Minor League round up, August 9

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

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (45-61)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 16-9
Box score

The River Cats scored 16 runs despite not having a home run, thanks to 15 hits, 7 walks, and 3 errors by Salt Lake. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of nice performances to highlight.

The biggest day came from shortstop Isan Díaz, who hit 3-6 with a triple and a double, which ran his OPS up to .967 and his wRC+ to 133.

Díaz is having a lovely season but not quite forcing the issue ... it will be interesting to see if he can make his way up to the Majors at some point before the year ends. The 26 year old has appeared in each of the last 3 MLB seasons, all with the Miami Marlins.

Also a good day for designated hitter Jason Krizan, who hit 2-5 with 2 doubles and a walk. Krizan’s MLB debut didn’t last long this year, and he was outrighted, but he’s starting to bring his numbers up in Sacramento, with an .846 OPS and a 106 wRC+. If he can keep that up, he’ll probably get an offer to stay in Sacramento next year as a depth piece.

3-hit days for first baseman Jason Vosler, who also drew a walk, and catcher Andrew Knapp.

Despite the MLB success this year, Vosler has been bad in Sacramento, with a .736 OPS and a 79 wRC+, so good to see those numbers starting to trend up. And Knapp has been spectacular since the Giants added him, hitting 16-54 with 4 home runs, 3 doubles, and 2 walks in 13 games with the River Cats.

Tough pitching, which started with recently-optioned LHP Sammy Long (No. 21 CPL) getting roughed up for 3 runs in 2.2 innings. RHP R.J. Dabovich (No. 16 CPL) also had a very tough outing, surrendering 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs while recording just 1 out. After tearing through AA hitters, Dabovich’s introduction to AAA has been a struggle, as he has a 5.56 ERA, a 7.69 FIP, and 12 strikeouts to 17 walks in 11.1 innings.

But, speaking of introductions to AAA, RHP Randy Rodriguez (No. 22 CPL) made his first River Cats appearance and pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout, albeit with 2 baserunners allowed.

AA Richmond (51-51)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) 5-4 (10 innings)
Box score

Just as happened at the MLB level, the Giants AA affiliate got walked off on Tuesday.

Exactly 2 good offensive performers in this game. Right fielder/first baseman Armani Smith (No. 41 CPL), who is still looking for his footing after a midseason promotion, had the biggest hit of the day, hitting 2-4 with a home run.

He has just a .628 OPS and a 78 wRC+, but he’s sporting an .805 OPS in August. Trending upwards!

And speaking of people trending upwards, designated hitter Diego Rincones (No. 15 CPL) continues to put his slow start to the season behind him, as he hit 3-4 with a double. His full season numbers are still lagging — .663 OPS, 80 wRC+ — but he now has a 3-game hitting streak, and has had a few stretches in the last 2 months where he’s really started to put things together again.

So-so pitching, with RHP Wil Jensen getting to go deep in the game, allowing 7 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs in 6 innings of work, with 5 strikeouts. His season has been mediocre, as he has a 3.92 ERA, a 4.25 FIP, and 18 strikeouts to 9 walks in 20.2 innings. Still, has to be considered a successful season for the soon-to-be 25-year old who went undrafted in 2020, especially since he started the year in High-A.

High-A Eugene (61-39)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 4-2
Box score

A spectacular outing for one of the organization’s breakout stars of 2022, as RHP Landen Roupp gave up just 3 hits and 0 runs in 5 innings of work, while striking out 9 batters. Roupp, a 12th-round pick a year ago who turns 24 next month, started the year in Low-A and quickly proved he was too good for that level. He’s now proving he’s too good for High-A, too, as the brilliant day gave him a 1.65 ERA, a 1.26 FIP, and 43 strikeouts to 8 walks in just 27.1 innings. It seems we’ll be seeing him in Richmond soon. And I’m curious to see where he places on Giants prospect lists — including our own — this offseason.

Speaking of 2021 draftees who were too good for San Jose, RHP Mat Olsen struck out a batter in a perfect inning of relief. He’s not dominating High-A, as he has a 4.60 ERA and a 3.37 FIP, but 42 strikeouts to 19 walks in 31.1 innings is a reminder as to how much talent is in his arm.

The offense consisted of 3 players. Designated hitter Carter Williams finally got a chance to prove himself in High-A again. He began the year in Eugene, hit at about league average, and was dropped down to Low-A, where he murdered baseballs: he had a 1.094 OPS and a 197 wRC+ in 42 games. Tuesday was his return to High-A, and he hit 3-4, hopefully proving that the blistering offense is here to stay.

Center fielder Luis Matos (No. 3 CPL) had a fine day, hitting 1-3 with a double, a walk, and a hit by pitch. He’s slowly correcting his numbers after an awful start, and now has a .583 OPS and a 68 wRC+. But since July 13 he’s hitting 18-82 with 6 home runs, 5 doubles, 6 walks, and 14 strikeouts. That’s marked improvement.

The other good offensive player was, no surprise, right fielder Vaun Brown, who hit 1-3 with a walk. He has a 1.031 OPS and a 182 wRC+.

Low-A San Jose (59-44)

San Jose Giants beat the Stockton Ports (A’s) 12-2
Box score

Whole lot of offense going down in San Jose in this one. Let’s start with shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 12 CPL), who is starting to turn a lot of heads. Arteaga has been having a mediocre offensive season for much of the year, which is still enough to make him an exciting prospect, since he’s on the young side of 19 and is considered a very strong defensive prospect.

But lately the bat is really turning up. He hit 3-5 in this game with both a double (his 28th!) and a home run (his 11th!), which brought him right up to league average: .765 OPS, 99 wRC+.

He’s got an .857 OPS so far in August, and is officially someone you should be really excited about.

But even his great day couldn’t compete with catcher Adrian Sugastey (No. 27 CPL), who hit a perfect 4-4 with a home run, a double, and a walk.

Sugastey isn’t as strong of a defensive prospect as Arteaga, but he is exciting for the same general reasons: he’s 19, yet holding his own offensively in Low-A (.733 OPS, 97 wRC+), while playing a premier defensive position.

Rounding out the homer party was a familiar source: center fielder Grant McCray (No. 34 CPL), who also was hit by a pitch, bumping his OPS to .891 and his wRC+ to 128.

He’s not as young as Sugastey and Arteaga (he’s 21), but is stringing together an excellent offensive season while playing phenomenal defense at, again, a premier position. I’d guess all 3 of these names move up quite a bit on our CPL next year.

And a less-known name to keep an eye on? Left fielder Jared Dupere, who hit 2-3 with a double and 2 walks in this game, bringing his OPS up to 1.013 and his wRC+ to 156. Last year’s 13th-round pick may be in Eugene soon.

Rather uneventful pitching, but RHP Trevor McDonald allowed just 1 unearned run in 4 innings, giving up 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. His numbers this year are fantastic: 2.52 ERA, 3.33 FIP, and 89 strikeouts to 28 walks in 75 innings. Given that he’s putting up those numbers and is younger than McCray, we should probably be paying more attention to him.

ACL Orange (12-33)

ACL Giants Orange beat the ACL D-backs Red 8-1 (7 innings)
Box score

It’s extremely early, but catcher Zach Morgan (22, 2022 7th-round) certainly looks like a nice selection. He’s making rookie ball look easy, as he hit 2-3 with a double in this one, giving him 4 hits and a walk in his first 11 professional plate appearances. Keep it up, Zach!

Also a very nice day for shortstop Diego Velasquez (18, 2020 J2), who hit 3-4, raising his OPS to .706 and his wRC+ to 101. Hitting at league average as an 18-year old at a high-value defensive position is great.

Perhaps most importantly, though, designated hitter Will Wilson (No. 18 CPL) made a rehab appearance, hitting 2-2. It was his first game since June 22, when he was injured just 7 games after getting promoted to AAA.

Little of note pitching. RHP Brayan Palencia (19, 2020 J2) gave up 6 baserunners and 1 run in 4 innings, with 4 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 4.11 and his FIP to 4.98. But his strikeout to walk ratio remains nice, with 36 to 8 in 35 innings.

ACL Black (30-14)

ACL Giants Black beat the ACL Rockies 8-2 (7 innings)
Box score

Some fun performances of note. The big hit came from first baseman Javier Francisco (19, 2019 J2), which was his first ACL home run. He has a .524 OPS and a 52 wRC+, but his at-bats have been much better lately.

Also of note was another rehab performance from shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL), who hit 1-3 with a double. He’ll be back in Eugene very soon.

A few recent draftees suited up, with center fielder Wade Meckler (22, 2022 8th-round) and designated hitter Thomas Gavello (21, 2022 13th-round) both hitting 1-3 and drawing a walk, while right fielder Tanner O’Tremba (22, 2022 15th-round) doubled.

Catcher Onil Perez (19, 2019 J2), continues to heat up, as he hit 2-4 with a double to raise his OPS to .700 and his wRC+ to 94.

On the pitching front, RHP Miguel Mora (20, 2019 J2) gave up just 4 baserunners in 5 innings, with 1 unearned run. He has a nice 3.35 ERA and a 3.40 FIP to go with 12.4 strikeouts per 9 innings, but he’s struggling with walks still (he had 3 in this game).

DSL Orange (20-27)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Tigers 2, 11-0 (7 innings)
Box score

A very bad game for the Giants Orange team, with only one performance that I’ll highlight: catcher Diego Gonzalez (18, 2020 J2), who hit 1-2 with a triple and a walk. His season numbers remain low — he has a .589 OPS and a 73 wRC+ — but that’s 3 straight games where he’s had both a hit and a walk.

DSL Black (17-32)

DSL Giants Black lost to the DSL Rockies 4-3 (8 innings)
Box score

Despite almost winning, the Giants Black team really didn’t do anything of note. They only had 2 hits all day, though they managed to turn those into 3 runs (with the help of some errors). The notable hit came from center fielder Luis Frias (18, 2021 J2), who hit 1-3 with a home run, the first of his career. Congrats, Luis! He now has a .687 OPS and a 98 wRC+ in his debut professional season.

Speaking of debut seasons, RHP Carlos Gazo (18, 2021 J2) made his professional debut and pitched a scoreless inning. Whether he fans out in the DSL or becomes an All-Star, that’s a moment he won’t ever forget.

Home runs

AA Armani Smith (2)
Low-A Grant McCray (17)
Low-A Aeverson Arteaga (11)
Low-A Adrian Sugastey (5)
ACL Javier Francisco (1)
DSL Luis Frias (1)

News

In addition to the aforementioned promotion of RHP Randy Rodriguez, infielder Casey Schmitt (No. 24 CPL) and RHPs Melvin Adon and Ofelky Perez were promoted from High-A to AA, while RHPs Yoniel Ramirez and Willian Suarez were bumped up from the ACL to Low-A.

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: @ the Salt Lake Bees (Angels), 5:35 p.m. PT
Richmond: @ the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox), 3:00 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays), 6:35 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. the Stockton Ports (A’s), 1:00 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: Off
ACL Black: Off
DSL Orange: Off
DSL Black: Off