Minor League round up, Aug. 25

Wednesdays are days off for the San Francisco Giants AAA affiliate, as well as their Arizona Complex League and Dominican Summer League teams, so just three games to cover.

Let’s jump in.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AA Richmond (50-48)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 6-0
Box score

Shutouts are pretty solid ways to win, so well done, Richmond. We obviously need to start with the pitching crew, and specifically the starter, RHP Akeel Morris, who went 7 innings strong, allowing 7 baserunners and striking out 5. The 28 year old still has a 4.23 ERA — not great considering the pitcher-friendly environment — but has 40 strikeouts to 10 walks in 38.1 innings.

He’s been turning it on lately: in 4 August starts, Morris has allowed just 14 hits and 2 earned runs in 25 innings (0.72 ERA), with 23 strikeouts to 5 walks.

LHP Joey Marciano finished things off with 2 perfect innings, lowering his ERA to 3.24.

On offense the Giants had 10 hits, but no home runs. They drew only 3 walks, but only struck out 6 times. No one had a super memorable day offensively, but third baseman David Villar hit 2-4 with a double to raise his OPS .859.

First baseman Frankie Tostado and designated hitter Heath Quinn also had 2-hit days, bumping their respective OPS’ to .730 and 1.081.

Right fielder Diego Rincones (No. 37 CPL), who has been red hot lately, hit 1-4 with a walk.

High-A Eugene (57-42)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 3-1
Box score

The Emeralds offense didn’t do much, but it was another strong day for first baseman Sean Roby (No. 32 CPL), who hit 2-3 with a double and a walk. After struggling a bit in June and July, Roby now has a 1.165 OPS in August, with 17 extra-base hits in 84 at-bats.

It was also a 2-hit day for catcher Ricardo Genovés (No. 29 CPL), who went 2-4 with a double to raise his OPS to .696, and center fielder Ismael Munguia, who hit 2-3 with the team’s only RBI to bump his OPS to .814.

Left fielder Jairo Pomares (No. 14 CPL) had a triple as he continues to look right at home following his recent promotion.

LHP Jake Dahlberg was hot and cold, as has been the case for most of his tenure since the Giants picked him up. The 27 year old pitched 5 innings and allowed 4 hits, 2 walks, and 2 earned runs, but with 6 strikeouts. He has a 7.24 ERA, but a sterling 37 to 4 strikeout to walk ratio in 27.1 innings.

Low-A San Jose (62-36)

San Jose Giants beat the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 7-0
Box score

It was a truly sensational pitching day for the Baby Giants, as they not only shut out the Storm, but did it by striking out 20 batters, and only issuing a single walk. That is utter dominance.

It started with LHP Nick Swiney (No. 17 CPL) who continues to look awesome. Swiney started this year — his first in pro ball after being drafted in 2020 — with a brilliant game for San Jose before being placed on the Injured list for two and a half months. He returned in late July to start dominating the Arizona Complex League, and recently was sent back to San Jose. This was his second appearance since his Low-A return, and in 3 innings he allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 7. In 9.1 San Jose innings, Swiney has given up 5 hits, 4 walks, and 0 earned runs, with 18 strikeouts.

Next up was RHP Randy Rodriguez, who allowed 2 hits in 2 innings and struck out the side in both innings. We should probably be talking about the 21 year old more, as he has a 2.23 ERA, with 77 strikeouts to 22 walks in 48.1 innings.

RHP Abel Adames struck out 4 in 2 innings, and now has 29 strikeouts to 12 walks in 23.1 innings, and RHP Clay Helvey finished things off with 3 strikeouts in 2 innings, giving him 71 strikeouts to 18 walks in 44 innings. Nice.

Offensively it was a spectacular day for catcher Patrick Bailey (No. 8 CPL) who hit 3-4 with a home run and 2 doubles. Bailey has rebounded brilliantly from the injuries and slumps that defined the start of his first pro season, and now has an .866 OPS. It was his third 3-hit performance in the last 5 games, and each of those 3-hit games has featured multiple extra-base hits. He also has struck out just 13 times while drawing 10 walks in August, and is sporting a 1.018 OPS for the month.

There were also multi-hit days for right fielder Harrison Freed, who went 2-4 with 2 doubles to raise his OPS to .691, and for second baseman Edison Mora, who went 2-3 with a triple to bump his OPS to .604.

Home runs

Low-A Patrick Bailey (4)

News

The Giants released RHP Aaron Phillips.

Phillips had a 7.06 ERA in Eugene this year, with 48 strikeouts to 31 walks in 72.2 innings.

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: @ Reno Aces, 6:35 p.m. PT
Richmond: @ Altoona Curve, 3:00 p.m. PT
Eugene: @ Tri-City Dust Devils, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Lake Elsinore Storm, 7:05 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: vs. Brewers Gold
ACL Black: vs. Brewers Blue
DSL Orange: vs. D-backs2
DSL Black: vs. Mets2