Minor League round up, August 16

All eight of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action on Tuesday, and there were some fun performances. Let’s jump in.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (49-64)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 12-1
Box score

Well, pretty bad game here. Not surprisingly, the pitching did very little, with another rough go of it for RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 30 CPL), who is trying hard to catch up to Jason Vosler in the race for “biggest discrepancy between how good you are in the Majors and how bad you are in AAA this year.” Hjelle only pitched 3 innings, but allowed 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs, with 2 strikeouts, bumping his ERA to 5.21 and his WHIP to 1.59.

In 7 starts since getting optioned, Hjelle has the following unfortunate line: 30.2 innings, 42 hits, 20 walks, 27 runs, 22 earned runs, and 18 strikeouts. Yikes.

Also another tough outing for LHP Joey Marciano, who gave up a hit, 3 walks, and a run in an inning of work. Marciano kept his ERA a mile ahead of his FIP most of the year, but has now allowed 9 runs in 4.2 innings this month, giving up runs in all 5 of his appearances.

But RHP Randy Rodriguez (No. 22 CPL), making his 3rd appearance since getting promoted, had a lovely game, striking out 3 in 1.2 innings, allowing just a walk.

And there was a position player pitching, as Jason Krizan recorded Sacramento’s final out.

Third baseman David Villar (No. 19 CPL) had the best offensive day, hitting 2-5 with a double as he continues to look ready for whenever San Francisco calls his number again.

Another hitless day for designated hitter Yermín Mercedes, who is now just 3-18, with all the hits being singles, since getting optioned.

AA Richmond (52-56)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets) 8-2
Box score

Well, sometimes things change quickly. In his 1st start since setting a Richmond franchise record with 13 strikeouts, RHP Matt Frisbee had a tough go of things. He did make it through 6 innings, but allowed 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and 7 runs, with just 3 strikeouts. Hopefully the future holds more of last week’s Frisbee and less of this week’s.

Replacing him was RHP Ryan Walker, who struck out 4 in 2 scoreless innings. He’s rocking a 3.08 ERA, with a lot of strikeouts but a lot of walks (44 and 21, respectively, in 38 innings).

Another nice outing from third baseman Casey Schmitt (No. 24 CPL), who hit 1-3 with a double and a walk. He continues to look very comfortable in AA following last week’s promotion: in 6 games with Richmond he’s hitting 9-23 with 1 triple, 3 doubles, 3 walks, and just 5 strikeouts.

Designated hitter Riley Mahan also continues to make the transition to AA look smooth. His 2-4 day with a double bumped his OPS to .900 in 8 games with the Flying Squirrels

High-A Eugene (66-40)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 9-1
Box score

RHP Landen Roupp continues to cement his place as one of the breakout stars of the farm this season. The team’s 12th-round pick in last year’s draft pitched 5 innings, giving up just 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run while striking out 9 batters. That gives him 18 strikeouts against just 4 hits and 3 walks in his last 2 outings (10 innings).

His entire run in Eugene has been spectacular. In 7 games he has a 1.67 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP, with 52 strikeouts to 9 walks in 32.1 innings. Sensational.

The bullpen was also great, highlighted by 2-strikeout, scoreless innings from RHP Nick Morreale and LHP Juan Sanchez, the latter of whom now has 62 strikeouts in 45.2 innings, albeit with 25 walks.

Good hitting all around, as the ranked prospects in Eugene’s lineup continue to turn their seasons around. Catcher Patrick Bailey (No. 9 CPL) hit 1-4 with a home run and a walk, which gives him a .933 OPS in August ... and bumps his season OPS up to .722, a little above league average.

Shortstop Jimmy Glowenke (No. 43 CPL) continues to look like a different hitter since returning from the Injured List. He hit 2-4 with a home run, giving him an OPS of .698 ... but making him 16-67 with 5 home runs, 3 doubles, and 7 walks since returning.

And center fielder Luis Matos (No. 3 CPL) continues to put his awful year behind him with a blistering August, as he smacked 2-5 with a double. An .885 OPS in this month has him once again looking like a stellar prospect.

Reaching base 3 times were designated hitter Andy Thomas, who hit 0-1 with 3 walks, and first baseman Robert Emery, who hit 2-3 with a walk.

Low-A San Jose (61-48)

San Jose Giants lost to the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) 4-3
Box score

The Baby Giants offense could be split into 2 parties on Tuesday: Grant McCray (No. 34 CPL), and Not Grant McCray.

McCray’s teammates hit just 4-31 with 1 walk, 0 extra-base hits, 1 RBI, and 10 strikeouts. McCray, meanwhile, hit 3-4 with a home run, a double, 2 RBI, and 0 strikeouts.

He’s good. And he now has a .914 OPS, which is quite nice for the league (and for a 21 year old).

The pitching was meh. RHP Manuel Mercedes (No. 21 CPL) allowed just 1 run in 4 innings, which is progress considering his 6.00 ERA. But he allowed 3 hits and 3 walks. RHP Willian Suarez appeared in his 3rd game for San Jose, and it was by far his best. He gave up 2 hits and a run in 2 innings, but struck out 5.

ACL Orange (14-36)

ACL Giants Orange beat the ACL Angels 6-3
Box score

Two members of the Giants organization made their professional debut in this game. Third baseman Justin Bench (22, 2022 17th-round) hit 1-2, while LHP Hayden Wynja (23, 2022 UDFA), who is 6’9”, gave up 1 hit in a scoreless inning of relief, while striking out 2.

An excellent start for RHP Mikell Manzano (19, 2019 J2), who allowed 4 baserunners in 5 scoreless innings, while striking out 7. His ERA is just 4.08, but he has 76 strikeouts to just 17 walks in 53 innings this year.

And spectacular offensive days for 2 guys: second baseman Damon Dues (24, 2021 UDFA), who hit 4-4 and stole a base, and center fielder Carter Howell (23, 2022 UDFA), who hit 3-5 with a pair of doubles.

Shortstop Will Wilson (No. 18 CPL) and designated hitter Donovan Walton both made rehab appearances, with the former hitting 2-5 and the latter 1-3.

ACL Black (34-15)

ACL Giants Black beat the ACL D-backs Red 4-0 (7 innings)
Box score

Designated hitter Reggie Crawford (21, 2022 1st-round), played his 2nd career game and hit 1-1 while drawing 2 walks. Is it premature to label the two-way player a perennial Cy Young candidate who walks more than he strikes out? Probably, but I’m doing it anyway.

Another nice game for center fielder Wade Meckler (22, 2022 8th-round), who hit 2-3. He’s 8-22 with 3 doubles, 5 walks, and just 4 strikeouts. You love to see it.

LHP Esmerlin Vinicio (No. 40 CPL, 19, 2019 J2) had another slightly odd start, giving up 2 hits and 3 walks in 4 innings, but allowing 0 runs. He has control issues, with 31 walks in 48 innings, yet despite that and a 1.77 WHIP, he has just a 3.00 ERA.

Replacing him was RHP Spencer Miles (22, 2022 4th-round), who made his professional debut in a dynamic way, striking out all 3 batters that he faced.

Shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL) hit 0-2 with a walk in the 8th game of his rehab assignment.

DSL Orange (24-28)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Nationals 13-6 (7 innings)
Box score

Hilariously bad pitching, with the Giants Orange team not just giving up 13 runs in 7 innings, but issuing 13 walks as well. Spare a thought for RHP Daniel Rondon (19, 2019 J2), who gave up 5 runs in 0.1 innings, running his ERA up to 121.50. He’s faced 12 batters this year and retired 2 of them.

A nice game for left fielder Oswaldo Ladera (19, 2019 J2), who hit 3-4 with a pair of doubles, bringing his OPS up to .720. He’s bounced back from a rough July with a .769 OPS in August.

DSL Black (19-35)

DSL Giants Black beat the DSL KC Stewart 5-1 (8 innings)
Box score

A nice outing for RHP Anderson Azor (18, 2020 J2), who gave up just 3 baserunners in 4 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. He’s had a tough season, with a 5.34 ERA and 16 walks in 28.2 innings, so good to see him pitch well.

The Giants Black team scored all of their runs in the 8th and final inning, with the big hit being a bases loaded triple by catcher Javier Castillo (18, 2020 J2). It isn’t every day that you see a catcher at any level have 4 triples in their first 35 games of the season.

Second baseman Wueslly Lespe (19, 2019 J2) drew 3 walks and stole a base.

Home runs

High-A Patrick Bailey (11)
High-A Jimmy Glowenke (10)
Low-A Grant McCray (19)

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: vs. the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s), 6:35 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets), 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: @ the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks), 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels), 1:00 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: Off
ACL Black: Off
DSL Orange: vs. the DSL Phillies White
DSL Black: Off