Minor League round-up, June 15

Since the 2021 Minor League season has started, I’ve been posting a daily article with links to the box scores from the San Francisco Giants four affiliates.

Going forward, I’m going to try and do something a little bit more comprehensive. I won’t do it every day (read: on my days off), and there will be a box score round-up on the days when there isn’t an actual round-up.

If there are any particular things you’d like included, just let me know.

AAA Sacramento (14-21)

Sacramento River Cats lost to Tacoma Rainers 10-9

The River Cats did the opposite of the Giants on Tuesday. Literally. While the MLB club was busy overcoming a 7-0 deficit in their win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the River Cats were building a 7-0 lead that they would eventually squander. They were done in by a 5-run seventh inning for Tacoma, and ultimately lost in 10 innings when they couldn’t score the ghost runner, but the Rainers could.

There were plenty of standout offensive performances from Sacramento, as only one player went hitless. Braden Bishop had a 5-hit day, while two recently-optioned players took the plate with “you shouldn’t have demoted me,” energy: Thairo Estrada went 3-5 with a pair of doubles, and Chadwick Tromp hit 3-6 with a home run and a double.

Jaylin Davis also had a double and a walk, bringing his OPS to 1.128. So far the rehab stint is going well, and just 1 strikeout in 6 plate appearances is encouraging (on that note, Joey Bart had the strikeout hat trick). Davis also had a beautiful outfield assist at home.

Tyler Beede made another rehab start and struggled again, allowing 4 hits, 3 walks, and 4 earned runs in 4.1 innings. Almost like he just had a major surgery on his throwing arm or something. John Brebbia, who will likely be on the Giants active roster very soon, retired both batters he faced.

AA Richmond (21-16)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to Somerset Patriots 10-1

It was a bad day all around for the Giants AA affiliate.

Left-handed pitcher Michael Plassmeyer, whom the team acquired last week in the Matt Wisler trade, made his organizational debut and got beat up. Plassmeyer started and pitched 4.2 innings, but gave up 10 hits and 7 earned runs, while striking out just 2.

2020 fourth-round pick R.J. Dabovich made his AA debut after a recent promotion, but had the same struggles, giving up 2 earned runs in 1 inning, though he struck out the side. If you’re looking for silver linings, the Richmond pitchers didn’t give up any walks.

It was nearly as bad offensively, where the Flying Squirrels mustered just 4 hits, half of which came off Andy Sugilio’s bat. The top of the order — Heliot Ramos, Simon Whiteman (making his AA debut), Frankie Tostado, and Andres Angulo — went 0-15 with 1 walk and 9 strikeouts.

High-A Eugene (21-15)

Eugene Emeralds beat Hillsboro Hops 5-1

The Emeralds went with good old-fashioned rally baseball on Tuesday, managing 5 runs despite just 7 hits, 6 of which were singles. A double by Sean Roby was the only extra-base hit of the game for Eugene.

It was a strong pitching game, with 4 innings of 1-run ball from Conner Nurse, 3 shutout innings in relief by Jasier Herrera, and a three-batter, three-strikeout inning from Chris Wright.

In weirder news, Franklin Labour had two outfield assists, both at first base.

Outfielder Armani Smith made his High-A debut after a promotion, and went 0-3 with a walk.

And a pretty nice throw here from catcher Brandon Martorano:

Low-A San Jose (25-12)

San Jose Giants beat Modesto Nuts 6-5

The San Jose roster is stacked full of prospects to keep an eye on, but one name still stands out. And that name did not disappoint on Tuesday, as shortstop Marco Luciano absolutely destroyed a baseball for his eighth home run of the year.

Similar to how the MLB Giants have performed, the Low-A Giants bullpen struggled to hold a lead after a strong outing by the starting pitcher. Starter Carson Ragsdale — the incoming piece in the Sam Coonrod trade — pitched 4 shutout innings, giving up 2 hits and 4 walks while striking out 7. His FIP is now down to 2.62, and he’s striking out 16.6 batters per 9 innings.

Outfielder Jairo Pomares, the No. 14 prospect in the Community Prospect List, made his season debut and went 0-4 with a walk.

Brett Auerbach — whom the Giants signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and have been playing in the infield, in the outfield, and at catcher — continued his hot debut season with a pair of doubles that give him a team-high .938 OPS.

Home runs

Here’s who homered on Tuesday:

AAA Jason Krizan (3)
AAA Chadwick Tromp (3)
AA Vince Fernandez (6)
Low-A Marco Luciano (8)
Low-A Ricardo Genovés (6)

Promotions/demotions

Lots of moves.

Schedule

Here are today’s games:

Sacramento: Off day
Richmond: @ Somerset Patriots, 4:05 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Hillsboro Hops, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Modesto Nuts, 7:05 p.m. PT