Minor League round up, June 5

Some good news! The Arizona Complex League and Dominican Summer League both kick off today, meaning that tomorrow we’ll get twice as many San Francisco Giants Minor League teams to start talking about!

Now let’s dive into Sunday’s action.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (22-32)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 11-10
Box score

The River Cats mounted a furious rally after trailing 6-0 through 5 innings. But after taking a 10-8 lead into the 9th inning, RHP Patrick Ruotolo gave up 3 runs, including the walf-off run, and Sacramento fell to 10 games below .500.

The offense saw a great game from second baseman Jason Krizan, who is hoping to rejoin the MLB roster at some point this season (though he’ll need to rejoin the 40-man, first). He hit 3-5 and finished a home run shy of the cycle. It still hasn’t been a fruitful year in AAA for him, but certainly a good day.

Two depth pieces hit big flies, with right fielder Austin Dean and third baseman Isan Díaz both homering and drawing a walk.

Decent seasons for each (.914 OPS/117 wRC+ for Dean, .863 OPS/109 wRC+ for Díaz).

Center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL) had a strikeout hat trick, but also singled twice. After having a really rough yeah, Ramos has started to find a rhythm lately. In his last 6 games he’s hitting 10-24 with 2 home runs, 1 double, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts.

AA Richmond (28-23)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 4-3
Box score

A good day for a pair of catchers. Brandon Martorano, who has been really swinging the bat well lately, hit 2-4 with a triple and a double, raising his OPS to .872 and his wRC+ to 136.

I’ve said it many times this year, but Martorano — a 16th-round pick in 2019 — is trying very hard to enter the discussion at a very talented position in the farm (there were 5 catchers in this year’s CPL, and that didn’t include recent notable international signee Juan Perez).

But center fielder Brett Auerbach (No. 28 CPL), who also plays catcher (and nearly every other position), had a swell day as well, hitting 2-4 with a double and a walk. Auerbach has been struggling mightily since returning from a serious illness, but is starting to right the ship again.

Speaking of righting the ship, third baseman Sean Roby would love to do that sometime. He hit 0-4 with 2 strikeouts, and continues to be ice cold after a blistering hot start to the season. Roby had a 1.012 OPS in April, and started May strong. But in his last 16 games, he’s hitting 9-65, albeit with 4 home runs and a double. He has just 2 walks in that time, with a whopping 31 strikeouts.

RHP Matt Frisbee couldn’t build on his great start last time out, as he allowed 11 baserunners and 4 earned runs in 6 innings of work, raising his ERA to 4.54 and his FIP to 4.27.

High-A Eugene (26-20)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 5-1
Box score

Not a good day for the organization’s most talent-stacked roster.

First baseman Luis Toribio (No. 39 CPL) had a very nice day, hitting 2-3 with a home run and a double, and accounting for half of the team’s hits. It hasn’t been a great year for him (.675 OPS, 99 wRC+), but he’s had some very nice games.

Center fielder Hunter Bishop (No. 10 CPL), who has been much better lately, also doubled, but the rest of the team was ice cold. Catcher Patrick Bailey (No. 9 CPL), shortstop Casey Schmitt (No. 24 CPL), and third baseman Carter Aldrete all hit 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.

LHP Nick Swiney (No. 17 CPL) struck out 6 in 4 innings, but also gave up 4 earned runs. RHPs Juan Sanchez and Ty Weber had very nice appearances from the bullpen.

Low-A San Jose (30-21)

San Jose Giants beat the Stockton Ports (A’s) 6-5
Box score

A great day for designated hitter Grant McCray (No. 34 CPL), who started the season hotter than hot, but has cooled off significantly lately. He hit 4-5 with a double, raising his OPS to .896 and his WRC+ to 135. Still a good season for him.

He also stole a base for the 14th time this season, while left fielder Vaun Brown, the team’s best hitter this year by far, stole his 21st (!!!) base.

A pair of players homered: right fielder Victor Bericoto (.790 OPS/116 wRC+), and catcher Max Wright (.648 OPS/95 wRC+).

RHP Keaton Winn had an OK day, allowing just 2 earned runs in 5 innings of work, but registering only 2 strikeouts. But RHP Julio Rodriguez had an excellent inning of relief, allowing 1 hit in a scoreless inning, and striking out the side.

Home runs

AAA Austin Dean (11)
AAA Isan Díaz (7)
High-A Luis Toribio (4)
Low-A Victor Bericoto (5)
Low-A Max Wright (1)

News

The ACL and DSL teams released their rosters. Here they are:

ACL Orange
ACL Black
DSL Orange
DSL Black

Monday schedule

Sacramento: Off
Richmond: Off
Eugene: Off
San Jose: Off
ACL Orange: vs. ACL Rockies
ACL Black: @ ACL D-backs Black
DSL Orange: @ DSL White Sox
DSL Black: vs. DSL Phillies White