Minor League round up, June 15

Six of the San Francisco Giants eight Minor League affiliates were in action on Wednesday. Let’s see how they did.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (24-38)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) 4-1
Box score

A fairly lackluster day for Sacramento, especially on offense, where the River Cats recorded just 3 hits, and drew 2 walks while striking out 13 times. But shortstop Will Wilson (No. 18 CPL), playing in his 2nd game since getting promoted, popped a double, and is 2-7 since joining Sacramento.

Center fielder Steven Duggar, who has been rehabbing in Sacramento for the last week or so (he remains on the 60-day IL) hit 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. He’s currently hitting 7-33 during his rehab stint, with 11 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 0 extra-base hits. Not good, but then again, that’s what rehab assignments are for.

The pitching was better, but not by a ton, as Sacramento issued more walks (8) than they had strikeouts (7). RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 30 CPL), who is very much trending in the right direction, pitched 3 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts.

But RHP Kervin Castro (No. 26 CPL) continued his struggles, walking 2 and allowing a run in an inning of work. Castro now has 20 walks in 20 innings, with just 19 strikeouts, to accompany a 5.85 ERA.

LHP Joe Palumbo, an intriguing offseason signing, made his Sacramento debut after starting the season injured, and making 2 rehab appearances in the ACL. He gave up 3 hits and a run in an inning, with 1 strikeout.

AA Richmond (34-25)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 3-1
Box score

A very nice pitching performance by the Flying Squirrels, highlighted by a start from the organization’s top pitching prospect, LHP Kyle Harrison (No. 5 CPL), who struck out 8 batters in 6 innings, allowing just 1 unearned run. Harrison only gave up 3 hits, but did issue 4 walks (while also hitting a batter).

That will be the next area for him to work on, as he’s allowed 12 walks and 2 hit batters in 19.1 innings since getting promoted ... but he’s struck out 30 batters.

The bullpen was strong and didn’t allow a run, which was highlighted by a 3-strikeout inning from LHP Chris Wright (No. 29 CPL), and a 2-strikeout inning from RHP Cole Waites. Wright now has a 2.45 ERA and 4.25 FIP, while Waites sits at 2.25 and 1.68, respectively.

There were a pair of stars on offense. Shortstop Shane Matheny hit 1-2 with a home run and 2 walks, which raised his OPS to .967 and his wRC+ to 169 (nice).

With Wilson’s recent promotion, I’m not 100% sure if there’s a pathway towards a Matheny promotion, but he’ll deserve it when it comes.

Center fielder Michael Gigliotti reached base 4 times, hitting 2-3 with 2 walks, and stealing 3 bases. He now has a .790 OPS and a 127 wRC+.

Designated hitter Ricardo Genovés (No. 20 CPL), making his AA debut after starting the season in AAA (and having skipped AA), hit 1-3 with a walk.

High-A Eugene (32-22)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 9-8 (10 innings)
Box score

Offense! And lots of it, even if the Emeralds gave up a pair of runs in the 10th inning to lose the game.

Third baseman Casey Schmitt (No. 24 CPL), who has cooled off a touch since a brilliant start to the year, showed off his swing again, hitting 2-4 with a home run and 2 walks.

An .885 OPS and a 153 wRC+ sure look nice on that kind of defense.

Also homering was first baseman/left fielder Carter Aldrete, who singled and walked as well, bumping his OPS to .862 and his wRC+ to 142. What a season he’s having, though he’s very much on the older side for this level (he’ll turn 25 in October).

Shortstop Ghordy Santos added a 3-hit day that included a double (though he had 2 errors), while center fielder Luis Matos (No. 3 CPL) hit 2-5 with a double. Matos was ice cold to start the year, and then got injured. He hasn’t been hitting well since returning, but the last few games have been steps in the right direction.

Not much of note on the pitching front, as RHP Wil Jensen, who has had a good year, got rocked a bit, allowing 6 runs and 4 earned runs in 3 innings.

Low-A San Jose (33-26)

San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 12-6
Box score

Well needless to say, the Baby Giants played some good offense on Wednesday. And some of it came from some dudes who are new to the team.

Left fielder Carter Williams, playing in his first game with San Jose after starting the year in Eugene, hit 2-3 with a homer and a walk.

Also homering was catcher Ronaldo Flores, who, like Williams, was playing his first game in Low-A after starting things in High-A.

It’s unclear if they were demoted, or just spending some time with San Jose while Eugene is in Canada (where you need both a passport and a vaccine).

Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle wasn’t playing his first game with San Jose, but he was playing just his second game there (he started the year with Miami’s AA affiliate, but had only played in the ACL since joining San Francisco). He showed out, hitting 3-5 and finishing a homer shy of the cycle.

Shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 12 CPL) also homered, continuing his excellent season (especially when his age is factored in), as he has an .802 OPS and a 110 wRC+, though he committed 2 errors.

And since it was a day that ends in Y, designated Hitter Vaun Brown hit 3-4 with a double and a walk, raising his OPS to 1.067 and his wRC+ to 174. Promotion time? Maaaaaybe?

LHP Matt Mikulski (No. 14 CPL) had another tough start, allowing 5 earned runs in 4.1 innings, raising his ERA to 5.55 and his FIP to 5.08. The hits and runs remain an issue, though the strikeout to walk ratio is nice (50 to 14 in 48.2 innings).

DSL

Giants Black (3-5) beat Giants Orange (2-5) 6-5 (7 innings)
Box scores

Some good performances in the intra-organization game.

For the winning Giants Black team, the star was first baseman Javier Francisco (19, 2019 J2), who hit 2-3 with a triple. The Fernando Tatis Jr. comparisons from Fernando Tatis Sr. were probably a touch optimistic, but Francisco has started the year hitting 8-18 with a homer, a triple, a double, 2 walks, and no strikeouts. Excellent!

Center fielder Luis Frias (17, 2021 J2) reached base 3 times, hitting 2-3 with a walk.

LHP Johnny Grullon (19, 2019 J2) had a decent game, allowing 2 runs in 4.1 innings, with 3 strikeouts.

On the other side, third baseman Jose Ramos (19, 2019 J2) hit 1-2 with a triple, a walk, and a stolen base (though also 2 errors). Right fielder Jediael Maduro (18, 2020 J2) also had a nice game, hitting 2-3 with a double and a walk.

RHP Ismael Mota (20, 2019 J2) gave up 2 runs in 4 innings, but both runs were unearned. He only struck out 1 batter, though.

Home runs

AA Shane Matheny (7)
High-A Ghordy Santos (10)
High-A Casey Schmitt (9)
Low-A Aeverson Arteaga (7)
Low-A Carter Williams (1)
Low-A Ronaldo Flores (1)

Notes

A few personnel moves, including moving last year’s 5th-round pick, LHP Rohan Handa, to the 60-day IL. Handa has yet to make his professional debut.

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: @ Tacoma Rainiers
Richmond: @ Harrisburg Senators
Eugene: @ Vancouver Canadians
San Jose: vs. Fresno Grizzlies
ACL Orange: vs. Angels
ACL Black: vs. D-backs Red
DSL Orange: vs. Twins
DSL Black: vs. Mariners