Minor League round up, July 12

The exciting prospect news on Monday was that the San Francisco Giants added nine new players via Day 2 of the 2021 MLB Draft.

But there was also some excitement on the farm, from the players who are already signed and playing. It was an off day for the AA, High-A, and Low-A affiliates, but the Dominican Summer League got underway, which means we’ve got two new teams to cover.

Let’s dive in.

Link to the 2021 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List.

AAA Sacramento (25-33)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 7-3
Box score

Another day, another home run for designated hitter Arismendy Alcántara. The Giants ridiculous abundance of infield depth is the only reason we’re not talking about a way to get Alcántara on the roster, as he has a 1.090 OPS in 119 plate appearances.

Speaking of that infield depth, Mauricio Dubón continues to find his rhythm since getting demoted to AAA, as he drew a walk and hit a double, raising his OPS to .887. He also started at right field, where we haven’t seen him much, and had an outfield assist.

And, continuing on the train of infield depth, second baseman Tommy La Stella made another rehab appearance, as did left fielder Mike Tauchman. Neither had a hit, but that’s not particularly important. We should see them back in San Francisco soon.

LHP Scott Kazmir, who will be leaving the team soon to head to the Olympics, got the start and allowed 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run in 3 innings, while striking out 3. He’s quietly lowered his ERA to 3.70, though his FIP remains in the 5s.

And now for your regularly scheduled Jay Jackson update: 1 perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. The RHP missed the first month and a half of the season due to injury, but is now at 11 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs, and 18 strikeouts. The Giants bullpen is performing well enough right now that they’re probably not super keen on clearing a 40-man spot just for a reliever, but next time there’s churn ... watch out for Jackson.

ACL Orange (5-6)

ACL Giants Orange beat the White Sox 7-1 (7 innings)
Box score

A strong day for catcher Adrian Sugastey (19 years old, 2019 J2), who hit 3-3 with a double. And a great day for patient offense, as the Giants drew 7 walks while striking out 8 times, with a pair of free passes drawn by both shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 28 CPL, 18 years old, 2019 J2), and third baseman Anthony Rodriguez (18 years old, 2019 J2).

A great start from Luis Moreno (22 years old, 2016 J2), who allowed just 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run in 6 innings, while striking out 7. He now has 20 strikeouts in 16.1 innings in the Complex League after struggling to start the season in San Jose.

ACL Black (6-5)

ACL Giants Black lost to the Mariners 5-2 (7 innings)
Box score

Not much of note for the Giants Black squad. Only one player had a multi-hit game, as designated hitter Tyler Forner (19 years old, 2020 undrafted) went 2-3 with a double. Right fielder Luis Alexander Basabe (No. 33 CPL) drew a pair of walks as he continues to rehab his Spring Training injury.

While the starting pitching struggled, the bullpen duo of RHP Lisander De La Cruz (19 years old, 2019 J2) and RHP Jorge Labrador (22 years old, 2015 J2) combined for 2 perfect innings with 4 strikeouts.

DSL Orange (0-1)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the Yankees2 3-0
Box score

Great news for the DSL Giants Orange team: it can only get up from here. They started their season in style, by getting no-hit. Lovely.

It wasn’t a perfect game for Yankees2 though, as the Giants drew 5 walks, including a pair each from third baseman Derwin Laya (17 years old, 2020 J2), and right fielder Fabio Villadiego (17 years old, 2020 J2). And this even looked like a vintage Giants team, because they had a Sandoval hitting cleanup, though this one was Eliam (17 years old, 2020 J2).

RHP Mikell Manzano (18 years old, 2019 J2) started the opener and allowed just 3 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run in 5 innings, with 8 strikeouts.

DSL Black (1-0)

DSL Giants Black beat the Cardinals Red 9-2 (7 innings)
Box score

A much better result for the Giants other DSL team, but also a funny one: the Giants registered 9 runs, despite having just 3 hits. You’ve got to watch a lot of baseball games to see a team score 9 runs on 3 hits.

You also have to watch a lot of games to see a team draw 10 walks while striking out just 3 times, and the Giants did that as well. The star of the day was shortstop Yeison Lemos (18 years old, 2019 J2), who went 1-1 with a home run and 3 walks. San Francisco is sending a shortstop to the All-Star Game, and their top prospect is a shortstop, but Lemos — who is rocking a 5.000 OPS after one day of professional baseball — is clearly on pace to be the best shortstop in franchise history.

Also an awesome debut for RHP Jose Rojas (17 years old, 2020 J2), who pitched 5 innings and allowed just 1 hit, 1 walk, and 0 runs, while striking out 5.

Home runs

AAA Arismendy Alcántara (12)
DSL Yeison Lemos (1)

Tuesday schedule

Sacramento: @ Salt Lake Bees, 5:35 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Somerset Patriots, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: @ Spokane, 6:30 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Modesto Nuts, 7:05 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: vs. Angels, 11:00 a.m. PT
ACL Black: vs. Royals Gold, 6:00 p.m. PT
DSL Orange: vs. Yankees2
DSL Black: vs. Cardinals Red1