Minor League round up, August 31

Another fun day for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates. Let’s dive into the action.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (56-69)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) 12-11
Box score

Well this was a fun offensive day, with 18 hits and 9 walks to just 6 strikeouts for the River Cats, as they overcame an 8-run deficit to win.

There are lots of performances to highlight, but let’s start with right fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL). Ramos didn’t have the best day of all of Sacramento’s players, but he had a damn fine day, and right now he’s the biggest story in Sacramento. In a year where he was supposed to be breaking into the Majors, Ramos has instead been scuffling big time in the Minors.

He recently took a Joey Bart hiatus to work with the coaches, and seeing how he ends the season is the most important thing happening in Sacramento. Wednesday was a big step in the right direction, as he hit 3-6 with 2 doubles, as well as an outfield assist. One of his doubles tied the game in the 9th inning, and then he scored the go-ahead run.

It’s an incredibly small sample but in 5 games since returning to the lineup, Ramos is hitting 6-21 with a home run, 2 doubles, 3 walks, and just 4 strikeouts. Trending upwards.

But the star of the day was second baseman Jason Vosler, who hit 4-6 with a home run.

Vosler is trying to get his AAA numbers (.744 OPS, 82 wRC+) a little closer to his MLB numbers (.881 OPS, 142 wRC+).

Also having a 4-hit day was center fielder Bryce Johnson, who also drew a walk and stole a base. He recently made his MLB debut but is still looking for his 1st MLB hit. Hopefully he gets called up soon so he can get a shot, but his AAA numbers are still rather meh — .764 OPS, 95 wRC+.

Finally, the River Cats got a home run from someone you might not have known was in the organization: catcher Patrick Mazeika. A 28-year old left-handed hitter, Mazeika was making his organizational debut after being claimed off of waivers from the New York Mets. He certainly made a good first impression, hitting 2-5 with a big fly and a walk.

The first 2 pitchers, RHP Norwith Gudino and LHP Ben Bowden, gave up all of the runs before the bullpen settled in. RHP Cole Waites struck out 1 and allowed 1 hit in a scoreless inning ... since getting promoted, he’s pitched 3 times and allowed 3 baserunners in 3 innings, with 0 runs and 5 strikeouts.

AA Richmond (57-64)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 6-1
Box score

Really only 1 player who had a notable day for Richmond: first baseman Sean Roby, who hit 2-4 with a home run and a double.

A day after Roby — who is currently adding to the single-season franchise record for home runs that he obliterated — had his first dinger since July 9 (a span of injury-missed time and 16 homerless games), the power hitter made it back-to-back games. His overall offensive profile is still mediocre — he has a .775 OPS and a 106 wRC+ — but the power tool is emphatically there.

Actually, he wasn’t the only player who had a notable day. RHP Evan Gates, an undrafted free agent from last year who started 2022 in Low-A, made his AA debut and struck out 4 batters in 2 innings, allowing just a walk.

RHP Keaton Winn made his 3rd Richmond start since a promotion, and it didn’t go super hot, as he allowed 10 hits and 5 runs in 5 innings, with 5 strikeouts.

High-A Eugene (73-46)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 6-2
Box score

Umm ... welcome to the Giants organization, Carson Seymour. The RHP was part of the Darin Ruf trade, and his first 4 starts for the organization were hot-and-cold. He had good strikeout numbers but allowed a lot of baserunners and runs: in 18 innings he’d allowed 16 hits, 7 walks, 12 runs, and 9 earned runs, but had struck out 25 batters.

On Wednesday he took the bad and eliminated in, then took the good and amplified it. Seymour pitched 6.1 glorious innings, allowing just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run, while striking out a staggering 13 batters. What a performance.

RHP Hunter Dula replaced Seymour, and retired both batters he faced (including 1 by strikeout) in his High-A debut.

All the offense that was needed came from catcher Andy Thomas, who only hit 1-4, but the lone hit was a grand slam.

Thomas has struggled since coming over in the Curt Casali trade, as his .552 OPS is lagging far behind the .844 mark he had for the Seattle Mariners High-A affiliate. Hopefully this gets him on track.

A good day for third baseman Luis Toribio (No. 39 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a double. Toribio has gone cold after a blistering streak, and despite the good day at the office also showed off his biggest weakness, as he struck out twice. He has 43 strikeouts in 98 at-bats this month.

Center fielder Grant McCray (No. 34 CPL) continues to look comfortable in Eugene, as he hit 1-3 with a double and a walk. In 5 games since getting promoted, McCray is hitting 5-18 with a home run, a double, 4 walks, and 2 stolen bases.

Low-A San Jose (68-54)

San Jose Giants beat the Stockton Ports (A’s) 5-4
Box score

I apologize for beating a dead horse but shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 12 CPL) is a really, really exciting prospect. He hit just 1-4 in this game, but the hit he did have cleared the fence. His .759 OPS and 97 wRC+ don’t jump off the page, but when paired with context they should: he’s still more than a year and a half away from being able to legally drink; he’s an excellent defensive prospect at a premier position; and, despite being a shortstop who’s young for his level, he has 48 extra-base hits in 524 plate appearances this season. His first full season is going swimmingly.

Right fielder P.J. Hilson, after a dominant year in the ACL, played in his 2nd Low-A game, and hit 1-3 while stealing a base. Center fielder Alexander Suarez (No. 37 CPL) had a fine day as well, hitting 1-3 with a double and a walk, bringing his OPS up to .699 and his wRC+ to 77. He’ll try and end the year on a high note.

A decent, albeit flawed start for LHP Seth Lonsway, who gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 runs, and 2 earned runs in 6 innings, while striking out 7. That’s right in line with his season numbers, as he has a 3.55 ERA, a 4.21 FIP, and 117 strikeouts to 48 walks in 91.1 innings.

RHP Jose Cruz struck out 4 batters in 2 scoreless innings, giving up just a walk. His strikeouts stuff is elite: he has 77 strikeouts to 22 walks in 47 innings this season.

Home runs

AAA Jason Vosler (15)
AAA Patrick Mazeika (3)
AA Sean Roby (25)
High-A Andy Thomas (10)
Low-A Aeverson Arteaga (12)

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: @ the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals), 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. the Everett AquaSox (Mariners), 3:35 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ the Stockton Ports (A’s), 7:05 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: Season over
ACL Black: Season over
DSL Orange: Season over
DSL Black: Season over