Minor League round up, September 12

Only one game for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates on Monday, but it was a fun one — and a postseason one!

Let’s dive in.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

High-A Eugene

Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 10-3
Championship Series Game 1 — Eugene leads 1-0
Box score

After a dominant regular season, the Emeralds started the best-of-5 championship series on the right foot, with a comfortable win in Game 1. And they got all the runs they needed in the 1st inning, courtesy of a grand slam by catcher Andy Thomas.

Thomas, who also drew a walk, and who came over in the Curt Casali trade last month, didn’t perform particularly well in 24 games with Eugene to end the regular season, registering a .525 OPS and a 62 wRC+. But he was fairly dominant with the Seattle Mariners’ High-A team, so don’t give up on him yet ... especially when he’s hitting postseason grand slams!

He wasn’t the only Emerald to homer, as left fielder Damon Dues added a big fly as well, and also singled.

Dues was a poster child for making the most out of a season this year. Due to injuries, the 2021 undrafted free agent didn’t make his season debut until July 28. He played 12 games in the ACL, compiling a .953 OPS and a 161 wRC+. He then played 13 games in Low-A, where he casually hit for a 1.079 OPS and a 197 wRC+. And then in 5 games in Eugene — which doesn’t even count Monday’s game since it was postseason — Dues had a 1.102 OPS and a 229 wRC+. Across the A-ball affiliates he drew 25 walks while striking out just 7 times. He may be 24, but he has an exciting and intriguing profile.

And nice games from 2 of the team’s top prospects, as shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL) hit 1-4 with a double and a walk, while right fielder Luis Matos (No. 3 CPL) hit 3-5 with 2 doubles and a stolen base.

Matos had a pretty tough season — he finished the year with a .619 OPS and a 73 wRC+ — but he started to find his groove later in the year, sporting an .826 OPS in August, albeit with not too much excitement in his handful of September games. He’ll likely play in the Fall League, and hopefully can turn his hot August into a strong 2023.

On the pitching front, it was another excellent outing from RHP Carson Seymour, who was part of the Darin Ruf trade. Seymour made 6 regular season starts for Eugene after the trade, and had a 3.99 ERA, a 2.50 FIP, and a beautiful 43 strikeouts to 10 walks in 29.1 innings. He led the charge in this game, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, and just 2 runs in 5.1 innings, while striking out 8 batters.

I miss Ruf, but that trade sure looks nice.

RHP Nick Morreale and LHP Juan Sanchez both pitched excellent scoreless innings of relief, with the former striking out 3 and the latter 2.

Tuesday schedule

Sacramento: @ the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks)
Richmond: vs. the Erie Seawolves (Tigers)
Eugene: vs. the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) — Championship Series Game 2 (best of 5)
San Jose: vs. the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) — Championship Series Game 1 (best of 3)
ACL Orange: Season over
ACL Black: Season over
DSL Orange: Season over
DSL Black: Season over