two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts and just one hit, with one unearned extra-inning run. Strahm has a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings so far in the AZL.

AZL Orange defeated the Dodgers Lasorda, 2-1

It was a very different game back in Scottsdale, with just a total of nine hits between both teams.

Marco Luciano set things off with the right tone, hitting his eighth home run of the season in the first inning to kick off the game the right way. Luciano was the only Giant with two hits, and he has three 2-hit games over his last four, kicking his batting average back up to .344. He also struck out twice, and now has 15 walks against 25 strikeouts in 24 games.

Here’s a little video not from today’s game, but hey, like you’re going to complain about more Marco in your video screen.

Najee Gaskins had a perfect OBP game, with a hit in his only at-bat, as well as a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Gaskins has a .367/.500/.500 batting line, and has six walks and four strikeouts.

Juan Sanchez had his second straight 5-inning start, and his first without giving up an earned run. The only run came off of an error by Abdiel Layer, which briefly tied the game. Kanoa Pagan got into his third game, going two shutout innings. Pagan has five strikeouts against two walks in four innings. Jorge Labrador got his second save in three games, giving up just one hit and no walks. Labrador has 29 strikeouts and six walks in 21.2 innings so far this eason.

The DSL Giants defeated Colorado, 6-3

Somehow, Luis Matos did not get multiple hits, but the Giants still won, even without extra-base hits.

Matos’ 1-for-4 day broke a 4-game hitting streak, but Matos is still batting a fantastic .370 to lead the team. He also picked up his 13th stolen base on his 14th attempt to lead the game.

The team leader for the day was Victor Bericoto, who had his second straight 3-hit game. That’s actually a step down, as he had two straight 4-hit games before that. He’s 14-for-18 over his past four games as his batting average has shot up from .283 to .345 over that span. The 17-year old outfielder is really coming on strong, now batting .345/.481/.476 with 38 walks to 33 strikeouts.

Jorge Garcia picked up the start,, and went five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits in his best game of the season so far. The 17 year old has a 2.28 ERA with a .262 batting average allowed.