Minor League round up, September 15

Three games for the San Francisco Giants Minor League affiliates on Thursday, as one more season came to an end. Let’s jump into it.

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (61-75)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) 2-1 (10 innings)
Box score

Only one River Cat position player had a good day, and thankfully it was the one player that the Giants really want to see putting together good days: center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL). While the rest of the offense sputtered, Ramos was responsible for 50% of their hits, 100% of their extra-base hits, and 100% of their stolen bases, as he hit 2-4 with a double and a swiped bag. He also singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning.

He also made a diving defensive play.

We all know that Ramos is having a disappointing season, but his improvement — while not drastic — has been pretty clear since taking his Joey Bart-style hiatus to work with the coaching staff in mid-August. Since then he’s hitting 16-62 with 2 home runs and 3 doubles. Baby steps.

The pitching was dominant, starting with 3.2 no-hit innings from RHP Jonathan Bermudez, a recent waiver claim. He had allowed 10 runs in his first 2 appearances with Sacramento, so this is certainly progress.

A scoreless inning from RHP R.J. Dabovich (No. 16 CPL), who now has a 3.54 ERA and a 4.94 FIP in just his 2nd season of pro ball. I’d expect to see him in the Giants bullpen sometime next season.

And a fun story: RHP Spencer Bivens struck out 2 in a perfect inning. He’s pitched very well in 4 outings with Sacramento. Bivens is a 28-year old whom the Giants signed from an independent league, and give him his Minor League debut earlier this year for Low-A San Jose. How cool would it be if he made the Majors?

AA Richmond (64-70)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 8-7 (12 innings)
Box score

A fun game in Richmond, with both teams scoring in the 10th and 11th innings, before the Flying Squirrels walked it off in the 12th on a single by left fielder Jacob Heyward.

The biggest hit came from shortstop Will Wilson (No. 18 CPL), who hit a 2-run home run in the 1st inning. That gave him a good day, even if he was retired in his other 5 plate appearances.

Wilson has a .773 OPS and a 110 wRC+, but most important is the power output. He has more home runs this year in AA than he had in fewer appearances last year in a better offensive environment in High-A.

Designated hitter Diego Rincones (No. 15 CPL) hit 2-5 with a walk, and even though he didn’t have any extra-base hits, he still managed to knock in half of the team’s 8 runs.

His overall year is a bummer — he has just a .700 OPS and an 89 wRC+ — but he has an .869 OPS in September, which followed a .946 OPS in (an admittedly injury-shortened) August. He has just 5 strikeouts in 60 at-bats during that time.

2-hit days for third baseman Casey Schmitt (No. 24 CPL) and right fielder Brett Auerbach (No. 28 CPL), while catcher Brandon Martorano tripled and walked, and second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 35 CPL) doubled and walked.

RHP Landen Roupp, who is having one of the best years in the organization, allowed just 5 baserunners and 2 runs in 5 innings, though he only struck out 2 batters. After a thoroughly dominant year in Low-A and High-A, Roupp is adapting pretty nicely to AA, with a 3.76 ERA, a 3.80 FIP, and 31 strikeouts to 11 walks in 26.1 innings. What an awesome year.

LHP Chris Wright (No. 29 CPL) put on a strikeout clinic, as he struck out 5 in 2.1 innings, surrendering a hit, walk, and run. Wright has just a 3.93 ERA and a 4.00 FIP this year, but has struck out 75 batters in 55 innings — albeit with 35 walks. He’s Rule 5 eligible, and it seems clear that the Giants will protect him.

Low-A San Jose

San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 7-3
Championship Series Game 2 — San Jose loses 2-0
Box score

San Jose’s season is over, as they got swept out of the best-of-3 championship series. They didn’t put up too much of a fight in this one.

The Baby Giants only had 4 hits, with doubles from first baseman Logan Wyatt and designated hitter Ghordy Santos representing the only extra-base hits. Right fielder Victor Bericoto singled and drew a walk, while catcher Adrian Sugastey (No. 27 CPL) drew a walk and was hit by a pitch, and they were the only 2 players to reach base multiple times.

RHP Ryan Murphy made his 2nd rehab start and struggled, allowing 3 runs in 2 innings with just 1 strikeout. But just seeing him back on a mound is a good thing. It was a tough year for Murphy with injuries, but he still showed why he’s an exciting prospect, as he had 2.90 ERA and a 2.32 FIP in High-A, with 47 strikeouts to 12 walks in 31 innings, before getting injured in his 2nd AA game.

RHP Willian Suarez struck out 2 in a hitless inning of relief, while RHP William Kempner, a recent 3rd-round pick, struck out 1 in a scoreless inning.

Home runs

AA Will Wilson (11)

News

Baseball America named AA LHP Kyle Harrison (No. 5 CPL) their Giants Prospect of the Year.

Friday schedule

Sacramento: vs. the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks)
Richmond: vs. the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers)
Eugene: @ the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) — Championship Series Game 3 (Eugene leads best-of-5 series 2-0)
San Jose: Season over
ACL Orange: Season over
ACL Black: Season over
DSL Orange: Season over
DSL Black: Season over