Minor League round up, Sept. 7

The ACL Giants Orange’s game did not get underway on Tuesday, but the San Francisco Giants seven other affiliates all played, and my goodness did they hit a lot of home runs. Let’s jump in.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game

AAA Sacramento (47-58)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 10-2
Box score

A pretty sensational day for the latter two-thirds of the lineup. After the first three hitters combined to go 2-13 with 0 extra-base hits, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts, the last six batters recorded 11 hits, 5 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and just 2 strikeouts.

It was the last two batters in particular that did the damage. Third baseman Will Toffey hit 3-4 and second baseman Peter Maris hit 2-4, with both players hitting a home run.

I’ve used this space to talk about the Giants infield depth a lot this year. It’s a bit obscene. Jason Vosler, Thairo Estrada, and Mauricio Dubón have all spent significant time in the Minors because the organization has so many good infielders. And that’s led me to talk about how Jason Krizan and Arismendy Alcántara have been the odd men out, not getting called up despite having stellar seasons.

So I guess we should add Toffey and Maris to that list, as they now have OPS’ of .936 and .908, respectively.

Oh, and speaking of Alcántara, he also homered.

On the pitching front, LHP Scott Kazmir got the start and had one of his better performances since joining the organization, going 6 innings and allowing 4 hits, 0 walks, and 2 earned runs, while striking out 5. With the Giants being at a shortage of starting pitchers due to Johnny Cueto’s injury and Alex Wood’s COVID, Kazmir is gaining momentum as a weekend starter.

I’m not sure what the reason is for opting for Kazmir over Sammy Long or José Quintana (who are both on the 40-man already), but hey, the Giants seem to know what they’re doing.

AA Richmond (52-50)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Akron RubberDucks (Cleveland) 5-1
Box score

Richmond’s offense didn’t do much at all, with just 5 hits and 3 walks to 13 strikeouts. But it was another great game by designated hitter Diego Rincones (No. 37 CPL), who hit 2-4 and provided the team’s only run with a dinger.

Sorry to keep beating home this point, but Rincones has a .924 OPS in AA, compared to the .756 OPS that Heliot Ramos (No. 3 CPL) put up in Richmond earlier in the year, and Rincones is less than three months older. Time to start talking about him as one of the better prospects in the system, I think.

RHP Ryan Walker had a relief appearance in his third AA game, giving up just 1 baserunner in 2 innings. He’s allowed 4 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run in 4.2 innings, with 3 strikeouts.

High-A Eugene (62-48)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 9-6
Box score

Well, this was a fun game, led by right fielder Armani Smith (No. 44 CPL), who homered not once but twice, bumping his OPS to .807.

But he was far from the only strong performer. Center fielder Ismael Munguia had a 3-hit day from the leadoff spot, which featured a home run, and bumped his OPS to .838. He’s been an awesome storyline this season.

Third baseman Sean Roby (No. 32 CPL) also joined the homer brigade, and hit 2-3 with a walk to move his OPS to .779. He’s starting to find his groove, thanks to a 1.076 OPS in August.

Left fielder Jairo Pomares (No. 14 CPL) also got in on the action, with a pair of doubles that bumped his OPS to .869. His bat is playing brilliantly in AA after a mid-August promotion, though he’s drawn just 1 walk in 72 plate appearances.

On the pitching front, RHP Blake Rivera (No. 22 CPL) made his third appearance since returning from his rehab assignment. He gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 5 earned runs in 4 innings, with 4 strikeouts. Not a great performance, but just good to see him healthy.

RHP Austin Reich and LHP Chris Wright once again flexed their strikeout prowess, striking out the side in their respective scoreless innings, with Reich having the coveted immaculate inning.

Reich now has a 1.71 ERA with 45 strikeouts to 5 walks in 31.2 innings, and Wright has 1.06 ERA with 55 strikeouts to 18 walks in 34 innings.

Low-A San Jose (67-42)

San Jose Giants lost to the Stockton Ports (Athletics) 4-2
Box score

The Baby Giants only had 4 hits on the day, but 2 of them came courtesy of catcher Patrick Bailey (No. 8 CPL), who also homered, raising his OPS to .965. He’s been on an absolute tear lately, which is wonderful news after the first few months of the season were marred by injuries and rough performances. It’ll be interesting to see if the Giants promote him before season’s end, or let him keep finding his groove at the low level.

Shortstop Abdiel Layer had the only other good offensive performance with a double and one of the team’s 2 walks to bump his OPS to .633.

It was a bullpen game for San Jose, with the notable performance coming from RHP Brooks Crawford, who allowed 1 baserunner in 1 inning, with 2 strikeouts. He has a 2.20 ERA with 51 strikeouts to 7 walks in 41 innings.

ACL Black (25-26)

ACL Giants Black beat the D-backs 13-3
Box score

Holy offense, Giants Black! We’ve got some more dingers to add to the big tally!

Let’s start with first baseman Jacob Gonzalez (23, 2017 2nd round), who hit 3-4 with a pair of big flies, raising his OPS .919. Getting demoted to the ACL isn’t fun, but he’s made the most of it.

Also homering was right fielder Jared Dupere (22, 2021 13th round), who also drew 2 walks, raising his OPS to .875. Rookie season off to a strong start there.

Center fielder Alexander Suarez (19, 2018 J2) reached base 4 times, hitting 3-4 with a double and a walk, and bumping his OPS to .913. He’s one to keep your eye on.

LHP Matt Mikulski (22, 2021 2nd round) made his second career appearance, and gave up 0 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run in an inning of work, with a strikeout. RHP Hunter Dula (22, 2021 18th round) pitched a scoreless inning, and has now made 7 straight appearances without a run to start his pro career. In those 7 appearances he’s pitched 7 innings, and allowed just 2 hits and 3 walks, with 12 strikeouts.

DSL Orange (17-17)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the Orioles2 7-4 (7 innings)
Box score

Pretty lackluster game here. The offense had just 4 hits and 4 walks, with the only notable performance coming courtesy of first baseman Rajean Anza (18, 2019 J2), who hit 1-1 with a double and 2 walks, moving his OPS to .523.

None of the team’s pitchers did much of note.

DSL Black (14-19)

DSL Giants Black lost to the Rangers2 11-4
Box score

The Giants Black team was done in by an awful day defensively, with 5 errors leading to 6 unearned runs. Their pitchers were not particularly good, but also did not deserve that.

A good day for designated hitter Onil Perez (18, 2019 J2), who hit 2-4 with a home run and a walk, raising his OPS to .760. He’s been hot lately.

Also a nice day for shortstop Yeison Lemos (19, 2019 J2), who had a 2-hit day with a double, and now has a .722 OPS.

Home runs

AAA Arismendy Alcántara (16)
AAA Peter Maris (9)
AAA Will Toffey (2)
AA Diego Rincones (10)
High-A Sean Roby (18)
High-A Armani Smith, 2 (8)
High-A Ismael Munguia (8)
Low-A Patrick Bailey (7)
ACL Jacob Gonzalez, 2 (7)
ACL Jared Dupere (2)
DSL Onil Perez (1)

News

RHP Tristan Beck (No. 13 CPL) is off of his rehab assignment and heading to San Jose.

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: Off day
Richmond: vs. Akron Rubberducks, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Everett AquaSox, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. Stockton Ports, 1:00 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: Off day
ACL Black: Off day
DSL Orange: Off day
DSL Black: Off day