Minor League round up, July 27

The San Francisco Giants ACL teams were off on Wednesday, but their six other Minor League Baseball affiliates were all in action, so let’s take a look.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (42-53)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Round Rock Express (Rangers) 10-8
Box score

Quite a comeback by the River Cats, who overcame an early 8-0 deficit after RHP Bryan Brickhouse and LHP Enmanuel De Jesus had very tough outings.

After that pair, 6 relievers combined to throw 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up just 2 hits ... but 7 walks, as Sacramento issued a whopping 12 free passes on the day.

LHP Ben Bowden, whom the Giants traded for from the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, made his organizational debut and struck out 2 in a perfect inning. RHP R.J. Dabovich (No. 16 CPL) pitched a scoreless inning but walked 2, and now has 11 walks in just 8.1 innings since getting promoted, with 8 strikeouts.

The offense was reliant on the long ball, with 3 home runs leading to 7 runs. Center fielder Bryce Johnson only hit 1-5, but his lone hit was a 3-run blast.

With a .759 OPS and a 92 wRC+, Johnson just hasn’t been able to really get it going in his 2nd-straight year in AAA, but nice to see the occasional homer.

Also hitting a 3-run shot was third baseman Wyatt Mathisen, who also singled, bringing his OPS to .675 and his wRC+ to 65.

Tough year for him, made worse by the injuries he’s dealt with.

And left fielder Willie Calhoun homered!

He’s been putting together very nice at bats since getting traded to San Francisco, as he has an .879 OPS and a 123 wRC+ with Sacramento.

Also nice days for designated hitter Ka’ai Tom, who hit 1-2 with 3 walks (.788 OPS, 99 wRC+), second baseman/shortstop Isan Díaz, who hit 2-4 with a walk and a stolen base (.940 OPS, 126 wRC+), and right fielder Austin Dean, who hit 3-4 with a double and a walk (.786 OPS, 90 wRC+).

Catcher Curt Casali made his first rehab appearance and struck out in all 3 of his plate appearances.

AA Richmond (47-44)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 6-0
Box score

The Flying Squirrels had 2 straight off days (scheduled on Monday, postponed on Tuesday), but apparently thought it was 3, as they didn’t show up on Wednesday. The offense had just 2 hits (both singles) and 3 walks, with no one reaching base multiple times. The pitching wasn’t terrible, but certainly wasn’t inspiring, either.

LHP Jake Dahlberg had an odd start, with some good (just 2 runs in 5.1 innings), some mediocre (5 hits, 2 walks, and 1 hit batter), and some bad (just 1 strikeout). Hard to get too excited about a 4.54 ERA and a 4.81 FIP for a 28-year old in AA.

RHP Randy Rodriguez (No. 22 CPL) made his 3rd appearance since getting promoted, and just like the 1st one, it didn’t go so hot (the middle one went well though!). In 1.1 innings, he gave up 1 hit, 2 walks, 1 hit batter, and 1 run, with 1 strikeout.

High-A Eugene (54-35)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 5-4
Box score

For the 2nd time in as many nights, the Emeralds beat the Hops 5-4, though this time they sustained a late rally after taking a 5-0 lead.

Suddenly it’s third baseman Luis Toribio’s (No. 39 CPL) world and we’re all just living in it. The 21-year old left-handed slugger had yet another sensational game, hitting 1-2 with a home run and 2 walks.

His season numbers are good — .807 OPS, 127 wRC+. But his recent numbers are even better. He’s sporting a .943 OPS in July, and in his last 10 games is 12-36 with 6 home runs, 1 double, and 6 walks. Toribio was considered a very exciting prospect after putting up stellar numbers in rookie ball as an 18-year old in 2019. But after the pandemic-lost 2020 season, he was a below-average bat (95 wRC+) in Low-A a year ago. The Giants still started him in High-A this year, and he’s opening a ton of eyes.

Also homering was designated hitter Jairo Pomares (No. 7 CPL), who hit 1-2 with a walk. Pomares is floating around in that awkward area of not doing well enough to justify how high we’ve all been on him, but not doing poorly enough to be of concern, either. He has a .708 OPS and a 102 wRC+ on the season.

Catcher Patrick Bailey (No. 9 CPL) had a 2nd-straight strong game, which is good to see, hitting 1-3 with a double and a walk, and also stealing his first base of the year. He has a .673 OPS and a 93 wRC+.

Awesome starting pitching from one of the breakout arms of the year, RHP Landen Roupp. It was Roupp’s 4th start since getting promoted, and he allowed just 2 hits and 1 walk in 4 scoreless innings, while striking out 6. Since moving to High-A, Roupp has a 1.96 ERA, a 1.12 FIP, and 29 strikeouts to 5 walks in 18.1 innings. It certainly looks like the Giants found something exciting in the 12th round of last year’s draft.

Low-A San Jose (54-38)

San Jose Giants beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) 6-0
Box score

Never a bad day to shut out a Dodgers affiliate!

Some spectacular pitching in this one, mainly with the piggybacking starters from the 2021 draft. Starting it off was last year’s 6th-round pick, LHP Seth Lonsway, who gave up 1 hit and 3 walks in 4 scoreless innings, while striking out 7 batters. He currently has a 3.56 ERA and a 4.23 FIP, with an excellent 84 strikeouts in 65.2 innings, though he’s issued 38 walks.

Then it was last year’s 2nd-round pick, LHP Matt Mikulski (No. 14 CPL). Mikulski was making just his 3rd appearance this month, as he’s been dealing with injuries, but this was a good one: 3 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 0 runs, 5 strikeouts. His season numbers still aren’t good, as he has a 4.88 ERA and a 4.80 FIP, but after a brutal June in which he allowed 16 earned runs in 22.1 innings, Mikulski is having a better July (albeit in the aforementioned limited time). In his 3 appearances he’s thrown 9.1 innings and allowed 10 hits, 4 walks, 4 runs, and 1 earned run, with 12 strikeouts. Still a lot of work to do, but that’s progress.

On offense it was, predictably, another great game from center fielder Grant McCray (No. 34 CPL), who hit 3-4 with a double, a walk, and his 27th stolen base of the season. McCray has an .899 OPS and a 130 wRC+, and in his last 3 games is hitting 11-16 with 1 homer, 1 double, and 1 walk.

Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle also had a good game, hitting 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 stolen bases to bump his OPS to .786 and his wRC+ to 113.

DSL Orange (16-21)

DSL Giants Orange suspended in the 5th inning while losing to the DSL Phillies White 5-0
Box score

Only a partial game here, and a bad one at that. The game was suspended with 2 outs in the top of the 5th inning, an inning in which the Giants Orange squad had already surrendered 4 runs. All the damage came against RHP Jose Rojas (18, 2020 J2), who gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs in 4.2 innings of work.

Not much on offense. Catcher Eduardo Montero (18, 2020 J2) drew 2 walks, which was the highlight, while third baseman Dennys Riera (17, 2021 J2) continues to be red hot after a brutal start to the year, as he hit 1-2.

DSL Black (14-25)

DSL Giants Black lost to the DSL Nationals 2-0 (7 innings)
Box score

Another dreadful offensive game, with the Giants Black team having just 1 hit and 1 walk all game long.

But there was some nice pitching, particularly from RHP Luis Bermudez (18, 2021 J2), who struck out a whopping 10 batters in 5 innings, giving up just 3 hits, 0 walks, and 2 runs (though he hit 2 batters). Bermudez has a brilliant 1.31 ERA, though a 3.46 FIP, and now has 30 strikeouts to 8 walks in 34.1 innings.

Home runs

AAA Willie Calhoun (8)
AAA Bryce Johnson (5)
AAA Wyatt Mathisen (5)
High-A Luis Toribio (16)
High-A Jairo Pomares (10)

News

RHP Jorge Guzman — who has MLB experience in 2020 and 2021 with the Miami Marlins — has been moved from High-A to AA. After recovering from an injury, the Giants gave him a few innings in the ACL, at Low-A, at High-A, and now in AA.

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: @ Round Rock Express (Rangers)
Richmond: vs. Somerset Patriots (Yankees)
Eugene: vs. the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks)
San Jose: vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)
ACL Orange: vs. ACL D-backs Red
ACL Black: vs. ACL Rockies
DSL Orange: vs. DSL Giants Black
DSL Black: vs. DSL Giants Orange