Minor League round up, July 18

There were no Arizona Complex League or Dominican Summer League games on Sunday, bet the San Francisco Giants four Minor League affiliates were all in action.

Let’s unpack it.

Link to the 2021 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

AAA Sacramento (27-36)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Round Rock Express (Rangers) 14-0
Box score

Pretty much nothing of interest occurred in this game for Sacramento. The offense did virtually nothing, with just 4 hits (all singles) and 2 walks. Catcher Joey Bart (#2 CPL) had half of those hits and half of the walks, which easily made him the best player of the day for the River Cats.

RHP Akeel Morris struggled in the start, allowing 6 hits, 3 walks, and 7 earned runs in 4 innings, with 5 strikeouts. Morris was sporting a 10.80 ERA in AA when he get promoted to AAA, and now has an 11.08 ERA there. I guess that shouldn’t be surprising.

RHP Ty Weber gave up 3 earned runs in as many innings in his second AAA appearance. The 2020 undrafted signee started the season in Low-A, got promoted to AAA in June, made one appearance before returning back to Low-A, and just got called up again. Unclear what’s going on there.

AA Richmond (37-29)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 8-7
Box score

Richmond, however, was a little bit more exciting, and the man at the top of the order was a big reason why. Center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 3 CPL) went 2-4 with a home run, as he continues to patch up his OPS (.756) after a disastrous June. It was the 5th home run and 4th multi-hit game of July for Ramos, after just 2 home runs and no multi-hit games in June.

The Flying Squirrels did their work late, with 7 of their 8 runs coming in innings 6-8, including a 3-run blast by right fielder Sandro Fabian (No. 31 CPL) to get them back into the game, and a 2-run shot by designated hitter Diego Rincones (No. 37 CPL) to give them the lead.

It was a bullpen game for Richmond, with not much to note. RHP R.J. Dabovich (No. 36 CPL) failed to record a strikeout for just the second time in 21 games this year, but pitched a clean inning to record the save. His ERA is 5.91 in 10.2 AA innings, after an ERA of 1.42 in 12.2 High-A innings earned him a quick promotion.

High-A Eugene (38-27)

Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane (Rockies) 11-9 (10 innings)
Box score

It was a fun game for the Emeralds, who scored the ghost runner in the 10th inning on a double by third baseman Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 40 CPL), and then added a second run on a wild pitch. RHP Taylor Rashi kept Spokane’s ghost-runner from scoring in the bottom half of the inning, and finished the game with 0 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs allowed in 2.2 innings, with 4 strikeouts.

The Emeralds drew a whopping 11 walks on the day, compared to 12 strikeouts, with first baseman Tyler Flores accounting for 3 of them. Designated hitter Carter Aldrete drew a pair of walks and also had a home run, and is absolutely finding his form in July. Aldrete had a .519 OPS in May and only played 4 games in June, but is rocking an .814 OPS so far in July.

Low-A San Jose (43-23)

San Jose Giants beat the Modesto Nuts (Rockies) 5-4
Box score

It was an exciting day for the Baby Giants, who trailed 4-1 entering the eighth inning and 4-2 entering the ninth, but emerged with a 5-4 victory. The Giants really only had a pair of offensive contributors, and they were responsible for the ninth-inning comeback.

Designated hitter Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL) had a double that cut the lead in half, and the next batter up, right fielder Jairo Pomares (No. 14 CPL) had a 2-run home run to give San Jose the lead.

Luciano and Pomares each had a 2-hit game, with the rest of the lineup contributing just 1 hit.

RHP Prelander Berroa had a very strong start, allowing 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run in 4.2 innings, with 9 strikeouts. He now has a 2.75 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 52.1 innings.

Home runs

AA Heliot Ramos (10)
AA Sandro Fabian (8)
AA Diego Rincones (2)
High-A Carter Aldrete (5)
Low-A Jairo Pomares (9)

Monday schedule

Sacramento: vs. Round Rock Express, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: Off day
Eugene: Off day
San Jose: Off day
ACL Orange: vs. Rockies, 6:00 p.m. PT
ACL Black: vs. Athletics, 6:00 p.m. PT
DSL Orange: Cancelled
DSL Black: vs. Rangers2