Minor League round up, Aug. 18

Just three games for the San Francisco Giants affiliates on Wednesday, with scheduled off days for AAA Sacramento, both Arizona Complex League teams, and both Dominican Summer League teams.

But the remaining three teams went 3-0 with some great pitching, so let’s get into the action.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AA Richmond (45-47)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 8-2
Box score

If you’ve looked at Matt Wisler’s tremendous success with the Tampa Bay Rays after the Giants traded him, and need a little comfort, then this game should provide some of it. The player the Giants received in that trade, LHP Michael Plassmeyer, had a very strong start, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 earned runs in 7 innings, while striking out 9. Plassmeyer’s ERA is just 4.23 with the Giants (though his FIP is 3.67), but he has 70 strikeouts to just 11 walks in 66 innings.

Plassmeyer took the win, while the save was picked up by RHP Matt Seelinger, who struck out 2 in the ninth inning, bringing his K total to 53 in 33 innings.

The pitchers were supported by an offense that hit 3 home runs, including one by right fielder Heath Quinn in his first game since getting promoted. Quinn had a solid year in High-A (.846 OPS), but was coming on strong as of late, and Eugene needed to clear outfield space for the incoming Jairo Pomares. So off Quinn goes to AA, and a homer and a walk in his debut surely have him feeling right at home with a team he played for in 2019.

The star was second baseman Simon Whiteman, who had a home run and a double, raising his OPS to .732.

The Flying Squirrels only had 6 hits on the day, but all of them went for extra bases — and they also only struck out 6 times.

High-A Eugene (54-38)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 6-3
Box score

Another strong pitching performance driving a nice win. RHP Conner Nurse continues to struggle with walks, issuing 4 of them in 5 innings, but he allowed just 2 hits and 1 run while striking out 6. He needs to work on free passes and run prevention (5.82 ERA), but this was a nice start.

Similarly, RHP Tyler Schimpf is still rocking a 5.55 ERA, but struck out 5 in 2 innings, while giving up 0 hits, 1 walks, and 0 runs. He has 53 strikeouts to 17 walks in 35.2 innings.

The offense drew just 3 walks to 13 strikeouts, but used a pair of home runs to fuel the win. Catcher Ricardo Genovés was the star, hitting 2-3 with a 3-run home run to give the Emeralds a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. His OPS is .689.

Second baseman Brett Auerbach also added a dinger (and stole a base), raising his OPS to .961. It was his first hit since returning off of the IL a few days ago.

Recently promoted top prospects Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL) and Jairo Pomares (No. 14 CPL) both hit 1-4 with 2 strikeouts. Luciano has had a bit of a strikeout problem since moving to High-A so I’m going to assume they’ve all been because of silliness like this.

Low-A San Jose (57-35)

San Jose Giants beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) 4-1
Box score

I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again today: it’s always nice when the Giants beat the Dodgers, even in Low-A.

And we cap off the third and final game the way we did the first game: with a strong pitching performance from a left-hander that the Giants traded for this year. This time it was Carson Ragsdale, the incoming piece in the Sam Coonrod trade. Ragsdale gave up just 3 hits, 3 walks, and 1 earned run in 6 innings, while striking out 10 batters. He has a 4.12 ERA, 3.61 FIP, and 136 strikeouts to 34 walks in 87.1 innings.

Offensively it was all about catcher Fabian Peña, who knocked in 3 of the team’s 4 runs thanks to a home run and a double, raising his OPS to .858.

Shortstop Ghordy Santos, after going 0-5 on Tuesday in his Low-A debut, had a much better second game, hitting 3-5 and stealing a base. Right fielder Hunter Bishop (No. 4 CPL) made his San Jose debut after rehabbing in the Arizona Complex League, and went 0-3 with a walk.

Home runs

AA Shane Matheny (3)
AA Simon Whiteman (3)
AA Heath Quinn (1)
High-A Brett Auerbach (10)
High-A Ricardo Genovés (5)
Low-A Fabian Peña (4)

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: vs. Tacoma Rainers, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Erie SeaWolves, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Everett AquaSox, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 6:30 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: vs. D-backs
ACL Black: vs. Cubs
DSL Orange: vs. Mariners
DSL Black: vs. Brewers1