Minor League round up, July 12

All eight of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action on Tuesday, so let’s jump straight into it.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (37-48)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) 5-2
Box score

Bit of a funny start for RHP Tristan Beck, who gave up 7 baserunners in 5 innings (totally fine) and struck out 10 (fantastic!). He also gave up 5 earned runs (very bad!).

That’s been the story of Beck’s season since getting promoted. There’s been a lot to be excited about and a lot to dislike in a year that’s culminated in a 7.13 ERA, a 4.65 FIP, and 60 strikeouts to 22 walks in 59.1 innings.

A nice showing from RHP Kervin Castro (No. 26 CPL), who allowed just 1 hit in 2 scoreless innings, while striking out 2. Castro has not issued a walk in his last 4 outings (5 innings), after giving up 22 in his first 20 outings (23 innings). Great to see.

Three notable days on offense, as the team struggled. Third baseman Jason Vosler hit 1-3 with a home run and a walk, which raised his OPS to .726 and his wRC+ to 76.

With the emergence of David Villar (No. 19 CPL) in San Francisco, and Villar’s ability to hit righties, Vosler probably needs a few more days like this to stick around on the roster.

First baseman Jason Krizan hit 2-4 with a triple, which bumped his OPS to .761 and his wRC+ to 88.

Center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL) hit 1-2 with a walk and a double, raising his OPS to .660 and his wRC+ to 67. His July OPS is .758, which is a nice improvement over his struggles earlier in the year.

AA Richmond (45-37)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 6-4
Box score

Bit of a funny offensive experience, as the Flying Squirrels scored 6 runs, despite just 4 hits (3 singles and a double) and 3 walks. Third baseman Sean Roby, who hit a pretty big slump through the end of May and June, continues to bounce back ... despite hitting 0-1, he reached base 3 times, thanks to a walk and being hit twice, which raised his OPS to .806 and his wRC+ to 115.

Center fielder Michael Gigliotti also reached base 3 times, with a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch ... and then he proceeded to steal his 20th and 21st bases of the year.

Some good and bad stuff from RHP Kai-Wei Teng (No. 44 CPL), who gave up 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings, but limited the damage to 2 runs while striking out 7 batters. He now has 94 strikeouts in 86 innings ... but with 45 walks.

RHP Blake Rivera faced 4 batters and retired all 4 of them, 3 by way of strikeout. After a slow start to the season, Rivera has 11 straight appearances without allowing an earned run. During that time he has the following line: 18.1 innings, 6 hits, 7 walks, 2 runs, 0 earned runs, and 19 strikeouts. It will be interesting to see if the Giants return him to a starting role at some point, or if he’s now a full-time reliever.

High-A Eugene (46-33)

Eugene Emeralds lost to Spokane (Rockies) 9-0
Box score

A very rough outing for the first 2 Emeralds pitchers on Tuesday, as RHP Keaton Winn allowed 7 hits and 2 runs in 4 innings, while hitting 3 batters (he also had a balk and a wild pitch). RHP Nick Morreale relieved him and only recorded 2 outs while giving up 6 runs.

But then things got much nicer, as Eugene turned the ball over to RHP Randy Rodriguez (No. 22 CPL), who pitched a perfect 2.1 innings, and struck out 6 of the 7 batters he faced. Rodriguez now has 71 strikeouts to 24 walks in 50.2 innings, and lowered his ERA to 3.38 and his FIP to 3.88.

The offense did next to nothing, with just 4 hits, 2 walks, and no extra-base hits. DH Jairo Pomares (No. 7 CPL) and shortstop Casey Schmitt (No. 24 CPL) both had strikeout hat tricks.

Low-A San Jose (46-36)

San Jose Giants lost to the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks) 5-4 (10 innings)
Box score

Not something you see often in a box score: every pitcher for the Giants pitched the same amount of innings. In a 10-inning game, the team turned to 5 different pitchers, and all 5 pitched exactly 2 innings. Meaningless, but fun.

No good pitching performances of note, but another rough outing from LHP Esmerlin Vinicio (No. 40 CPL), who gave up 5 baserunners and 3 runs in his 2 innings, albeit with 4 strikeouts. It’s been a bad 2nd pro season for Vinicio, but he’s still very young (he only turned 19 on January 31), so the future remains bright.

An excellent day at the office for first baseman Victor Bericoto, who hit 3-4 with a home run and a walk, which raised his OPS to .761 and his wRC+ to 100.

Center fielder Grant McCray (No. 34 CPL) also homered, while third baseman Yorlis Rodriguez reached base 3 times, hitting 1-3 with 2 walks.

ACL Orange (7-20)

ACL Giants Orange lost to the ACL D-backs Black 3-1 (7 innings)
Box score

A very uninteresting offensive day for the Giants Orange team, as they had just 2 hits, both singles. Only one player reached base multiple times — rehabbing second baseman Jimmy Glowenke (No. 43 CPL), who drew a walk and was hit by a pitch.

Speaking of rehabbing, RHP Melvin Adon pitched a scoreless inning to start the game. Will be interesting to see what the former highly-touted prospect can do at a higher level after so much time lost to injury.

RHP Lisander De La Cruz (20, 2019 J2) pitched 4 innings and gave up 3 hits, 0 walks, 2 runs, and 1 earned run, with 3 strikeouts. He has 19 strikeouts to 6 walks in 16.1 innings this year, to accompany a 3.86 ERA and a 4.02 FIP.

ACL Black (18-7)

ACL Giants Black beat the ACL Angels 17-6
Box score

Cycle alert!! Yep, the Giants Black team had a coveted cycle, this one courtesy of center fielder P.J. Hilson (21, 2018 6th-round). Not only did Hilson hit 4-5 with a sample platter of all the hits, but he drew a walk and was hit by a pitch. That’s like the uber-cycle!

The brilliant day bumped Hilson’s OPS up to .874 and his wRC+ to 131.

It was a brilliant offensive day, as you could probably surmise from the 17 runs. DH Wyatt Mathisen had yet another excellent rehab appearance, hitting a home run and drawing 3 walks. He’s 3-8 with 4 walks and 2 home runs in the ACL, so I’d say his rehab stint won’t last long, and he’ll be back in Sacramento soon.

Mathisen wasn’t the only player to draw walks, as the team had a stunning 14 bases on balls on the day. First baseman Jean Pena (21, 2017 J2) drew 2 of them while knocking 2 singles as well, which gave him a .618 OPS and a 74 wRC+.

Third baseman Elian Rayo (19, 2019 J2) and second baseman Dilan Rosario (21, 2019 6th-round) both reached base 3 times and doubled. It gave Rayo a .765 OPS and a 113 wRC+, while Rosario now has a .522 OPS and a 75 wRC+.

LHP Carson Ragsdale (No. 36 CPL) struck out 2 in a scoreless 1st inning. It was Ragsdale’s 2nd appearance of the season after missing the first few months with injury. He’s rehabbing in the ACL, and will head to an A-ball affiliate soon.

DSL Orange (13-14)

DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Rockies 2-1 (7 innings)
Box score

An excellent start from RHP Ismael Mota (20, 2019 J2), who gave up just 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in 5 innings, while striking out 8 batters. Mota has been exquisite in his last 2 starts, and has lowered his ERA to 1.88, though his FIP still sits at 4.30, in large part due to a high walk rate.

2 position players had nice days. Third baseman Yeison Lemos (19, 2019 J2) hit 1-2 with a home run, and he’ll be looking for more days like that, as he has just a .450 OPS and a 21 wRC. And right fielder Estanlin Cassiani (19, 2019 J2) hit 2-3 with a triple, which added to his excellent batting line, as he now has an .831 OPS and a 129 wRC+.

DSL Black (11-16)

DSL Giants Black lost to DSL Colorado 2-1 (7 innings)
Box score

Yes, that’s right. The Giants DSL teams split a pair a 7-inning, 2-1 games against the Colorado Rockies DSL teams.

Very little of note in this one. The Giants Black team had 0 walks and just 3 hits, with a double from center fielder Fabio Villadiego (18, 2020 J2) representing the only offense worth talking about. He’s got a .701 OPS and a 103 wRC+.

RHP Johnny Grullon (20, 2019 J2) pitched 5 innings, giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs, and 1 earned run, with 3 strikeouts. He has a 3.86 ERA, but has sill issued 20 walks (to just 14 strikeouts) in 21 innings.

Home runs

AAA Jason Vosler (9)
Low-A Grant McCray (13)
Low-A Victor Bericoto (8)
ACL P.J. Hilson (4)
ACL Wyatt Mathisen (2)
DSL Yeison Lemos (2)

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: vs. Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies)
Richmond: @ Altoona Curve (Pirates)
Eugene: vs. Spokane (Rockies)
San Jose: vs. Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks)
ACL Orange: Off
ACL Black: vs. ACL Royals
DSL Orange: vs. DSL Giants Black
DSL Black: vs. DSL Giants Orange