Minor League round up, May 26

The San Francisco Giants AAA, AA, High-A, and Low-A squads were all in action on Thursday. Let’s jump in.

Link to the 2022 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (21-24)

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

Not a great game for the team, but a lovely game for left fielder Bryce Johnson, who hit 3-4 with a home run and 2 stolen bases.

Johnson is having a very funny season. Despite having a fantastic batting average of .327, he has an OPS of just .778 and a wRC+ of 97. So how did he get here from there? By basically only hitting singles.

In 115 plate appearances this year, that was Johnson’s first home run of the season ... and wilder still, he only has drawn 2 walks all year.

Third baseman Kevin Padlo, very recently optioned for the second time, hit 2-4. But another rough day for center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL), who hit 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. He continues to struggle with putting the ball in play (.176 average), power (6 extra-base hits in 162 plate appearances), and contact (27.8% strikeout rate). Other than drawing walks, Ramos really isn’t doing anything well in the batter’s box this season.

RHP Tristan Beck made his 5th start since getting promoted and, for the 4th time, got rocked, allowing 10 baserunners and 5 runs in 3.2 innings. An adjustment period is expected after a promotion, but Beck’s numbers are very ugly: 21.1 innings, 32 hits, 10 walks, 24 earned runs, and 17 strikeouts.

AA Richmond (23-19)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies) 7-4
Box score

The Flying Squirrels didn’t do much on offense, but third baseman Sean Roby did. He hit 2-4 which meant he accounted for 50% of the team’s hits ... and 100% of their extra-base hits, as he homered and hit a double.

Roby has cooled off since his ballistic start to the season, but he’s still rocking an .811 OPS, which in the pitcher-friendly environment that Richmond plays in translates to a 119 wRC+.

Also encouraging was that shortstop Will Wilson (No. 18 CPL) played for the first time since April 30, due to an injury. Wilson hit 0-3, but it was just nice to see him back on the field. He also didn’t strike out, which continues an encouraging development — he has a 25.6% strikeout rate after being at 36.7% in AA a year ago. But most importantly, his wRC+ has jumped from 65 last year to 135 this year.

RHP Kai-Wei Teng (No. 44 CPL) had a solid start, allowing 3 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs in 5 innings, while striking out 7. His ERA is still just 5.74, but his FIP is 4.05.

High-A Eugene (19-18)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 4-1
Box score

Some amazing pitching performances to highlight. RHP Ryan Murphy (No. 13 CPL), the farm’s breakout star of 2021, made his 3rd start after beginning the year on the Injured List. And at this rate he’ll be joining LHP Kyle Harrison (No. 4 CPL) in Richmond very soon.

In 4 innings, Murphy gave up just 1 hit, 2 walks, and 0 runs, while striking out 6 batters. In 11 innings on the season, he’s allowed 7 hits, 6 walks, and 4 runs, with 18 strikeouts.

But for as good as that performance was, it was nothing compared to RHP Mat Olsen, who struggled in his first 2 appearances with Eugene following an early-season promotion. He put that in the rear view mirror on Thursday when he faced 11 batters and didn’t allow a single one of them to put the ball in play, as he issued 2 walks and recorded all 9 outs by strikeout. Amazing.

On offense, the big hit of the day came from catcher Patrick Bailey (No. 9 CPL). Bailey stepped into the box in the bottom of the 9th inning, with 2 on, 2 out, and the game tied. He was 0-3 with 3 strikeouts.

And, like Olsen, he put that in the rearview mirror with a walk-off big fly.

After a .509 OPS in April, Bailey has a .821 OPS in May. Trending upwards!

Another nice day for shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL), who hit 2-4, and now has a .938 OPS and a 167 wRC+.

Low-A San Jose (25-17)

San Jose Giants lost to the Modesto Nuts (Mariners) 9-3
Box score

Are you getting tired of me telling you about right fielder Vaun Brown’s success? No? Well then, let me tell you how Brown hit 3-5 with a pair of doubles, and now has an OPS of 1.090 and a wRC+ of 180. The man belongs in Eugene, people.

Also a 3-hit day for second baseman Dilan Rosario, who has struggled this year. But the 3-4 day helps, and he now has a .597 OPS and a 74 wRC+. Rosario has some speed and power, but the 2019 6th-round pick has yet to hit well at any level in the Minors.

The Baby Giants piggybacking starters had an up-and-down day. RHP Will Bednar gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs in 4.1 innings, though he struck out 7 batters. He also hit someone for the 10th time in just 9 starts. Yikes.

In 32 innings this season, Bednar is doing a tremendous job limiting contact (18 hits) and putting away batters (40 strikeouts), but his issues with free bases (10 hit batters and 16 walks) have created problems with run prevention (4.50 ERA, 5.91 FIP).

Similarly, RHP Seth Lonsway allowed 5 hits and 3 runs (though just 1 earned run) in 3 innings, but struck out 7. He has 49 strikeouts in 35 innings this year, but also 23 walks.

Home runs

AAA Bryce Johnson (1)
AA Sean Roby (10)
High-A Patrick Bailey (4)

Friday schedule

Sacramento: vs. Salt Lake Bees, 6:45 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Hartford Yard Goats, 6:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Tri-City Dust Devils, 7:35 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Modesto Nuts, 7:05 p.m. PT